There were around ten thousand Korean Catholics by then. Further purges committed by the authorities in 1815, 1827, and from 1866 to 1871 fostered an insular, fearful mentality among believers that still has some degree of influence on Korean Catholicism today. The religion remained underground until the 1870s and 1880s, when the Korean government began to seek better relations with Western powers and therefore curbed its policy of repression. In 1882, there were 12,500 believers—barely higher than in 1800—but by 1910, when Korea lost its independence to Japan, the number had grown to 73,000.
Protestants from America, Colonizers from Japan
Korea saw its first Protestant missionaries with the arrival from the United States of the Methodist Horace Allen in 1884 and Presbyterians Henry Appenzeller and Horace Underwood in 1885. There were already Korean Protestants when they arrived, though: a Scottish Presbyterian named John Ross living in Manchuria managed to produce a Korean translation of the New Testament in 1882, and this text had inspired some living in the northwest of Korea to convert.
This book was printed in Hangul, the Korean alphabet developed by King Sejong the Great in the mid-fifteenth century. Hangul is composed of twenty-four characters, and was envisioned as a very simple writing system that ordinary people could learn, in contrast to the complex hanja (Chinese characters) that Koreans had used exclusively until then, and of which only the social elite had a good command. Confucian and Buddhist texts were written in hanja but Western missionaries ensured that, when Christianity texts were translated into Korean, they were written in a script that everyone could understand. This was a very important factor in the spread of Christianity among the lower classes.
Soon after their arrival, Allen, Underwood, and Appenzeller established hospitals, schools, and universities, contributing materially to the development of the country. By 1890, the three had between them founded Baejae Boys High School and Ewha Girls School, among other schools, and later came Yonsei University. At one time, the Protestant church was the greatest provider of education in Korea. These institutions proved instrumental in spreading Protestantism and also gave rise to the notion that the new form of Christianity of the Americans was progressive, modern, and beneficial to the country. Thus, while Protestantism arrived in Korea much later than Catholicism, it quickly became the most popular form of Christianity: by 1910, it had 100,000 adherents.
1910 saw the beginning of one of the most bitter periods in Korean history. The Joseon state had been weak throughout the preceding century, because of persistent palace infighting and the maneuverings later in the century of foreign powers like Japan and Russia, which had designs on its territory. This left Korea vulnerable, and following several years of increasing Japanese influence over the peninsula Prime Minister Lee Wan-yong (in the absence of Emperor Sunjong, who refused to sign) stamped the national seal of Korea on the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty on August 22, 1910. Thus began thirty-five years of brutal colonial rule, which ended only with the defeat of Imperial Japan in 1945.
The period of Japanese rule was harsh for almost all Koreans, but it proved to be Korean Christianity’s finest hour. Almost from the beginning, the new religion was seen as part of the struggle against Japan. In 1912, 124 people were accused of being part of a plot to assassinate the Japanese governor general Terauchi Masatake; of them, 98 were Christian. The fact that only six were convicted may suggest that the Japanese authorities were looking for ways to clamp down on the Western faith. This incident helped create the impression that Japanese rule and Christianity were in opposition, a belief enhanced by the Japanese policy of instituting schools that competed with the Christian ones. These new schools taught in the language of the invader and forbade religious instruction.
On the first of March of 1919, a group of thirty-three activists convened at Taehwagwan, a restaurant in Seoul, to adopt a declaration of Korean independence drafted by Manhae, a poet, and Choi Nam-seon, an historian. They were encouraged in this in part by U.S. president Woodrow Wilson’s speech on self-determination, which had inspired them and gave them hope that the United States might come to Korea’s assistance against the Japanese occupiers. The activists signed the document, sent a copy to the Japanese governor general, and contacted the police, informing them of their actions. This immensely brave act stirred a protest movement that brought two million Koreans out onto the streets. The crackdown that ensued resulted in the deaths of 7,500 people and showed the world the true nature of Japanese rule in Korea.
Sixteen of the thirty-three signatories were Protestant, although Protestants made up no more than 2 percent of the population. In the aftermath of the declaration and protests, more than 20 percent of the people arrested were Protestant. Japanese reprisals were swift and bloody. Forty-seven churches were burned down, and thousands of Christians were killed, or imprisoned and tortured. The independence activists did not act completely in vain though: the repercussions eventually forced the governor general to resign, and his successor replaced military police with a civilian force and allowed a small amount of press freedom.
Most of the anti-Japanese resistance among Christians came from Protestants rather than Catholics. This was arguably due to the harsh history of Catholicism in Korea, which had bred a cautious, insular mentality. Some Protestants also did not see the value in fighting the oppressor. During the 1920s and ‘30s, two camps emerged in Korean Protestantism: one was a theologically liberal bloc that tended to be activist in opposing Japan, while the other was a conservative bloc that focused more on purely church-related matters and less on political activism. Likely due to the difficulty of striving against a harsh oppressor, the latter group made the greater gain in numbers during the period.
American Influence and the Boom Years
Imperial Japan was wary not only of the commitment of the Korean Christians but also of the fact that their religion was so deeply part of Western culture. Following liberation, division, and the birth of South Korea, Christian sects, particularly Protestant ones, benefited from their Western origins. Protestantism was seen as the religion of the Americans, the people whom elite Koreans came to believe they should emulate in order to be successful. The first president of the Republic, Syngman Rhee, was a Harvard-educated Americanophile English speaker who gave his name in Western fashion—given name first and surname second. He himself was a Methodist, and 39 percent of politicians in his Liberal Party were Christian.
Americans were considered modern, progressive, and rich. Their religion was also seen in that light. Forty-two percent of Koreans believe Protestantism the faith that was “most instrumental in the country’s modernization,” according to a 2004 study. After the end of World War Two and the Korean War, the United States provided a military backstop and plenty of aid, and the Korean government put up no impediment to the continued spread of the American religion. Indeed, the army was one of the main instruments for conversions. In addition, during its rebuilding after the Korean War, South Korea received plenty of Christian charity, which bolstered the positive image of this Western faith.
Throughout the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, there was a boom in conversions. It is common today to hear people say, “My grandparents were Buddhist, but I am a Christian.” In 1958, Protestants in South Korea numbered around eight hundred thousand; in 1968, there were just under two million; in 1978, there were just over five million; and today there are eleven million. Korean Protestants also tend to be fervent: a 1995 government survey found that 80 percent of Korean Protestants attend church at least once a week, with 40 percent going two or more times. There are also now three million Catholics, bringing the total proportion of the population who are Christian to well over a quarter.
Korean Protestantism has a mostly conservative orientation, though there are some liberal preachers. In the 1980s, groups like the Federation of Christian Youth for the Defense of Democracy campaigned vigorously against right-wing military dictator Chun Doo-hwan, and today, there are some prominent left-of-center preachers, like former government minister and Anglican priest Lee Jae-joung. There are far more right-of-center Protestants, however. There exists a Christian Council of Korea, presided over by leaders of conservative Protestant churches that sometimes campaigns for a tough policy