On July 7, 2025, during the 62nd General Conference Session, Soon Gi Kang was elected as the president of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The Session delegates voted the recommendation made by the GC Nominating Committee, selecting him as the spiritual and administrative leader who will guide the mission of the NSD throughout the upcoming quinquennium.

The NSD Nominating Committee caucus, consisting of 15 members selected from the division, union, and local conference levels, prayed and discussed the nomination for leadership of NSD. The name of Kang was recommended to the GC Nominating Committee.

Delegates from around the world, who filled the main auditorium, received the Nominating Committee’s report and voted to approve it, with 1,720 votes in favor and 113 against. Kang is the first person in the history of the division to have been elected president while serving as president of a union conference.

Born on December 7, 1965, Kang graduated with a degree in theology from Sahmyook University in South Korea and later earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in the Philippines. He also finished the course work of Doctor of Ministry (ABD) in the same institute (AIIAS).

Kang began his ministry in 1990 as an associate pastor at the Sahmyook Central Seventh-daty Adventist Church. Over the years, he served in various churches and administrative roles, including Hanam church, Taebaek Central church, Youth Ministries director of the East Central Korean Conference, senior pastor of Mukdong First church, Ministerial Association secretary of the East Central Korean Conference, Sabbath School and Personal Ministries director of the Korean Union Conference, and pastor of Gyomunri church.

In 2020, he was elected president of the East Central Korean Conference, and later that same year, became president of the Korean Union Conference. During his term, he promoted global mission expansion through initiatives such as the 10/40 Global Mission Project. Kang and his wife, Shin JinHee, have two children, Minseok and Minkyung.

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