After Western pressure forced the Joseon government to open its ports, Korea's brilliant classical tradition became fundamentally unstable. Thus, the opening of ports signaled the transition from a classical to a modern society and led to a fundamental restructuring of Korean society and culture.

The opening to the West created a tremendous cultural shock, which led to three general reactions. The first was opposition, based on the conclusion that Western power and culture would destroy Korea's culture and social order. Most Joseon-era intellectuals, directly witnessing the destruction of China's social institutions and classical culture, naturally assumed this attitude. This anti-Western attitude has come to be seen as inherently conservative. The second was an attitude of positive acceptance, for some believed that in order to retrieve Joseon power, reforms had to be made based upon the acceptance of Western culture and social institutions. Intellectuals of this reformist disposition claimed that Koreans should learn about the West in order to overcome the impotence and backwardness of Asia. There has been an excessive tendency on the part of historians to see this reformist attitude as pro-Western. Third, there were those who wanted a selective acceptance of Western ways, rejecting Western culture and spirit but accepting its technology and institutions. This attitude appeared in the assertion that Asian spiritual culture was generally superior, while Western technology was more advanced. This attitude was put forth by a small group of Neo-Confucian thinkers around the end of the Joseon period, but their efforts could do little to alter the turbulent waves of modernization that were sweeping the country.

Attitude of Conservative Opposition

After the opening of ports, the attitude of conservative opposition has continued to manifest itself to the present day in two forms: classical Eastern religions such as Confucianism and Buddhism, and folk movements, including native Korean religions and nationalist forces.

Classical Eastern Religions

In Confucianism, the king originally acted as master of rites for all national rituals. Religious rituals and government administration were thus part of the same social institution. Within this system, regional administrators were likewise in charge of the rites of their region, and the father, as head of the household, acted as master of the rites of the family. However, following the demise of the Joseon Dynasty at the hands of imperial Japan at the turn of the 20th century, the king and regional administrators could no longer perform their respective roles as leaders of national and regional rituals. As a result, Confucian rites were only performed by families. This led to the impression that Confucianism was solely associated with family rituals. At the same time, Confucianism's old tradition of education was suddenly no longer recognized. The Japanese imperialists thus paralyzed Confucianism's traditional social functions of ritual and education. Thus, Confucianism, which in Korea had been used to oppose the Japanese, lost its visible function as an institutional religion and became an invisible set of social norms and ethical rules. The Japanese thus effectively disabled Confucian opposition to the occupation by eliminating the perception of Confucianism as a social entity. In spite of this historical setback, the basic norms and values governing interpersonal relationships continue to be based on a Confucian world-view in modern Korean society. Although Confucianism, as a social institution, was unable to participate in Korea's modernization, it clearly formed a value system and invisible bond that prevented Korean society from falling into disarray during the traumatic and chaotic process of modernization. In this sense, Confucianism formed the basis for the value system that made modernization possible, and it is one of the ancient cultural forms that is relevant in Korea.

After Korea's opening to the West, the problems that Buddhism encountered were more complex than those of Confucianism. With the opening of ports, Buddhism gained its freedom, only to encounter numerous problems. Internally, it had to deal with five centuries of decline, while externally it had to adjust to the ruthless pace of modernization. In addition, Japan brought married monks into Korea's celibate monastic order, which in effect, gave rise to internal discord within Korean Buddhism. It further aggravated the situation by promulgating an edict that the Japanese colonial government was responsible for the management of each temple along with its extensive assets. Even today, a half-century after liberation, the Korean Buddhist order has not been able to completely overcome the after-effects of this policy. In this sense, Korean Buddhism's preoccupation with internal problems affecting the order has left it no time to deal directly with the rapid process of modernization. Even so, Korean Buddhism has undergone rapid growth in terms of organization following Korea's rapid economic expansion during the mid-1980s. As a result, it is beginning to have an active influence on society. Korean Buddhism has become aware of its role as a social entity representing classical East Asian culture and tradition in opposition to Western culture, and has thus begun to function in this capacity.

Nationalism

As discussed above, Confucianism and Buddhism have played the most conspicuous roles among those conservative forces opposed to Westernization. However, Korean nationalism is just as important as a strong conservative force of the modern era. In general, nationalism has appeared in the guise of either religious or intellectual movements.

Religious Movements: Following Choe Su-un's Donghak movement in 1860, countless new religions appeared in Korea. Donghak means "Eastern Learning" and as the name implies, it was an Eastern religion embodying the Korean spirit, in opposition to Christianity which had come from the West. Donghak's central teaching was embodied in its Gaebyeok (Opening) ideology. Gaebyeok was a cosmic chronology which claimed that a new era was beginning. In the West, cosmic changes typically signaled a conclusion, but in the East, they represented a new creation or "Gaebyeok." According to Donghak, Gaebyeok heralded the advent of a new utopia which would be centered around the Korean Peninsula and its people. Donghak ideology thus fostered a nationalistic faith that culminated in the Donghak Rebellion-a defining event in Korea's modernization. Moreover, Donghak played a pivotal role in maintaining this nationalistic consciousness, leading up to the March First Independence Movement of 1919. Donghak's Gaebyeok ideology later became the philosophical model for Korea's new indigenous religions, such as Jeungsan-gyo and Won Buddhism. During the 1930s, these religions were already referring to themselves as "Korean Folk Religions," and they continue to do so even today.

After Korea was colonized by Japan in 1910, Korea's ancient culture and national identity reappeared in the guise of these nationalistic religious movements. These became the central forces in the struggle against the occupation. The Donghak religion, which had by then been renamed Cheondo-gyo, headed the March First Independence Movement, and thus became the fundamental domestic force behind the anti-Japanese struggle. Another new religion by the name of Daejonggyo moved its headquarters to Manchuria where it became the main procurer of recruits and funds for anti-Japanese guerrilla forces. In fact, Daejonggyo coordinated the famous Cheongsan-ri attack in south-east Manchuria in which resistance fighters crushed a vastly superior Japanese force. It was also the leading organization in Korea's provisional government in Shanghai.

In his Gaebyeok teachings concerning the advent of a new cosmic order, Gang Jeung-san had predicted the eventual downfall of the Japanese. His followers, having faith in his religious prophecies, were thus able to find courage in the face of Japanese tyranny. In this way, Jeungsan-gyo, through its religious mysticism, gave Koreans a sense of pride. Even today, devotees of more than two-hundred traditional religions can be found at famous mountains across the nation. There, they devote their entire lives to religious practice in preparation for the utopian society which will be brought on by Gaebyeok. The devotees who support these religious hermits are convinced that a healthy Korean society must be based on a sense of independence as a people. As long as these religious hermits and believers exist, Korea's folk religions will continue to perform an important function to curb the general historical trend towards Westernization.

Intellectual Movements: Academic circles, centered around so-called Korean studies (i.e. Korean history and language), traditional arts and mass media, formed the second force behind Korean nationalism. By the late-Joseon period, a national enlightenment movement, which combined nationalist ideologies and faiths, had already formed outside the scope of Confucianism. This movement first manifested itself as a religious movement, but then appeared as a diverse intellectual movement promoting awareness of Korean culture's unique identity. Key spokesmen for this movement were Sin Chae-ho (1880-1936), who promoted an enlightened, nationalistic perspective within historical studies, and Ju Si-gyeong, who promoted Korean language studies.

The central objective of the nationalist movement was not so much a rejection of Westernization, but the advancement of national identity. Hence, its primary objective was to achieve independence from Japan. Yet the movement knew that in order to obtain political autonomy, it first had to promote Korea's cultural independence. For this reason, the nationalist movement demanded, before anything else, the preservation and restoration of Korea's traditional culture. Within this context, the religious movement, which emphasized the sacred character of Korean culture, and the intellectual movement, which sought to advance Korean studies, formed a complementary relationship. Thus, theories of ancient Korean history as exposed by nationalist historians became the philosophical foundation of the indigenous religious movements of the early twentieth century.

Positive Acceptance of Western Thought

There were those who believed that the chaos following the opening of ports could be overcome through the positive acceptance of Western culture. Those who held this open attitude towards reform can be divided into two camps: those who accepted Western culture through faith in Christianity and those who wanted to appropriate secular thought and institutions from the West. However, these two approaches initially were not clearly distinguishable. The blending of these two approaches is particularly evident when we look at the introduction of Catholicism to Korea. As we shall see below, the history of Christianity in Korea, whether it be that of Catholicism or Protestantism, is a truely wonderous development.

Catholicism: The Korean Catholic church was established on the initiative of Koreans before foreign missionaries entered the country. This may make Korea unique within the entire history of Christianity. Korean Catholicism began when a group of young Confucian scholars by the name of Yi Byeok, Kwon Il-sin and Yi Ga-hwan along with Jeong Yak-jong and his two brothers converted to Catholicism after reading Catholic doctrinal texts that had been sent from Beijing. In 1783, Yi Seung-hun was sent to Beijing where he became the first to receive baptism. On his return to Korea, he and the other converts established Korea's first Catholic church at the residence of Kim Beom-u in Seoul. After this amazing beginning, Korean Catholics were severely persecuted and many martyred by the government due to their refusal to participate in ancestral rites. Eventually, with the signing of a friendship treaty with the United States in 1882, Korean Catholics gained freedom to carry out church activities.

In May of 1984 during the bicentennial commemoration of Korean Catholicism, Pope John Paul II canonized 103 of Korea's martyrs, making the country fourth in the world in the total number of saints. In the past two centuries of miraculous development, the Korean Catholic church has brought to Korean society the gist of Western spiritual culture developed from the Middle Ages to the present. In particular, the diverse social-welfare projects undertaken by the church's various orders have made an invaluable contribution to modern Korean society. The Protestant church has replanted modern Western culture on Korean soil through its numerous schools and medical facilities, but it is the Catholic church, providing service with an attitude of silent obedience to God, that has provided a spiritual model fully embraced by the Korean people. This attitude of service served as a source of strength during the political upheavals of the 1980s. At this time, the Catholic church, by providing sanctuary to dissidents, became the de facto representative of the Korean conscience. In the future, the Catholic church will undoubtedly continue to serve as a key spiritual authority.

Protestantism: The history of Protestantism in Korea began with Horace Allen, an American Presbyterian (Northern) missionary who arrived in Korea in 1884. Horace G. Underwood of the same denomination and the Methodist Episcopal (North) missionary, Henry G. Appenzeller, came from the United States the next year. From the beginning, Protestant missions simultaneously performed evangelical and social work. By establishing the country's first Western medical clinics and introducing a modern school system, these missionaries played a leading role in bringing the modern social institutions of the West into Korean society. The results of their efforts are manifold. For example, many modern national leaders came out of schools operated by the missionaries. These leaders, with their international perspective, were able to develop an anti-Japanese independence movement during the occupation. In addition, through these missionaries' efforts, many Koreans converted to Christianity, including Syngman Rhee (the first President after liberation) and much of his cabinet.

Korean Protestantism grew at a remarkable pace. From the time when missionaries first entered Korea to the present, Korean society has been plagued by an endless series of upheavals. Korean society has had to struggle to survive within the rapidly changing international situation, and in order to survive, it has had to adapt itself to the new environment. The only organization that could realistically claim to ensure both Korea's survival as a people (as emphasized by nationalists) and adaptation to the times (as emphasized by reformers) was the Protestant church. After all, it was Protestantism that served as the exclusive channel for exchanges between the Korean people and the societies of America, Canada and Europe. Through this channel, Koreans were able to maintain international support for the independence movement and learn about Western culture and social institutions. Thus, Korean society did not feel opposition toward Protestantism, but instead, hoped to use it as a guide toward social reform. These circumstances were unique to Korea, and for this reason, Protestantism was able to grow more rapidly in Korea than in any other East Asian country.

At present, Korea's Protestant churches have more than 10 million members. This amounts to more than 20 percent of the entire population. Korea is probably the only country where one finds churches with daily prayer meetings at 4 a.m., a fact which demonstrates the ardent enthusiasm of the Korean Protestant community. The Protestant church is the most active religious organization in Korea, and it is also an active social organization. As a result, the Korean church has taken on the historical responsibility for the future of Korean society.

In this way, Korean Christianity, consisting of both Catholicism and Protestantism, has assumed a vital role in the modernization of Korean society. However, its social role has been restricted since the 1960s as a result of Korean society's rapid industrialization. There are several reasons for this. First, in an industrial society, corporations and government, instead of churches, play the main role in international relations, while universities are the key source of ideas on social reform. Moreover, education institutions look to the government for support. Second, Christianity still does not have firm roots in the cultural traditions of Korea, a country which has long been influenced by East Asia's classical culture and its own unique traditions. These two factors indicate that the social reformation brought on by Christianity since the mid-1980s has inherent limitations. Thus, a new paradigm is now required to further deal with the cultural trauma and after-effects brought on by Korea's opening to the West.

The attitude of complete acceptance of Western thought represents, in effect, an attempt to learn about the West. In particular, this attitude became deeply rooted in Korean society as Korean students returned from studies in America and Europe.

In Korea, these students entered many diverse fields, helping to plan and promote Korea's industrial development. As a result, Korea has become a competitive society centered around growth-a society that tends to overlook social justice, virtue or the environment.

Reform and development are undertaken for specific goals, and these goals must embody a healthy system of values. For this reason, progress should be value-oriented. Korea, in its imitation of the West, has copied the external institutions without looking at the value system inherent in the West's industrial structure, and this has resulted in confusion. Especially during the 1990s, the various sectors of Korean society have been reflecting on this problem.

Multireligious Society

The approach advocating a selective acceptance of Western ways begins with the Confucian scholars of the late-Joseon period. These thinkers held that the East was proficient in the "Do" (Way) while the West had technical know-how. This view was particularly developed by early progressives such as Yu Gil-jun (1856-1914). Adherents of this view, believed that Eastern spiritual values were superior, but that Western technology and institutions were more advanced; therefore, the East should only accept those things which it lacked. This attitude represented a transitional approach, and was soon pushed aside by an approach calling for full-scale acceptance of Western culture. Even so, in Korea, this attitude of selective acceptance is still a common intellectual position.

As seen before, this kind of cultural-specific attitude towards the acquisition of foreign culture is apparent when looking at the wall paintings of Goguryeo tombs. The Goguryeo people accepted the expanding classical Chinese culture along with its mythology; however, they expressed this mythology according to their own aesthetic sense. This approach signifies the beginning of a critical attitude towards culture. This critical and independent stance is also clearly evident among the Neo-Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty. These scholars, noting that the classical spirit of Confucianism had already disappeared in Qing China and thus only remained in Korea, referred to Korea as "Small China." While accepting the fact that Korea was militarily under the influence of the Qing, they proudly maintained that Korea was culturally at the center of East Asia. Thus, an attitude of selective acceptance is a legacy that has endured since Goguryeo times, through the Joseon period to the present. Yet, this attitude has not been able to shield Korea from the turbulent waves of history. Korean society has thus been caught up in the currents of world history until now. Even so, Koreans have managed to carefully assimilate the world's cultural heritage within the context of their own cultural sentiments and traditions.

From the above discussion, we have seen how a diverse range of religions and value systems, including Korea's unique sense of identity, classical Asian religions such as Confucianism and Buddhism as well as Christianity and modern ideologies from the West, have coexisted in Korea. Thus, since ancient times, Korea has thus been a multi-religious society, but it was only in the 20th century that this took on any great significance.

One more aspect of Korea's multireligious society that deserves mention is folk beliefs, including shamanism. Korean folk beliefs still exist in many diverse forms, and thus have a strong influence on everyday life. For example, many people travel on dates that are traditionally held to be auspicious, with the result that big cities often become chaotic during this time. These folk beliefs are still very much alive in farming and fishing villages. Among folk traditions, shamanism is the most prominent. Nobody knows the number of shamanist devotees in Korea, but at present, there are well over 50,000 fee-paying members of shamanist organizations throughout the country. In other words, the number of shamans in Korea far exceeds the number of Protestant ministers. Moreover, Korea is a country in which dazzling shaman rituals still take place. Yet, religious surveys typically fail to include the shamanist population.

Korean society is presently a unique multireligious society. Confucian ethics dominate the daily life of Koreans, and hyanggyo, Confucian educational institutions, are found scattered throughout the country. At every scenic spot, there is a Buddhist monastery, and most of the nation's tangible cultural assets are Buddhist. Yet when entering any Korean city, one is immediately impressed by the number of Protestant churches. During the 1980s, Catholic churches have served as the representative of the conscience of Korean society. At present, Buddhists and Protestants, respectively, make up about 20 percent of the population, while Catholics make up around four percent. Thus, about 25 percent of the population are Christians. Thus, Korea is the most actively Christian society in East Asia. In addition to these groups, there are numerous shamanism devotees, new religions and, in particular, Confucianists, who are still not represented in religious surveys. For this reason, Korea's religious population is much larger than superficial survey-counts indicate.

In addition, an Imam attached to the Turkish army (one of the 16 U.N. forces which participated in the Korean War) introduced Islam to Korea. Through his efforts, some Koreans worshiped with the Turkish soldiers and converted to Islam. In 1966, a Korean Islamic organization was formed and in the same year, a mosque was erected in Seoul. Since then, seven more have been established. There are now more than twenty-thousand Moslems in Korea.

Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are the representative world religions which have made a decisive contribution to the formation of the various aspects of world culture. Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity, in particular, respectively represent the classical cultures of China, India and Western monotheism. Although these religions all coexist in Korea, at present none of them is able to represent Korean culture.

In addition, since the prehistoric period, shamanism, diverse folk beliefs and countless indigenous religions have developed in Korea. As a result, Korea has an abundance of religious holidays, i.e. New Years, which are celebrated according to both the solar and lunar calendars, Buddha's Birthday, Chuseok (the Harvest Festival), Gaecheonjeol (Foundation Day) and Christmas. Korea is probably the only country in the world to have such a diverse range of religious holidays.

Other multireligious societies live under the threat of disintegration, but Korea's diverse religions have managed to coexist since ancient times. During Korea's long history, dynastic change has been brought about under the name of religion, but religion has never led to the division of the people. Even among Koreans today, there is nobody who wants to divide the Korean people on religious grounds. To this extent, Korean's homogeneity is considered to be more important to Koreans than any religious value.

From mythical times onwards, Koreans have been confident about their unique identity as a people. On the other hand, Koreans have zealously imported foreign culture. By looking at these seemingly divergent aspects of their culture as complementary, Koreans have been able to develop a creative culture and philosophy. Ideologically, when a synthesis of divergent aspects has been reached, harmony prevails. For this reason, Koreans' creative efforts, regardless of which form they take, always culminate with the ideal of harmony.

From ancient times, this harmonious spirit has enabled Koreans to maintain their cultural identity while actively introducing culture from the rest of the world. Classical Confucian and Buddhist culture has gloriously upheld its prestigious position in Korean society, and Christianity is alive and well. Through Buddhist art, aspects of ancient Greek culture are still alive, and the cultures from the nomadic peoples of Central Asia have established deep roots in Korea as well. In this sense, Korea serves as a repository of the world's classical cultures.

In the 1960s, Korean society entered the path towards industrialization. Since then, numerous universities and research institutes have competitively acquired modern thought. As a result, Korean society now embraces the cultural traditions of both the East and West. Western technology, modern social thought and the Christian faith are no longer seen as foreign. Within the East Asian sphere of traditional cultures, Korea represents the greatest success of Christian Evangelism. In this sense, Western culture has been assimilated by Korean culture. This harmonization of diverse cultural elements is a legacy from the ancient past that gives Koreans confidence to meet the changes of the modern world. Yet, it must be kept in mind that Koreans did not begin to actively acquire modern thought until the 1960s, so time is required before they can recreate modern thought in a Korean form.

A multicultural society easily slides into chaos. Moreover, the Korean people have passed the last half century amid continual, violent social upheavals. Within this turmoil, Korea has not yet been able to overcome conditions forced upon it by history. For this reason, Korea is often seen by outsiders as an unstable and aggressive society that is inherently chaotic. However, the problems that Korea faces are actually a miniature version of the shrinking "global village." In this sense, Korean efforts to solve their own problems may also lead to solutions for the world at large. Koreans, with their unique history, have thus assumed an important role in the history of mankind.