Seoul: Dr Hamid Choi Yong Kil has become the first Korean Muslim to translate the Quran and Sahih-Al- Bukhari into Korean.
As per the media reports, this translation project took approximately 7 years. Currently, besides being a preacher, he also works as a lecturer in Islamic Studies and Arabic at a university in South Korea.
He had received his education at the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The works that Choi has translated into Korean and Shahih Bukhari are all part of his scientific work.
Choi also has written more than 90 other books, either independently or in translation.
This comes at a time when the number of Muslims in South Korea is slowly increasing. Although Islam is still a minority religion, it has experienced significant growth over the past decade due to tourism and returns.
According to an estimate by the Korean Muslim Federation, the number of Muslims currently stands at about 200,000, which is only 0.38 per cent of the overall population. The majority is made up of students and workers who have come from Turkey, Pakistan and Uzbekistan and have now claimed Korean citizenship.
