Stake Discontinued in South Korea

The Church recently discontinued a stake for the first time in South Korea.  The Seoul Korea North Stake was closed and units within the stake appear to be reassigned to the Seoul Korea Stake.  The Seoul Korea North Stake was originally organized in 1979 and had six wards.

The consolidation of a stake in Seoul has been long overdue due to many stakes containing only four to six wards for several years.  Due to few wards in the Seoul area, I would not be surprised to see another stake consolidation within the near future.  Past mission presidents report that there has been no noticeable increase in sacrament meeting attendance over the past 20 years.  Returned missionary reports indicate that many of the wards appear to have more active members than a decade ago, but there have been mediocre convert retention rates, fewer convert baptisms, and ongoing emigration of active membership.