In today's world map, South Korea's national strength is not weak, but it belongs to the typical strong neighbors: outside the Tsushima Strait is a feud against Japan, north of the 38th Line is North Korea, which does not play according to common sense; outside the circle there are two major powers, China and Russia, and internally they are subject to US interference. Even if we look at it in a longer history, Koreans have always been in a situation of involuntary and dangerous situation.
It is not an exaggeration to describe South Korea's geopolitical environment as a "chicken crane flock"
Although South Korea will not go down the evil path of foreign expansion as Japan did in the past, it is necessary to pay special attention to the fact that since the twentieth century, this place, which was originally called "Little China", has become an irreversible trend in culturally turning toward Christian civilization. The Republic of Korea is gradually becoming a Christian state.
In addition to the chaebol group, Christianity is the biggest force in South Korean politics
The blossoming and multi-layered infiltration of Korean believers was the greatest triumph of Christianity in the East. According to a 2017 survey by Yonhap News Agency( the official news agency of South Korea), the proportion of Protestant and Catholic believers in South Korea's total population of about 50 million has reached 26.70%, which may be conservative. If you add some branches cloaked in Protestantism, you can find one Christian in every three people in Korea, and the total number of believers is more than 10 million. Comparatively speaking, the total population of Japan is more than twice that of South Korea, but no more than 3 million people believe in Christianity, and there is not much room for development - from this level of analysis, Koreans have achieved a more thorough "exit from Asia and into Europe" in terms of physics and psychology.
Myeongdong Shrine in Seoul, the birthplace of Catholicism in Korea
One might argue that Christianity cannot be equated with Western civilization, that we are all God's people! Unfortunately, the reality is by no means so simple, and the individual can be said to be a belief, but if it involves a group, religion must be wrapped in political and cultural ideas and branded with a distinct historical imprint. Strong Christianity is undoubtedly the most important link of Western civilization and the most important by-product of Western politics and economy.
Of course, the rise of Christianity in Korea has its own specific social factors, not simply "kneeling" and "domestication".
It's also quite pleasing to the eye, dressed in the Apostle statue in traditional Korean costumes
Catholicism entered the Korean Peninsula as early as the end of the 16th century. In that year, the Japanese Taikoku Toyotomi Hideyoshi ambitiously launched a war of aggression against Korea, and the Japanese First Army broke into the depths of the peninsula, and its commander Konishi was a Kilichidan (Japanese Christian). During this campaign, many civilians on the Korean Peninsula were forcibly abducted and stripped of their faith, and by chance they came into contact with the Catholic Church.
During the Nongchen Rebellion, missionaries accompanied the Japanese army into the Korean sermons
Although the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate has since resolutely banned religion in the face of increasingly powerful Catholic forces, cutting off the Japanese-Korean chain of Catholicism, the Catholic Church on the Chinese side continues to exert influence on the Korean Peninsula, and a group of elites in the Korean state have also taken the initiative to seek religion in China based on their love of European technology, such as Lee Seung-hwan, who is regarded as the first official Catholic in Korea, who received a Baptism of a French priest in Beijing in 1784 when he accompanied the Korean delegation to the Qing Court. In the early 19th century, Protestantism, another major force in Christianity, also infiltrated the Korean Peninsula with liberalized trade activities.
South Korea's famous Ewha Womans University was founded by American missionaries
We know that many Western missionaries of the Ming and Qing dynasties in China won the trust of the imperial court by virtue of their talents, and their treatment in the palace was not low, but Christianity was not enough to shake the roots of Chinese culture and local mechanisms.
The situation on the Korean Peninsula was not the case, as Confucian civilization was also transplanted, and the Korean state's tribute complex and clan relations with the central plains were cut off twice: once under the coercion of the Jurchens in the 17th century, and once under the physical occupation of Japan in the late 19th century.
The political position of the Joseon Dynasty had completely collapsed in the late 19th century, and the Korean scholars began to think about saving the survival of the people earlier. Avoiding being subject to Japan and even China is a big proposition, and Christianity has gradually become resistance and independence in their cognition, becoming the hope of the Korean version of the "New Culture Movement", and can even be said to be the only choice.
Unlike China and Japan, the modernization of the Korean Peninsula is basically equivalent to Christianization
After the beginning of the 20th century, the establishment of Korea was more closely related to the practice of Christianity. During the Japanese occupation, local intellectuals on the Korean Peninsula used Christianity as a cover to oppose the enslaved education of the Japanese. In various attempts to pursue independence, Christians have identified the common identity of revolutionaries, such as the righteous Ahn Jung-geun who assassinated Ito Hirobumi, who was a Catholic, and famous anti-Japanese people such as Kim Jiu also had a deep Christian background.
Syngman Rhee greatly admired Christianity, thus constructing the idea of defiance of China and anti-Japanese
After the partition of The Two Koreas after World War II, North Korea resolutely threw itself into the socialist camp, and Christians on the Korean Peninsula were further concentrated in South Korea, thus gaining ideological protection for the Christian faith of the South Korean people.
In the democratization movement in South Korea in the late 1980s, Christian churches that actively intervened in social reality also played an important role – which further consolidated the reputation and status of Christianity in Korea, making it the cornerstone of the nation-state of Korea today and an indispensable cultural memory of Koreans.
From the "Visiting the Holy Child" by the great Korean modern painter Kim Ki-chang
Today's Republic of Korea is not only the most deeply Christianized country in the East Asian world, but also one of the most missionary countries in the world. In impoverished and war-torn areas, you can often find Korean pastors, and Korean churches often organize groups to spread the gospel to China, and this enthusiasm may be second only to the Vatican and American clergy.
In Korea, pastoring is a high-end profession and is highly respected in society
In the famous Korean pop culture, Christian elements are also everywhere. For example, in recent years, the popular "Walking with God", "Black Priests", "Hell Minister" and other movies and TV series, we can guess the religious background when we hear the name, and "Miyang" and other literary and art films also continue to excavate various concepts of Christianity, covering the philosophical thinking of Koreans.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Shincheonji Religion (full name "Shincheonji Jesuit Evidence Tabernacle Temple Church") in Daegu, South Korea, also gives us a glimpse into the religious routine of the Korean people: although the cult's activities are now limited, its spread itself reflects the widespread Christian worship of Koreans, which is in line with China's "qigong fever" of the 1980s and 1990s, and is deeply rooted and difficult to eradicate.
South Korea's Shincheonji sect leader Lee Man-hee calls himself "contemporary Moses"
"God chose the second nation, the second Israel, after the Jews!" Today, Koreans flaunt their nation and country in this way. We also have reason to believe that in the near future the question of the place of origin of Jesus will be challenged, and Koreans will always have such energy and ambition, may the Lord bless.