Religion in Korea

I was about to watch a horror movie on tv Sunday night. The disclaimer before the film read
“Warning”
“Not Recommended for Children or People With Strong Religious Convictions.”

So I was wondering who would’ve changed the channel at that point. There were no English subtitles so I was one of them.

Every couple of days I meet a very religious person in Korea – usually Christian. In fact, they’re really the only people who talk to me in the street or on the subway.

They begin by asking a few general questions – to suggest that they might be interested in my life and where I come from.

But friendly gestures are coming straight from the textbook. Sure enough, they waste no time in getting to their point about wanting me to love Jesus.

I’ve heard that, in some cases, the missionary work can be a front for those who just want an opportunity to “practice their English with foreigners”. They are definitely out in large numbers on a Sunday in Itaewon – the international neighborhood in Seoul.

Even people who aren’t aggressive missionaries tell me I should go to church – to make friends in Korea and get work - finding private English students.

It’s true that if you’re not involved in the church or if you don’t spend most of your nights drinking in bars, you can get lost somewhere in the middle in Korea.

Depending on what tourist book you read, Korea is now anywhere from 25-40% Christian.

Part 2

Buddhists are unmistakable in Korea. I see them on the subway with shaved heads, grey outfits and nikes.

A couple of times, Buddhists have asked me for money in the street, offering me a little card about the size of a playing card with a prayer inscribed on it in Chinese characters. I was told not to give money to these people.

As a general rule for now, I am not giving money to anyone religious. I do drop change in the blind man’s dish on the subway.

There are, of course, communities of legitimate Buddhists here in Seoul. There are temples in the city here, but most are buried out in the mountains. There was a time when Buddhists were banned from entering the gates of Seoul.

I must say that anyone who is looking for the peace and serenity to write poetry in downtown Seoul has certainly got his work cut out for him. And hats of to ‘em if they can do it.

For that matter, even in the mountains, it can’t be that easy to meditate with a steady stream of tourists flowing through the temples with their cameras. The monks must just have weekends and holidays marked on their calendars as a spiritual time out.

It is quite a hard journey getting to the temples. They’re buried deep in the mountains. So I figure a lot of the tourists may actually be Korean Buddhists themselves, visiting from the city – which is not really intrusive.

I have heard that some Koreans do temple stays for long periods to concentrate on their studies – like while finishing a thesis or whatever.

Part 3

When I worked at a private language school (hagwon) here two years ago, I was having problems with the management.

The manager was basically a bitch to everyone in the school and was stubbornly convinced that a kindergarten and junior school ought to be run like an international Korean company. She was three feet tall with a big mouth, 40 some years old, unmarried and living with her father, and highly confrontational at work.

She was unsatisfied with everyone’s work and seemed to believe that berating the teachers daily was part of a manager’s duty. She’d always have her “list of demands”. Never a day went by without a shouting match in the hallway.

She didn’t like speaking English and wasn’t comfortable around foreigners. Weekly staff meetings were essentially lectures that the Canadian teachers were not invited to. But we were certainly the topic of conversation.

So why was she running an English junior school? When I put this question to the owner, I was told that she was a “good Christian”.

When I asked the other Korean teachers why they put up with her crap day in and day out, they told me “she’s a good Christian”.

This left me a bit confused by what constitutes a good Christian. And why it seems to be a “get out of jail free” card for people at work.

The secretary held the place together, diffused every crisis and won my vote for best christian.

Part 4

I eventually gave my notice at the school and informed them that I would be moving on. Teachers have to give 2 months notice in Korea. This gives the school plenty of time to persuade you to change your mind.

One of the first things they did was to buy me dinner.

The next thing they did was hire a new assistant manager. She was young, beautiful and single. Since we were all refusing to speak to the manager, a big part of her job was to be a liason between the manager and the Canadian “problem” teachers, relaying messages.

Getting to know her, she told me that she’d been a practicing Buddhist her entire life, like her parents and grandparents, but had just recently converted to Christianity. She said that she’d found Jesus.

I asked her how that could’ve come about. She said that she’d been working in reception at another branch school when Mrs. Kim (the director) asked her to go along with her to mass. She agreed to try it. This coincided with her promotion to management. They began going to mass three times a week together.

Part 5

There’s been a lot of talk about Christian missionary work here in Korea lately, since the hostages were taken in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

Naturally, the national sentiment is very sympathetic. Everyone is concerned. But some of the articles I read in the paper were harshly critical of them, asking the obvious questions like “what were they thinking?” thoughts which are relevant but probably inappropriate at the moment – considering they’re still being held captive and their families are worried sick.

Two of the hostages have been killed. Two have been set free and are now safely back in Korea. The fate of the others is still up in the air and doesn’t look very promising.

The Korean government is negotiating with money. But alas, there are some things that money cannot buy.

Part 6

This Christian group, whose members were kidnapped on their humanitarian mission to Afghanistan, actually began years ago as a group helping North Koreans defect to South Korea – basically getting them here from China.

In the process of helping the defectors settle here, they gave them the good word.

Some North Korean defectors who arrived and became Christians actually returned (or were sent?) to the North to spread the message of Jesus.

Religious worship is strictly forbidden in North Korea, unless you’re worshipping the Great Kim Jong Il, and the penalties are harsh. So some of these returning converts ended up with death sentences or were sent to prison hard labor camps.

The South Korean government is not particularly happy about humanitarian groups trying to help defectors, for many reasons. For one, defector or spy? Can you ever be sure?

And also there’s the fact that getting people out of North Korea one by one across the border isn’t exactly a solution to the problem. Getting North Koreans out of North Korea is nowhere near the objective.

I think we could probably squeeze a few more people into Seoul. But it’s getting tight.