Appeal in the North Christianity, especially Catholicism and Protestantism, had a special appeal to Koreans in the North. Between 1440 and 1560, there were migrations to the northern provinces, which were designed to strengthen the border. This created a society of mixed backgrounds without an aristocracy and without long-standing religious institutions. However, it did have a strong and ambitious merchant class, as well as a strong military tradition. Local elites gained administrative positions and adopted Confucian literati lifestyles but were not easy to attain high-level positions. During Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, the North became the more industrial region of Korea. The area was highly receptive to Catholic and Protestant missionaries in the late 19th century, who brought Western knowledge, and established hospitals and Western-style medical care, schools, and a window to the wider world. The middle-class elites sent their sons to the Catholic or Protestant schools. In turn the sons became strong nationalists who considered the United States a rallying point in opposition to Japanese colonial
imperialism. In a reversal of previous Southern dominance, the North produced many influential figures in Korean history. After 1945,
North Korea's Soviet-influenced
state policy of atheism as a major facet of
Juche caused most Christians to flee to South Korea in pursuit of
religious freedom.
Academic sympathy Matteo Ricci's books, which he created to use Chinese ideograms and concepts to introduce Catholicism, provoked academic controversy when Yi Gwang-jeong brought them into Korea. Academics remained critical of the new thought for many years. Early in the 17th century,
Yi Su-gwang, a court scholar, and Yu Mong-in, a cabinet minister, wrote highly critical
commentaries on Ricci's works. During the next two centuries, academic criticism of Catholic beliefs continued, as it overturned Confucian veneration of elders and tradition. Some scholars, however, were more sympathetic to Catholicism. Members of the
Silhak (실학; "practical learning") school believed in social structure based on merit rather than birth (see
class discrimination), and were therefore often opposed by the mainstream academic establishment. Silhak scholars perceived Catholicism as providing an ideological basis for their beliefs and were therefore attracted to what they saw as the egalitarian values of Catholicism. When Catholicism was finally established in Korea in the 18th century, there was already a substantial body of educated opinion sympathetic to it, which was crucial to the spread of the Catholic faith in the 1790s. An 1801 study indicated that 55% of all Catholics had family ties to the Silhak school.
Lay leadership As a result of the influence of the
Silhak school, Catholicism in Korea began as an indigenous lay movement rather than being largely organized by a foreign missionaries. The first Catholic prayer-house was founded in 1784 at Seoul by Yi Seung-hun, a diplomat who had been baptized in Beijing. In 1786, Yi proceeded to establish a hierarchy of lay-priests. Although the Vatican ruled in 1789 that the appointment of lay-priests violated
Canon law, in Korea indigenous lay-workers rather than foreign prelates carried Catholicism to many. Since Christianity began as largely a
grassroots effort in Korea, it spread more quickly through the population.
Hangul, literacy and education Hangul, a
phonemic Korean alphabet invented around 1446 by scholars in the court of
Sejong the Great, was little used for several centuries because of the perceived cultural superiority of
Classical Chinese (a position similar to that of Latin in Europe). However, the Catholic Church became the first Korean religious organization to officially adopt Hangul as its primary script. Bishop
Siméon-François Berneux (1814–1866) mandated that all Catholic children be taught to read it. and Protestant leaders began a mass distribution effort. In addition, they established numerous schools, the first modern educational institutions in Korea. The Methodist
Paichai School for boys was founded in 1885, and the Methodist Ewha School for girls (later to become
Ewha Womans University) followed in 1886. These, and similar schools established soon afterward, helped the expansion of Protestantism among the common people. Protestants surpassed Catholics as the largest Christian group in Korea. Female literacy rose sharply, since women had previously been excluded from the educational system.
Christianity under Japanese occupation, 1910–1945 Christianity grew steadily, with the Catholic population reaching 147,000, and the Protestants 168,000 by the mid-1930s. The stronghold for both groups was the North. From 1910 to 1945 the Japanese occupied all of the country, taking over its rule under a treaty forced on Korea. The Japanese-controlled police made systematic efforts to minimize the influence of the missionaries; this reduced conversions during the years 1911–1919. The idealistic pronouncements of the U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson about self-determination of nations contributed to the rapid growth of Korean nationalism in the 1920s, but disillusionment set in after the movement failed to achieve meaningful reform. In 1924, Protestants founded the Korean National Christian Council to coordinate activities and divided the country into regions assigned to specific Protestant denominations for oversight. Korean Protestants also founded overseas missions to
Koreans in China. By 1937, the Presbyterian Church of Korea was largely independent of financial support from the United States; in 1934 the Methodist Church became autonomous and elected a Korean bishop. The most active missionaries among the Catholics were the
Maryknoll order, which opened the Maryknoll School of Nursing in Pusan in 1964; it is now the
Catholic University of Pusan.
Ritual controversies Ritual controversies also marked the colonial era. Drawing on newspapers including the
Tonga ilbo, Presbyterian and Methodist mission archives, as well as contemporaneous press photographs, historian Hajin Jun states how Protestant churches forbade Confucian ancestral rites (
jesa) and popularised Western‑style church weddings and Sabbath observance, practices that quickly became highly visible social markers of conversion. When a widely publicised suicide in 1920 was blamed on a Protestant convert’s refusal to perform
jesa, the
Tonga ilbo opened a months‑long “jesa" controversy” in which cultural nationalists accused missionaries of “maligning Koreans as primitive,” while pastors defended abstention from
jesa on theological grounds. Reformers then drafted non‑sectarian alternatives, such as the Enlightenment Fraternity’s “society‑style” civic wedding (1922) and Ko Yŏng‑hwan’s “Korean national wedding” (1931), to prevent chapel ceremonies from becoming the default elite norm. These debates were waged in the press and framed ritual as a matter of national (and not merely religious) concern and helped pave the way for the Japanese Government‑General’s 1934 Guidelines on Ritual Practice, which standardised life‑cycle rites for all Koreans regardless of creed.
Korean nationalism at the
Myeongdong Cathedral One of the most important factors leading to widespread acceptance of Christianity in Korea was the identification that many Christians forged with the cause of
Korean nationalism during the
Japanese occupation (1910–1945). During this period, Japan undertook a systematic campaign of cultural assimilation. There was an emphasis on Showa, so the Koreans would revere the Japanese emperor. In 1938, Japan prohibited the use of the Korean language in government, schools and businesses and even at home. The distinctly Korean nature of the church was reinforced during those years by the allegiance to the nation that was demonstrated by many Christians. On 1 March 1919, an assembly of 33 religious and professional leaders, known as the "
March 1 Movement", passed a
Declaration of independence. Although organized by leaders of the
Chondogyo religion, 15 of the 33 signatories were Protestants, including figures such as
Gil Seon-ju. The Japanese imprisoned many in the movement. Also in 1919, the predominantly Catholic pro-independence movement called "Ulmindan" was founded. A
China-based Korean government-in-exile was at one time led by
Syngman Rhee, a Methodist. Christianity was linked even more with the patriotic cause when some Christians refused to participate in
worship of the
Japanese Emperor, which was required by law in the 1930s. Although this refusal was motivated by theological rather than political convictions, the consequent imprisonment of many Christians strongly identified their faith, in the eyes of many Koreans, with the cause of Korean nationalism and resistance to the Japanese occupation. Especially the independence of Korea and the
Korean War periods featured a further increase in Marian devotion among many Catholics that because Catholics thought the Blessed Virgin Mary who is patron saint of Korea helped Koreans against Japanese imperialism and communism. Both the date of Liberation Day in 1945 and the date of the establishment of the South Korean government in 1948 also overlap with the feast day of the
Assumption of Mary.
Minjung theology The Christian concept of individual worth has found expression in a lengthy struggle for human rights and democracy in Korea. In recent years, this struggle has taken the form of
Minjung theology. Minjung theology is based on the "image of God" concept expressed in Genesis 1:26–27, but also incorporates the traditional Korean feeling of
han, a word that has no exact English translation, but that denotes a sense of inconsolable pain and utter helplessness. Minjung theology depicts commoners in Korean history as the rightful masters of their own destiny. Two of the country's best known political leaders,
Kim Young-sam, a Presbyterian, and
Kim Dae-jung, a Roman Catholic, subscribe to Minjung theology. Both men spent decades opposing military governments in South Korea and were frequently imprisoned as a result, and both also served terms as President of the Republic after democracy was restored in 1988. One manifestation of Minjung theology in the final years of the
Park Chung Hee regime (1961–1979) was the rise of several Christian social missions, such as the Catholic Farmers Movement and the Protestant Urban Industrial Mission, which campaigned for better wages and working conditions for laborers. The military government imprisoned many of their leaders because it considered the movement a threat to social stability, and their struggle coincided with a period of unrest which culminated in the assassination of President Park on 26 October 1979.
Social change Many Korean Christians believe that their values have had a positive effect on various social relationships. Traditional Korean society was hierarchically arranged according to Confucian principles. This structure was challenged by the Christian teaching that all human beings are created in the image of God and thus that every one of them is equal and has essential worth. According to Kim Han-sik, this concept also supported the idea of property being owned by individuals rather than by families. Christians regarded the emperor as a mere man who was as much under God's authority as were his subjects, and Christian values favored the social emancipation of women and children. Christian parents were taught to regard their children as gifts from God, and were required to educate them.
Youn Chul-ho insisted that Korean churches could transform the world through the serving and sacrifice of the church. Most Korean Christians from
philosophers,
preachers, to
laity incorporate the values of
Confucianism into their lives, including "
filial piety and loyalty" to family members.
Economic growth South Korea's rapid economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s is usually credited to the policy of
export-oriented industrialization led by Park Chung Hee to indigenous cultural values and
work ethic, a strong alliance with the United States, and the infusion of foreign capital. Many South Korean Christians view their religion as a factor in the country's dramatic economic growth over the past three decades, believing that its success and prosperity are indications of God's blessing. A 2003 study by economists Robert J. Barro and Rachel McCleary suggests that societies with high levels of belief in heaven and high levels of church attendance exhibit high rates of economic growth. Barro and McCleary's model has been influential in subsequent scholarship and, to some observers, it supports the belief that Christianity has played a major role in South Korea's economic success. The study has been criticised by scholars such as Durlauf, Kortellos and Tan (2006). There is a tendency to build
megachurches since 2000, that leads some churches to financial debt.
World Mission and Evangelization "In the 1960s the church reached out to people who were oppressed, such as prostitutes and new industrial laborers. As the Korean economy was burgeoning, the issue of the industrial labor force came to the fore as one of the most important areas of evangelization work. Churches established industrial chaplaincies among the workers within factories. In addition, with military service mandatory for men in South Korea, the part the chaplain's corps in the armed forces became equally important. Many soldiers converted to Christianity during their military service." Korea is now second only to the United States in terms of commissioned missionaries (30,000). The denomination with the highest number of missionaries is Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong) with about 3,000 missionaries. ==Political and social issues==