There are no known official statistics of religions in North Korea. Officially, North Korea is an atheist state, although its constitution guarantees free exercise of religion, provided that religious practice does not introduce foreign forces, harm the state, or harm the existing social order. Based on estimates from the late 1990sChryssides, Geaves. 2007. p. 110 and the 2000s,Alton, 2013. p. 79. As of 2005 the agency "Religious Intelligence UK" estimated 3,846,000 believers of Korean shamanism, 3,245,000 Chondoists, 1,082,888 Buddhists, 406,000 Christians, and the rest non-believers.Association of Religion Data Archives: North Korea: Religious Adherents, 2010 . Data from the World Christian Database. North Korea is mostly irreligious, with the main religions being Shamanism and Chondoism. There are small communities of Buddhists and Christians. Chondoism is represented in politics by the Party of the Young Friends of the Heavenly Way, and is regarded by the government as Korea's "national religion" because of its identity as a minjung (popular) and "revolutionary anti-imperialist" movement.
History Before 1945 In ancient times, most Koreans believed in their indigenous religion socially guided by mu (shamans). Buddhism was introduced from the Chinese Former Qin state in 372 to the northern Korean state of Goguryeo,Asia For Educators: Korea, 300 to 600 CE. Columbia University, 2009. and developed into distinctive Korean forms. At that time, the Korean peninsula was divided into three kingdoms: the aforementioned Goguryeo in the north, Baekje in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast. Buddhism reached Silla only in the 5th century, but it was made the state religion only in that kingdom in the year 552. In Goguryeo, the Korean indigenous religion remained dominant, while Buddhism became more widespread in Silla and Baekje (both areas comprehended in modern South Korea).
In the following unified state of Goryeo (918–1392), that developed from Goguryeo incorporating the southern kingdoms, Buddhism flourished even becoming a political force.Vermeersch, Sem. (2008). The Power of the Buddhas: the Politics of Buddhism during the Koryŏ Dynasty (918–1392). p. 3. In the same period, the influence of Chinese Confucianism penetrated the country and led to the formation of Korean Confucianism that would have become the state ideology and religion of the following Joseon state.
The Joseon kingdom (1392–1910), strictly Neo-Confucian, harshly suppressed BuddhismGrayson, 2002. pp. 120–138.Tudor, 2012. and Shamanism. Buddhist monasteries were destroyed and their number dropped from several hundreds to a mere thirty-six; Buddhism was eradicated from the life of towns as monks and nuns were prohibited from entering them and were marginalised to the mountains. These restrictions lasted until the 19th century.Grayson, 2002. p. 137.
In this environment, Christianity began to rapidly gain foothold since the late 18th century, due to an intense missionary activity that was aided by the endorsement at first by the Silhak and Seohak intellectual parties, and then at the end of the following century by the king of Korea himself and the intellectual elite of the crumbling Joseon state, who were looking for a new social factor to invigorate the Korean nation.Grayson, 2002. pp. 155–161. In the late 19th century, the Joseon state was politically and culturally collapsing.Grayson, 2002. p. 155. The intelligentsia was looking for solutions to invigorate and transform the nation. It was in this critical period that they came into contact with Western Protestant missionaries who offered a solution to the plight of Koreans. Christian communities already existed in Joseon, however it was only by the 1880s that the government allowed a large number of Western missionaries to enter the country.Grayson, 2002. p. 157. Protestant missionaries set up schools, hospitals and publishing agencies.Grayson, 2002. pp. 157–158. The king of Korea and his family tacitly supported Christianity. From the late nineteenth century, the northwest of Korea, and Pyongyang in particular, became a stronghold of Christianity. As a result, Pyongyang was called the "Jerusalem of the East".
At the dawn of the 20th century, almost the totality of the population of Korea believed in the indigenous shamanic religion and practiced Confucian rites and ancestral worship.Pyong Gap Min, 2014. Buddhism was nearly dead, reduced to a minority of monks, despite its long history and cultural influence, because of 500 years of suppression by the ruling Neo-Confucian Joseon kingdom, which also disregarded traditional cults.Joon-sik Choi, 2006. p. 15.
During the absorption of Korea into the Japanese Empire (1910–1945) the already formed link of Christianity with Korean nationalism was strengthened,Grayson, 2002. pp. 158–161. as the Japanese tried to impose State Shinto and Christians refused to take part in Shinto rituals. At the same time, numerous religious movements that since the 19th century had been trying to reform the Korean indigenous religion, notably Chondoism, flourished. Christianity became widespread especially in the north of the peninsula,Grayson, 2002. p. 158 as did ChondoismCarl Young. Into the Sunset: Ch’ŏndogyo in North Korea, 1945–1950. On: Journal of Korean Religions, Volume 4, Number 2, October 2013. pp. 51–66 / 10.1353/jkr.2013.0010 which aimed to counter Christian influence.
North Korean revolutionary leader Kim Il Sung's writings address religion in the context of the national liberation struggle against Japan. Kim argued stated that if a religion "prays for dealing out divine punishment to Japan and blessing the Korean nation" then it is a "patriotic religion" and its believers are patriots and that in the context of a struggle for national salvation against Japan, religionists who share the agenda of liberation must be welcomed into the ranks. Kim criticized the Protestant Christian creed, stating that while "[t]here is no law preventing religious believers from making the revolution," the lack of action led to "non-resistance" and psalms alone could not block the Japanese guns when "decisive battles" were necessary.
After the division
The Korean Peninsula was divided into two states in 1945, the communist north and the capitalist south. Most of the Korean Christians, that had been until then in the northern half of the peninsula,Grayson, 2002. p. 158, p. 162. fled to South Korea.Grayson, 2002. p. 163 By contrast, most of Korean Chondoists remained in the newly formed North Korea. At the time of the partition they were 1.5 million, or 16% of North Korea's population.Park, 2009. p. 346. They participate to the politics of North Korea through the Party of the Young Friends of the Heavenly Way.
North Korean leader Kim Il Sung attributed the relative lack of religious practice in the north partly as a result of the bombing campaigns of the United States in the Korean War, which destroyed places of worship, crucifixes, icons, and Bibles: "believers were killed and passed into the world beyond." Kim recounted that believers saw their places of worship destroyed by Christians, and that Koreans in the north found their faith "powerless in shaping the destiny of human beings." In his analysis, Kim stated that Koreans in the north focused on rebuilding the country rather than churches, and additionally that the younger generation simply did not believe paradise could be obtained through worship and simply chose not to embrace religion.
After the war, Christians generally organized in house churches or small congregations. In the 1960s, the government permitted two hundred informal congregations in former centers of Christianity.
According to some estimates in 2005 in North Korea there are 3,846,000 (16% of the total population) believers of Shamanists, 3,245,000 (13.5%) Chondoists, 1,082,000 (4.5%) Buddhists, and 406,000 (1.7%) Christians.
In 1994 the Central Guidance Committee of the Korean Chondoist Association organised an impressive ceremony at the newly constructed Mausoleum of Dangun (mythical founder of the Korean nation) near Pyongyang.Corfield, 2013. p. 208 In 2007 there were approximately 800 Chondoist churches throughout the country and a large central building in Pyongyang, 60 Buddhist temples (maintained more as cultural relics than places of worship), and 5 Christian churches—three Protestant churches, one Catholic church, and one Russian Orthodox church, all of which located in Pyongyang.
In 2014, the Korea Conference of Religions for Peace held an inter-Korean meeting at Mount Kumgang, North Korea, and another took place in 2017 in Pyongyang.
Religion and politics
Although its constitution guarantees freedom of religion in Article 68, the principle is limited by the requirement that religion may not be used as a pretext to harm the state, introduce foreign forces, or harm the existing social order.
North Korean anti-religion campaigns and contrary views
It is very difficult for outside observers to know what has happened to North Korean religious bodies over the past 60 years due to the extreme isolation of the state. One interpretation has held that all open religious activity in North Korea was persecuted and eradicated after Kim Il-sung took power, only to be revived in the present as part of a political show.. Another interpretation has held that religion survived and has genuinely been revived in the past few decades.
Kim Il-sung criticized religion in his writings, and North Korean propaganda in literature, movies and other media have presented religion in a negative light. Kim Il-sung's attack on religion was strongly based on the idea that religion had been used as a tool for imperialists in the Korean peninsula. He criticized Christians for collaborating with the United Nations' forces against him during the Korean War, although he praised Christians who supported him.
Accounts from the Korean War speak of harsh persecution of religion by Kim Il-sung in the areas he controlled. Prior to the war, the Christian population of the Korean peninsula was most heavily concentrated in the north; during the war, many of these Christians fled to the South. Some interpretations have considered that the Christian community was often of a higher socio-economic class than the rest of the population, which may have prompted its departure for fear of persecution. The large-scale destruction caused by the massive air raids and the suffering experienced by North Koreans during the Korean War helped foster hatred of Christianity as being the American religion. It was seen by many Koreans in the north as the religion of the imperialists.
According to a study by Ryu Dae Young, however:
Another study by Kim Hwan Soo pointed out that Jaegaseung, a Buddhist community in northeastern Korea, were forced to relinquish their monastic identity under the orders of Kim Il-sung.
Religion was attacked in the ensuing years as an obstacle to the construction of communism, and many people abandoned their former religions in order to conform to the new reality. On the basis of accounts from the Korean War as well as information from defectors, an interpretation has held that the North Korea was the second country (after Albania) to have completely eradicated religion by the 1960s.