Events

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Francis Lim, Division of Sociology at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

ABSTRACT

The presentation examines the way in which ‘religion’ is defined in the Korean modern. The author argues that contemporary global processes conditioned the way in which the category of religion was used in 20th century Korea. The incorporation of East Asia into the modern world has resulted in not only the failure to establish a single Korean state, but also the rise of ‘religion’ in this region. The remarkable growth of religious population in the Korean society was, in large part, due to its image and contribution as a model of ‘modern spirit’, to the building of Korea as a modern nation. It is asked why in Korea ‘religion’ was generally regarded as constitutive of the making of the nation while in China and Japan it is negatively conceptualized as contradicting the nation-building processes. Rather than denounced as the symbol of pre-modernity, irrationality, and imperialism, what was called religion in Korea was equated with resisting colonialism and communism as well as contributing to the enlightenment and democratization. The author describes how the interactions between religious traditions and the establishment of secular political state determine what counts as religion in Korea.

This research is also intended to demonstrate that since the 1980s an entry of Korea into post-Cold War world has given rise to a negative conceptualization of religion in South Korea. There is a growing skepticism that religion may foster parochial attitudes against the nation’s new strategies of development in the late-modern global context. The recent politicization and globalization of Korean religions reflects the extent of insecurity stemming from Korea’s shifting place in a newly globalized East Asia. Religion makes the re-entry of Korea into the late-modern world more dynamic and sometimes even unforseeable.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Cho Kyuhoon received his BA (Religious Studies) from Hanshin University in Korea, and MA (Religious Studies) and PhD (Religious Studies) from the University of Ottawa in Canada. He was a teaching assistant in the University of Ottawa, and his work falls within the field of the Sociology of Religion with a focus on Korean religion and society in the historical process of globalisation. Specifically, his research interests include the conceptualization of the category ‘religion’ in modern Korea, the public role of Buddhism and Christianity in a globalised Korea, the religious system of North Korea, and religion as an alternative communication system in modern global Asia.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP Mr Jonathan Lee via email: jonathan.lee@nus.edu.sg