Abstract
Jibum Kim and Sori Kim provided key facts about the Korean religious landscape in the first 20 years of the twenty-first century, taking place after the remarkable growth of religions in the second half of the twentieth century. Joining the secularization debate mainly discussed in Western countries, they suggest that almost all religious items appear to indicate the weakening of religions, and not a single item points to strengthening. In other words, the period of growth of religion seems to have ended. In addition, they found that the change of official religion does not lead to an increase or decrease in nonofficial religion.
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Notes
- 1.
Starting in 1985, the Korean census performed every 10 years has asked one religious question about affiliation. The 2015 census results showed 15.5% Buddhists, 19.7% Protestants, 7.9% Catholics, and 56.1% no religion among the Korean population. These statistics puzzled many religious scholars and leaders because they are not consistent with previous census figures. For example, the percentage of Buddhists dropped from 22.9% in 2005 to 15.5%. This controversy was attributed to several factors including change of survey features, such as adoption of internet mode, in 2015, but this controversy was not fully resolved. Ultimately, the Korean Statistical office decided not to release the religious identification question in the census microdata.
- 2.
For more detailed history of Korean religion, see Huntley Grayson’s “Korea-A Religious History” (2002).
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
There is difference in the order of differences in religious affiliation and church/temple attendance between 2003–2004 and 2005–2018. In 2003–2004, religious affiliation is based on church attendance and then strength. But from 2005, church attendance was asked first, followed by affiliation and strength of affiliation.
- 6.
An article, “In South Korea fortune-telling will soon be a $3.7bn business,” in Economist (2018) reported that there are an estimated $3.7 billion worth of fortune-telling business including 300,000 fortune-tellers and 150,000 shamans. However, these figures are not based on reliable sources and might be overestimated.
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Kim, J., Kim, S. (2023). Religious Landscape in Korea. In: Kim, J. (eds) A Contemporary Portrait of Life in Korea. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5829-0_3
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