Korean Christian Churches, the ibuk ch'ulsin Minority and the Perception of the North

• Published in: Journal of Korean religions Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 123 - 146
• Main Author: Rivé-Lasan, Marie-Orange
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute for the Study of Religion 01-10-2013; University of Hawai'i Press; 종교연구소
• Series: Institute for the Study of Religion, Sogang University, Korea
• Subjects: Anticommunism; Catholicism; Christianity; Churches; Clergy; Conservatism; History; Humanities and Social Sciences; Peninsulas; Protestantism; Religious buildings; Roman Catholic Church; Special Issue: North Korea and Religion; 종교학; South Korea; Christianism; Minority; Churches; North Korea
• ISSN: 2093-7288; 2167-2040; 2167-2040
• DOI: 10.1353/jkr.2013.0015

Some research has already been done regarding the importance of Christian churches in South Korea and their impact on the socio-political field. Nevertheless, the case of those Protestant churches that were imported from the North into the South in the suitcases of migrants around the period of the Korean War deserves special attention for several reasons. Firstly, networking among South Korean political actors originating from the northern part of the Korean peninsula was often done through these Christian churches, not only at the familial level but also at professional and political levels. Secondly, these migrants' particular ties with North Korea, which persist in spite of generational turnover, confers upon them a specific perception and idea about the North Korea from which they escaped. Between their will to protect themselves against the communist threat and their desire to help those North Koreans who were not as lucky as themselves, their vision regarding the North from the 1950s to the present has played a role in their actions as political actors in the South. Even though conservatism prevails, many of the activities undertaken in North Korea by South Koreans are done by Christian clergy.