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Concept
Religion in South Korea
Summary
Religion in South Korea is diverse. A substantial number of South Koreans have no religion. Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism) and Buddhism are the dominant confessions among those who affiliate with a formal religion. Buddhism and Confucianism play an influential role in the lives of many South Korean people. Buddhism, which arrived in Korea in 372 AD, has thousands of temples built across the country.
According to Pew Research Center (2010), about 46% of the population have no religious affiliation, 23% are Buddhist and 29% are Christians. According to 2015 national census, 56.1% are irreligious, Protestantism represents (19.7%) of the total population, Korean Buddhism (15.5%), and Catholicism (7.9%). A small percentage of South Koreans (0.8% in total) are members of other religions, including Won Buddhism, Confucianism, Cheondoism, Daesun Jinrihoe, Islam, Daejongism, Jeungsanism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. According to a 2021 Gallup Korea poll, 60% identify with no religion, 17% with Protestantism, 16% with Buddhism, 6% with Catholicism, and 1% with other religions.
Buddhism was influential in ancient times and Christianity had influenced large segments of the population in the 18th and 19th century, yet they grew rapidly in membership only by the mid-20th century, as part of the profound transformations that South Korean society went through in the past century. But they have shown some decline from the year 2000 onwards. Native shamanic religions (i.e. Sindo) remain popular and could represent a large part of the unaffiliated. Indeed, according to a 2012 survey, only 15% of the population declared themselves to be not religious in the sense of "atheism". According to the 2015 census, the proportion of the unaffiliated is higher among the youth, about 64.9% among the 20-years old.
Korea entered the 20th century with an already ingrained Christian presence and a vast majority of the population practicing native religion, Sindo.
Official source
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