Religion and politics in South Korea

The relationship between politics and the four institutional religions in South Korea - Confucianism, Buddhism, Catholicism and Protestantism - is analysed historically with focus on the period since 1961, a time deeply marked by thirty years of military rule. Two types of relations between state and religion are distinguished : collusion (Buddhism, conservative Protestantism) and conflict (Catholicism, progressive Protestantism), whereas Confucianism is basically depoliticized. The first type of relations has quite clearly prevailed in South Korea since 1945. An examination of the social and cultural foundations underlying this collusion sheds light on the influence of Confucian secularization. The religions involved in conflict with an authoritarian state have proven that they can exercise positive influence over social change in the country.