What religion is most common in Korea?Protestant Christianity (19.7%)Korean Buddhism (15.5%)Catholic Christianity (7.9%)

Is Korea the only Protestant country in Asia?

Korea is the only Asian nation with a significant Protestant presence. One in five South Koreans professes the faith. With more than eight and a half million believers, Protestantism as an organized religion ranks second numerically, not far behind Buddhism, but in terms of power and influence, it is unrivalled.

What are the religious groups in South Korea?

Similar to the Protestant Christian community in Korea, the Roman Catholics were also involved in supporting Korean independence during the Japanese occupation. Most Roman Catholic Christians fled to South Korea from North Korea and in the decades since the religion has grown.

What happened to South Korea’s growing Christian population?

From the 1960s to 1980s, South Korea became the fastest-growing Christian population in the world. The growth stalled in the 1990s because of the church’s support for previous dictatorial regimes as well as scandals involving Protestant political and corporate leaders.

What was the dominant religion in Korea during the Joseon Dynasty?

During the Kingdom of Goryeo Buddhism was the dominant religion but Neo-Confucianism managed to stick around, grow and give rise to new ideas. Under the Joseon Dynasty Korean Confucianism flourished, becoming the state religion and embedding its self into many aspects of Korean live.

What did Protestant Christianity do to the Korean community?

Among the many things, the message served as empowerment to the Korean community and started levelling out people of varying classes and economic statuses and also provided more equal resources to everyone.

Where was the first Protestant church in Korea?

There are two different accounts of the first Protestant church being established and each of them were attributed to the main means in which Protestant Christianity was embraced and adopted.#N#One of the first possible Protestant churches in Korea was established by Baek Hong-jun in Uiju, which is located just within the northern border. Baek Hong-jun had travelled there in 1879 for evangelical purposes to study Gospels that were smuggled in with the locals in the area. This continued to grow and reach out to an increasing number of people and by 1884 they had reached 18 members.

What was the main focus of Confucianism in Korea?

The process of perfecting human nature had a stronger focus on educational achievement as this became the most significant measure of socio-economic status and social respectability. Unfortunately, this was only accessible to the upper class since they were the only ones who could afford the resources despite knowledge being unanimously desired.

Why did Protestants distinguish themselves from Catholics?

So much so that many Protestants deliberately distinguished themselves from Catholics for doctrinal reasons and to avoid persecution.

Did Korea have Catholicism?

Although Catholicism had been present in Korea as early as 1603 , Protestant Christianity had yet to make its appearance. However, as it spread through East Asia, it was only a matter of time for Protestant Christianity to reach Korea. In 1823, the first Bible translated in Chinese was published and the amount of Chinese Protestant literature began to rise. With such an influx in religious texts, a wide number of them were smuggled into Korea through their Northern border by the 1870s and made available for Koreans. These written texts were the right acceptable medium to communicate to the Confucian culture of Koreans at that time, leading to increased interest and demand.

How long has shamanism been around?

Traditional Korean Shamanism has been around in Korea since times immemorial, dating back in prehistoric times to at least 40,000 BC. Korean Shamanism took root within ancient, long forgotten cultures. The religion has played a key role since Korean civilization developed back during the early, mythical part of the founding of Korea’s first kingdom of Gojoseon by Dangun Wanggeom in 2333 BC. Before the introduction of Buddhism and Confucianism traditional Korean Shamanism was the dominant religion in Korea. Historically the religion has played a role in protecting people from attacks by evil spirits and helping to assist people to achieve health, peace and spiritual well being. It is also one of the world’s oldest and longest surviving religions, having had parts of it blended into Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity. Since Korea was liberated from Japanese occupation and split into two countries in 1945 there have been occasion attempts by South Korean leaders to eradicate the religion but these have failed.

When was Confucianism first introduced to Korea?

Confucianism was first introduced into Korea from China during the Three Kingdoms period, around the same time that Buddhism was first introduced into the country. In 372 AD King Sosurim (?-384) of the Kingdom of Koguryô (37 BC-668 AD) created what may have been the first Confucian university in Korea. In the Kingdom of Silla (57 BC-935 AD) Confucianism was at first rejected and persecuted but it eventually became a force that led to the Silla Kingdom unifying Korea from 668 to 935. During the Kingdom of Goryeo Buddhism was the dominant religion but Neo-Confucianism managed to stick around, grow and give rise to new ideas. Under the Joseon Dynasty Korean Confucianism flourished, becoming the state religion and embedding its self into many aspects of Korean live. Starting in the 1700s Confucianism in Korea started to feel under attack from western influences and Christianity, which eventually culminated in the persecution of Christians during much of the 1800s. During the Japanese occupation of Japan, Confucianism was repressed in favor of promoting the Japanese religion of Shintoism and uplifting the position of Buddhism. Following the Japanese occupation the religion struggled to recover in the face of western influences and the erasing of Korean culture. Korean Confucianism has been making a recovery with young, new scholars and has been trying to reevaluate itself within a global context.

What is the name of the movement that led to the change of the name of Donghak?

In the years following this event the third patriarch of the Donghak movement, Son Byong-hi (1861-1922), decided to change the name of Donghak to Cheondogyo, often referred to as Cheondoism, with the goal of trying to modernize the religion and bring it into a new era.

Why was Confucianism repressed in Japan?

During the Japanese occupation of Japan, Confucianism was repressed in favor of promoting the Japanese religion of Shintoism and uplifting the position of Buddhism. Following the Japanese occupation the religion struggled to recover in the face of western influences and the erasing of Korean culture.

What is the religion of Taejonggyo?

Other new folk and shamanistic beliefs include Taejonggyo, a religion whose central creed is worshiping Dangun the mythical founder of Korea and Chungsanggyo, which is a religion that focuses on magical practices and the creation of a paradise on Earth.

What is the role of religion in the world?

Historically the religion has played a role in protecting people from attacks by evil spirits and helping to assist people to achieve health, peace and spiritual well being. It is also one of the world’s oldest and longest surviving religions, having had parts of it blended into Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity.

Why did the Korean government kill Catholics?

Throughout most of the 1800s, Catholics were persecuted and killed by the Korean government as the Joseon Dynasty did not accept the religion and saw it as being in direct conflict with Korean Confucian society. Some of the major crackdowns on the religion include the Catholic Persecutions of 1801, 1839 and 1866.

What are the problems with Korean Protestantism?

Another problem associated with contemporary Korean Protestantism is its heavily evangelical orientation, which focuses on missionary activities with seemingly little interest in social concerns. The aggressive and sometimes antagonistic evangelical activities of diehard Protestants against the other religious groups in Korea, such as destroying Buddha statues and stone pagodas, have alienated many Koreans from Protestantism. When Pope Francis visited Korea this past summer (2014), some Korean Protestants even demonstrated against his visit. South Korean churches have sent approximately 14,000 missionaries to foreign countries, the second-highest number next to the United States. The insensitivity to and disrespectful attitudes of many Korean overseas missionaries towards local cultures have sparked angry reactions in several countries, including Turkey and India. When large numbers of American and other Western (Canadian and Australian) missionaries came to Korea at the end of the nineteenth century with social-service and educational packages, they were received relatively well because few Koreans had an organized religion at that time. However, overseas Korean missionaries today are received far less enthusiastically in many foreign countries because a predominant majority of them have Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, or Buddhism as their dominant religion. There was a news report that some Korean Protestant missionaries visited Buddhist temples in other Asian countries and read the Bible. This is neither morally nor legally acceptable.

What religions did Korea have in the 1960s?

Protestantism was transplanted to Korea by American and other Western missionaries in the 1880s, about one hundred years after Catholicism had spontaneously started in Korea. However, due to Japanese colonial rule and conflicts between Protestant religious doctrines and Confucian ancestor worship, the two Christian religions did not grow much in Korea until the early 1960s. The Korean Census indicates that in 1962, only 2.8% and 2.2% of people in South Korea were Protestants and Catholics, respectively. Many people seem to assume that Buddhism had been popular in South Korea before Protestantism began to gain strength in the 1960s. However, despite the long history of Buddhism in Korea and its strong effect on Korean culture, this was not true. The Korean Census shows that Buddhists composed only 2.6% of the population in South Korea in 1962. There were many Buddhist temples in Korea at that time, but since many of them were located deep in remote mountain locations, they did not have much effect on people in general. According to the Census, less than 10% of the population in South Korea had a religion in 1962. However, the proportions of Koreans affiliated with the two Christian religions and Buddhism rose radically between the early 1960s and the mid-1980s. In 1985, the proportions of Buddhists and Protestants had increased to 20% and 16%, respectively. Their proportions grew slowly after 1985, to 23% and 18%, respectively, in 2005. Catholics comprised 11% of the population in Korea in 2005.

How did Protestantism affect South Korea?

Protestantism, along with American missionaries, came to have a positive effect on South Korea’s modernization and industrialization. American Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries established dozens of modern schools in Korea at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most importantly, these modern schools enabled Korean women to get formal education for the first time, thus making an important contribution to achieving gender equality in Korea. Ewha Womans University, originally established by Mary Scranton, an American Methodist missionary, has grown into one of the major women’s universities in the world, and it has produced many women leaders in South Korea. Church Women United is a very influential ecumenical Christian women’s organization (modeled after another U.S. organization with the same name), and almost all leaders of major women’s organizations are associated with it. Additionally, medical schools that were established by American missionaries have become the foundation for Western medical schools in Korea. Moreover, YMCA, YWCA, and other Protestant educational and social-service organizations have played a central role in providing leadership, education, and services for young Koreans in large cities.

How did the religious population in Korea increase between 1962 and 1985?

How can we explain the radical increase in the religious population in Korea between 1962 and 1985? Researchers indicate that the mass migration of Koreans from rural areas to urban areas, especially to large cities, left many Koreans rootless during this period of radical urbanization and industrialization, and that urban migrants therefore turned to religious organizations for psychological comfort, fellowship, and social services. Another factor to the phenomenal expansion of the Protestant population in Korea was the heavy evangelical orientation of Korean churches, especially of Korean Presbyterian churches. Additionally, many Buddhist temples relocated to cities to accommodate urban migrants and even adopted some Christian-style social services.

What religion did South Korea practice in 1962?

The vast majority of Koreans at that time practiced religion in the form of shamanism and Confucian ancestor worship. As South Korea became a more rational and modern society with improvements in education and technology during the period, Koreans replaced their traditional folk beliefs with those of organized religions. However, even after making the shift to Protestantism, Catholicism, and Buddhism, these Korean followers of organized religion continued to incorporate important elements of shamanism into their religious practices, including praying for good luck and Confucian ancestor worship.

What is the purpose of Lehto’s article?

Lehto’s article uses megachurch architecture as a lens for understanding a shifting of the boundaries between the sacred and the profane within the context of consumer capitalism in South Korea. She probes the dynamic interplay between Christian spirituality and capitalist ambition and desire.

What is the debate over ancestral worship rituals?

The debate over the ancestral worship ritual ( chesa) in the 1920s, for example, reflects how nationalists confronted religion and idolatry and navigated competing demands for the preservation and renovation of traditional customs, such as chesa.

What is the role of music in the growth of Protestantism in modern Korea?

23 Music is often understood as “the most directly emotional of the arts and the art most intimately involved with religious and spiritual life .” 24 At the same time, music can also be a political and socioeconomic vehicle.

What is the purpose of the Special Issue?

Its main purpose is to introduce some cutting-edge research studies that probe underexplored areas of inquiry and illuminate the tensions and interplay between the sacred and the secular.

Why was religion cast off in the modern age?

Religion was supposed to be cast off in favor of secularization in the age of modernity. Under the banner of the separation of church and state, the modern nation-state was understood as a secular entity in which religion was assigned to the private, individual domain, away from the public and the political.

Is religion a sociopolitical force?

Religion has been a powerful sociopolitical and cultural force and a significant aspect of public life. The boundary between sacred/religious and secular/material has always been fluid and constitutive.

Is Korea a Protestant country?

The embrace of Protestant Christianity in Korea has been remarkable. Beyond the overwhelming numerical surge of Korean Christians, growing from a handful of converts in the late nineteenth century to nearly 10 million adherents today, Protestant Christianity has been a critical force in shaping virtually every aspect of modern Korea.