How a grassroots movement turned Korea into a global powerhouse of Christian missions

Nature · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Christianity in Korea began not with foreign missionaries, but as an indigenous lay movement among Confucian scholars. Today, South Korea is the world's second-largest exporter of Christian missionaries, trailing only the United States. This rapid transformation reshaped the nation's education, politics, and its very identity in the modern era.

Christianity first arrived in Korea during the late Joseon Dynasty through theological texts brought from Beijing by politician Yi Su-gwang in 1603. Initially, the faith was viewed as a subversive threat to Confucian order, leading to severe persecution, including the 1866 Catholic Persecution where 8,000 adherents were killed. Despite this, the religion spread rapidly because it was adopted as a grassroots movement by Silhak scholars who valued its egalitarian principles. By the 1780s, these early converts were already organizing their own prayer houses and using the Hangul script to disseminate teachings, which significantly boosted national literacy rates.

The 20th century saw Christianity become deeply intertwined with Korean nationalism, particularly during the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. Many Christians resisted Japanese cultural assimilation, including the forced worship of the Emperor, which solidified the faith's reputation as a patriotic force. This legacy continued into the post-war era, where Christian leaders played pivotal roles in the struggle for democracy. Figures like Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung utilized Minjung theology—a framework that blends the biblical "image of God" with the Korean concept of han, or collective suffering—to oppose military regimes and advocate for human rights.

Following the Korean War, the nation experienced a "Conversion Boom" that saw the Christian population surge. By 2024, approximately 31% of South Koreans identified as Christian. This growth was accompanied by the establishment of nearly 300 schools and 40 universities, cementing the religion's influence on the country's modernization. However, the 21st century has brought new challenges. Protestantism, in particular, has faced declining membership due to internal scandals, fundamentalist conflict with other religions like Buddhism, and public backlash against political involvement by church groups. Despite these domestic tensions, the country remains a massive hub for global evangelism, with some 20,000 missionaries sent abroad by 2009.

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