A Presbyterian long active in international dialogue among religions, he has worked to implement social justice in his own country and also established the Korean Conference on Religion and Peace in 1986. He died in 2006. “In the twenty-first century, the self-righteous sectors of ‘closed religions’ will most likely accelerate the clash of civilizations. However, hope exists for ‘open religions’ to become a driving force in overcoming such tragic collisions, thus leading us into ‘an era of universal spirituality.’ ” From Dr. Kang’s acceptance speech