Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk
South Korean Catholic cardinal (1931–2021)
Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk (Korean: 정진석; Hanja: 鄭鎭奭; 7 December 1931 – 27 April 2021) was a South Korean Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Seoul from 1998 until he retired in 2012. He was previously Bishop of Cheongju from 1970 to 1998. He was made a cardinal in 2006.
Biography
Cheong Jin-suk briefly studied chemical engineering at the Seoul National University before entering the seminary in Seoul, from where he later obtained his bachelor's degree in theology, in 1954. After studying sociology in Hong Kong, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Paul Roh Ki-nam on 18 March 1961 at the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.
Cheong then did pastoral work in Seoul until becoming a professor at its minor seminary and notary of its archdiocesan curia in 1962. He was chancellor of the curia and undersecretary of the Catholic Conference from 1964 to 1965, and episcopal chancellor and vice-rector of the Minor Seminary from 1966 to 1967. He then earned a degree in canon law, studying at the Pontifical Urban University, from October 1968 to 1970.
On 25 June 1970, Cheong was appointed the second Bishop of Cheongju by Pope Paul VI. He was the youngest bishop in Korea at the time.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk” is south Korean Catholic cardinal (1931–2021). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Nicholas, Cheong and Jin-suk, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “south Korean Catholic cardinal (1931–2021)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q449590. VIAF identifies the subject as 73744537. The Library of Congress control number is nr95018775. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1931, 2021, 1998 and 2012.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk primary sources, Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk archive and Nicholas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.