Countries / Regions

Viewer's Corner

Asianinfo Photo Gallery
Photos of Asia now available for purchase 

FREE Photos available!


Korea

Thailand

Indonesia

Malaysia

Hong Kong

Singapore

Japan

Shanghai

USA

Israel

Korea Main Page

Korea's Positive Acceptance of Western Thought

	There were those who believed that the chaos following the opening of ports could be overcome through the positive acceptance of Western culture. Those who held this open attitude towards reform can be divided into two camps: those who accepted Western culture through faith in Christianity and those who wanted to appropriate secular thought and institutions from the West. However, these two approaches initially were not clearly distinguishable. The blending of these two approaches is particularly evident when we look at the introduction of Catholicism to Korea. As we shall see below, the history of Christianity in Korea, whether it be that of Catholicism or Protestantism, is a truely wonderous development.
	The Christian Movement Catholicism: The Korean Catholic church was established on the initiative of Koreans before foreign missionaries entered the country. This may make Korea unique within the entire history of Christianity. Korean Catholicism began when a group of young Confucian scholars by the name of Yi Pyok, Kwon Il-shin and Yi Ka-hwan along with Chong Yak-jong and his two brothers converted to Catholicism after reading Catholic doctrinal texts that had been sent from Beijing. In 1783, Yi SCung-hun was sent to Beijing where he became the first to receive baptism. On his return to Korea, he and the other converts established Korea's first Catholic church at the residence of Kim Pom-u in Seoul. After this amazing beginning, Korean Catholics were severely persecuted and many martyred by the government due to their refusal to participate in ancestral rites. Eventually, with the signing of a friendship treaty with the United States in 1882, Korean Catholics gained freedom to carry out church activities.

Full Gospel Church Yeido  

In May of 1984 during the bicentennial commemoration of Korean Catholicism, Pope John Paul II canonized 103 of Korea's martyrs, making the country fourth in the world in the total number of saints. In the past two centuries of miraculous development, the Korean Catholic church has brought to Korean society the gist of Western spiritual culture developed from the Middle Ages to the present. In particular, the diverse social-welfare projects undertaken by the church's various orders have made an invaluable contribution to modern Korean society. The Protestant church has replanted modern Western culture on Korean soil through its numerous schools and medical facilities, but it is the Catholic church, providing service with an attitude of silent obedience to God, that has provided a spiritual model fully embraced by the Korean people. This attitude of service served as a source of strength during the political upheavals of the 1980s. At this time, the Catholic church, by providing sanctuary to dissidents, became the de facto representative of the Korean conscience. In the future, the Catholic church will undoubtedly continue to serve as a key spiritual authority.

Protestantism: The history of Protestan-tism in Korea begins with Horace Allen, an American Presbyterian (Northern) missionary who arrived in Korea in 1884. Horace G. Underwood of the same denomination and the Methodist Episcopal (North) missionary, Henry G. Appenzeller, came from the United States the next year. From the beginning, Protestant missions simultaneously performed evangelical and social work. By establishing the country's first Western medical clinics and introducing a modern school system, these missionaries played a leading role in bringing the modern social institutions of the West into Korean society. The results of their efforts are manifold. For example, many modern national leaders came out of schools operated by the missionaries. These leaders, with their international perspective, were able to develop an anti-Japanese independence movement during the occupation. In addition, through these missionaries' efforts, many Koreans converted to Christianity, including Syngman Rhee (the first President after liberation) and much of his cabinet.

Korean Protestantism grew at a remarkable pace. From the time when missionaries first entered Korea to the present, Korean society has been plagued by an endless series of upheavals. Korean society has had to struggle to survive within the rapidly changing international situation, and in order to survive, it has had to adapt itself to the new environment. The only organization that could realistically claim to ensure both Korea's survival as a people (as emphasized by nationalists) and adaptation to the times (as emphasized by reformers) was the Protestant church. After all, it was Protestantism that served as the exclusive channel for exchanges between the Korean people and the societies of America, Canada and Europe. Through this channel, Koreans were able to maintain international support for the independence movement and learn about Western culture and social institutions. Thus, Korean society did not feel opposition toward Protestantism, but instead, hoped to use it as a guide toward social reform. These circumstances were unique to Korea, and for this reason, Protestantism was able to grow more rapidly in Korea than in any other East Asian country.

At present, Korea's Protestant churches have more than 10 million members. This amounts to more than 20 percent of the entire population. Korea is probably the only country where one finds churches with daily prayer meetings at 4:00 a.m., a fact which demonstrates the ardent enthusiasm of the Korean Protestant community. The Protestant church is the most active religious organization in Korea, and it is also an active social organization. As a result, the Korean church has taken on the historical responsibility for the future of Korean society.

In this way, Korean Christianity, consisting of both Catholicism and Protestantism, has assumed a vital role in the modernization of Korean society. However, its social role has been restricted since the 1960s as a result of Korean society's rapid industrialization. There are several reasons for this. First, in an industrial society, corporations and government, instead of churches, play the main role in international relations, while universities are the key source of ideas on social reform. Moreover, education institutions look to the government for support. Second, Christianity still does not have firm roots in the cultural traditions of Korea, a country which has long been influenced by East Asia's classical culture and its own unique traditions. These two factors indicate that the social reformation brought on by Christianity since the mid-1980s has inherent limitations. Thus, a new paradigm is now required to further deal with the cultural trauma and after-effects brought on by Korea's opening to the West.

The attitude of complete acceptance of Western thought represents, in effect, an attempt to learn about the West. In particular, this attitude became deeply rooted in Korean society as Korean students returned from studies in America and Europe.

In Korea, these students entered many diverse fields, helping to plan and promote Korea's industrial development. As a result, Korea has become a competitive society centered around growth-a society that tends to overlook social justice, virtue or the environment.

Reform and development are undertaken for specific goals, and these goals must embody a healthy system of values. For this reason, progress should be value-oriented. Korea, in its imitation of the West, has copied the external institutions without looking at the value system inherent in the West's industrial structure, and this has resulted in confusion. Especially during the 1990s, the various sectors of Korean society have been reflecting on this problem.

Yoido Full Gospel Church
 (Biggest church in the world)

Click Here...

AsianInfo.org supports I.C.E.Y. - H.O.P.E. (non-profit org)
(International Cooperation of Environmental Youth - Helping Our Polluted Earth) Any advertisement you view helps save the environment!  Thanks!