Religion in Korea - New Religions

New Religions

The fall of the Joseon Dynasty and the coming of the Japanese occupation spurred the formation of several new faiths. These typically drew on a combination of Western, Eastern, and autochthonous traditions. The most prominent is Cheondoism, which claimed more than a million members at its height in the early 20th century. Today Cheondoist believers make up less than 0.1% of the South Korean population. Other similar religions include Wonbuddhism, Taejonggyo and Jeung San Do.

Cheondoism (Way of Heaven School), generally regarded as the first of Korea's "new religions," is another important religious tradition. It is a synthesis of Neo-Confucian, Buddhist, Shamanist, Daoist, and Catholic influences. Cheondoism grew out of the Donghak (Eastern Learning) Movement established by Choe Je-u, a man of yangban (aristocratic) background who claimed to have experienced a mystic encounter with God, who told him to preach to all the world. Choe was executed by the government as a heretic in 1863, but not before he had acquired a number of followers and had committed his ideas to writing. Donghak spread among the poor people of Korea's villages, especially in the Jeolla region, and was the cause of a revolt against the royal government in 1894. While some members of the Donghak Movement – renamed Cheondoism (Teachings of the Heavenly Way) – supported the Japanese annexation in 1910, others opposed it. This group played a major role, along with Christians and some Confucians, in the Korean nationalist movement. In the 1920s, Cheondoism sponsored Kaebyok (Creation), one of Korea's major intellectual journals during the colonial period (see The Media, ch. 4).

Cheondoist basic beliefs include the essential equality of all human beings. Each person must be treated with respect because all people "contain divinity;" there is "Heaven in Humanity." Moreover, men and women must sincerely cultivate themselves in order to bring forth and express this divinity in their lives. Self-perfection, not ritual and ceremony, is the way to salvation. Although Choe and his followers did not attempt to overthrow the social order and establish a radical egalitarianism, the revolutionary potential of Cheondoism is evident in these basic ideas, which appealed especially to poor people who were told that they, along with scholars and high officials, could achieve salvation through effort. There is reason to believe that Cheondoism had an important role in the development of democratic and anti-authoritarian thought in Korea. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cheondoism's antecedent, the Donghak Movement, received renewed interest among many Korean intellectuals.

Apart from Cheondoism, major new religions included Taejonggyo, which has as its central creed the worship of Dangun, legendary founder of Gojoseon, thought of as the first proto-Korean kingdom. Jeungsando, founded in the early 20th century, emphasizes magical practices, the soon-coming end of world civilization as we know it due to cosmic-caused changes in the Earth's climate and other disasters, and the subsequent creation of a paradise on earth by its followers, who will survive the cataclysm. It is divided into several competing branches, at least one of which has notably modernized its approach and has recruited some non-Korean adherents. Wonbulgyo (Won Buddhism), attempts to combine traditional Buddhist doctrine with a modern concern for social reform and revitalization. There are also a number of small sects, which have sprung up around Gyeryong-san (Rooster-Dragon Mountain, always one of Korea's most-sacred areas) in South Chungcheong Province, the supposed future site of the founding of a new dynasty originally prophesied in the 18th century (or before).

Several new religions derive their inspiration from Christianity. The Cheondogwan, or Evangelical Church, was founded by Pak T'ae-son. Pak originally was a Presbyterian, but was expelled from the church for heresy in the 1950s after claiming for himself unique spiritual power. By 1972 his followers numbered as many as 700,000 people, and he built several "Christian towns," established a large church network, and managed several industrial enterprises.

Because of its overseas evangelism, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, or Unification Church (Tongilgyo), founded in 1954 by Reverend Sun Myung Moon (Mun Seon-myeong), also from a Christian background, is the most famous new Korean religion. During its period of rapid expansion during the 1970s, the Unification Church had several hundred thousand members in South Korea and Japan and a moderate number of members in North America and Western Europe. Moon has said that he is the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ and is fulfilling Jesus' unfinished mission. In 1988, Moon matched 2,500 Korean members with Japanese members for a Blessing ceremony held in Seoul, partly in order to promote unity between the two nations. A 2000 ceremony included couples in North Korea. Also like Pak, Moon has invested in economic ventures. Businesses in South Korea and abroad manufacture arms and process ginseng and seafood, artistic bric-a-brac, and other items. In 1999 Moon founded Pyeonghwa Motors, which does business in both South and North Korea, as well as in China, and is the North’s only automobile manufacturer.

In 1963 Moon founded the Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea which tours the world to attract positive attention to Korean culture and in particular to act as goodwill ambassadors for South Korea. Strongly anticommunist, Moon has sought to influence public opinion at home and abroad by establishing newspapers such as the Segye Ilbo in Seoul, the Sekai Nippo in Tokyo, and the Washington Times in the United States capital. In the 1970s and 1980s he invited academics to the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences and other conferences, often held in South Korea. In 1983 some American church members joined a public protest against the Soviet Union over its shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007. Apart from that, the church has used its substantial resources to support work towards Korean reunification. Moon is also an advocate of the proposed Japan Korea Tunnel. In South Korea, by the 1980s the Unification Church was viewed with suspicion by some authorities because of its scandals and accusations that it desired to create a "state within a state." In 2003, Korean Unification Church members started a political party in South Korea. It was named "The Party for God, Peace, Unification, and Home." In an inauguration declaration, the new party said it would focus on preparing for the reunification of the South and North Korea by educating the public about God and peace. A church official said that similar political parties would be started in Japan and the United States.