Dr. Sungho Lee is professor of historical theology in the Korean Theological Seminary (KTS), South Korea

Religious persecution may have become an unfamiliar term in Korea. Religious freedom is fully protected by laws and thus Christians have no fear of being persecuted for their faith. Although the church is said to be in decline, there are still so many churches and over 8 million Christians in Korea according to a recent poll. However, it is almost impossible to talk about the Korean church without mentioning its history of persecution. Persecution has always been present throughout the history of the church, and the same is true for Korean churches. In this article, I would like to explain some historical religious persecutions in Korea in three major aspects. First, there was persecution of Roman Catholics by the Joseon dynasty, based on Confucianism, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Second, there was persecution of Protestants by the Japanese government during the colonial period (1910-1945). Lastly, there was persecution of Protestants by Communists, primarily during the Korean War.

The first religious persecution in Korea dates back to the Joseon Dynasty. In the mid-eighteenth century, some radical scholars who sought to reform and western­ize the Korean government began eagerly studying the Western knowledge including Christianity. After care­fully reading the doctrinal books and the Bible, some of them converted to Roman Catholicism by themselves without any help from foreign missionaries. Later, the collective Catholic faith was discovered among the doc­trinal research group during the winter of 1777, led by Kwon Cheol-sin and Jeong Yak-jeon. As gatherings of Catholic believers became more active, the Joseon gov­ernment also began to monitor this movement closely. A devout Roman Catholic, Kim Beom-woo, was discov­ered destroying and burying some precious objects in the ancestral rites and was subsequently arrested. After enduring severe tortures, he and his comrades were ex­ecuted, becoming the first martyrs of the Joseon Catho­lic Church. The Korean Catholics were relieved of per­secutions after the Pope permitted ancestral worship. Today, conservative Protestants are still taught by their pastors not to participate in ancestral worship, which often draws criticisms from non-Christians.

Afterwards, the Catholic Church in Korea developed further through the efforts of Father Zhou Wenmo, who came from China. However, the Joseon government felt threatened by the growth of the Roman Catholic Church and began to suppress it on a large scale. While the tar­get of persecution was previously the middle class and lower class, it expanded to the noble class. In addition, a series of persecutions occurred across many regions. A representative incident is the Shinyu Persecution that occurred in 1801, during which it is known that more than 300 Catholics were martyred. But, the persecution did not stop there. The Gihae Persecution, which be­gan in May 1839, and its extension, the Byeongo Per­secution, caused the Catholic Church in Korea to lose about 100 more believers, including priests. The final and largest persecution in 1866 resulted in over 8,000 martyrs. Despite the severe persecutions, the number of the Roman Catholics continued to grow. The long per­secution stopped, and Protestant missionaries were able to come freely to Korea after the government changed her foreign policy from isolation to openness.

Another important persecution in Korea occurred during the Japanese colonial period. Japan took over Korea’s sovereignty in 1905 and completely annexed it in 1910. However, religious persecution of the Korean church did not occur immediately at that time. Because Japan felt uncomfortable with missionaries and Chris­tian believers in Korea, it kept a constant watch on the church.

An important incident worth mentioning here is the Jeam-ri massacre, which is related to the March 1st Movement, a large-scale, peaceful independence move­ment that took place in 1919. The Japanese soldiers massacred about 30 villagers in Jeam-ri after gathering them at Jeam-ri Church. The soldiers closed the church door, set the building on fire, and shot people who tried to escape. This terrible atrocity was reported and publi­cized by courageous missionaries in Korea.

The blatant persecution of Korean Christians in­creased with Japan’s forced worship at Shinto shrines. The Japanese initiated the Manchurian Conquest in 1931 and began imposing the Shinto shrine worship throughout Korea, which served as ideological basis for the Japanese imperialism. Most Korean churches were unable to withstand Japan’s pressure and ended up com­plying. To justify visiting the shrine, some argued that it was a state ceremony rather than a religious issue. They even interpreted the Ten Commandments in a manner completely different from the traditional interpretation, suggesting that the first commandment, along with oth­ers, applied only to the Jews.

The protesters against the decision of the general assembly, which approved the Shintoism, defined it as clear idolatry. They formed solidarity with each other and developed an organized and collective resistance movement. Naturally, they had no choice but to become targets of severe persecution by the Japanese govern­ment. Pastor Joo Ki-cheol, the most influential leader of this movement, attracted the attention of the Japa­nese government from the early stage. Pastor Joo open­ly opposed shrine worship, risking martyrdom, and was imprisoned for seven years before ultimately being martyred in prison. In addition, over 2,000 protestants were imprisoned, over 200 churches were closed, and over 50 people were martyred for refusing to visit Jap­anese shrines.

Unfortunately, the Korean Presbyterian Church failed to discipline those who participated in the Shinto worship after the liberation. They refused the official repentance decreed by the general assembly and shame­lessly insisted that personal and individual repentance is sufficient for full forgiveness from God. Furthermore, they finally expelled from the church the protesters who cried out for discipline. This led to the first schism in the history of the Korean Presbyterian Church in 1952, while the war was still ongoing! They did not consider the war as God’s judgment against apostasy.

Another form of religious persecution occurred un­der the Communist regime after liberation, as they were materialist and thus strongly opposed all kinds of re­ligious beliefs. What I would like to draw particular attention to here is the persecution during the Korean War, which took place five years after the liberation. The cruel persecution by the North Korean People’s Army was widespread and intensive during the war, as they temporarily occupied South Korea before eventu­ally retreating. One example is the case of Byeongchon Church, where 66 believers lost their lives in the same place at the hands of the retreating North Korean Peo­ple’s Army. According to research results, it is known that over 1,000 Christian victims were sacrificed by the North Korean People’s Army during the Korean War.

Today, physical persecution as described above is not prevalent in the Korean church. However, a more se­rious challenge to the church is the temptation of the world. Although this may be a global phenomenon, the strong waves of secularization and materialism, which have encroached on Korean society, are also penetrat­ing the Korean church. As a result, the gospel message proclaimed from the pulpit is being diluted, and young people and children, who are descendants of the cove­nant, continue to leave the church.

If the Korean church fails to respond appropriately to these temptations, the resulting damage could be great­er than physical persecution. This is truly a time when the Korean church is desperately in need of the grace of the Lord. We must pray that the Lord, who has pro­tected and established the Korean Church from physical persecution, will likewise save the Korean Church from today’s crisis.