[Public Opinion Briefing 35-1] Religion and Korean Politics

[Public Opinion Briefing 35] Table of Contents

[Topic 1] Is Religious Cleavage Materializing in Korean Politics?

[Topic 2] Six Months of the Lee Myung-bak Administration: Changes in Party Support Alignment

[Topic 1] Is Religious Cleavage Materializing in Korean Politics?

In Korea, where the separation of politics and religion is constitutionally guaranteed, religion is emerging as a political issue. The Buddhist community is increasing its criticism of the government's religiously biased policies, and on August 27th, hundreds of thousands of Buddhists filled the area in front of City Hall. The government and the ruling party are busy trying to appease the Buddhist community's dissatisfaction, but the outcome appears uncertain. As early as 2007, the East Asia Institute (EAI) analyzed that religion had begun to exert influence on politics and urged attention to religion in addition to traditional factors such as region, generation, and ideology that have explained Korean politics (Maeil Business Newspaper, February 20th, "Lee Myung-bak of Protestantism/Catholicism, Park Geun-hye of Buddhism" (see photo), EAI Public Opinion Briefing No. 8, "Religion and Politics: Is Religion a Variable in Analyzing Korean Politics?" by Jeong Han-wool et al., February 20th, 2007).



The current conflict between the religious community and the government began after President Lee, an elder of the Presbyterian Church, caused controversy with his "dedication of Seoul" remarks while serving as Mayor of Seoul. Following his election as president, individuals from the Somang Presbyterian Church were appointed to key positions, leading other denominations and their followers to express concerns about the government's religious policies. In June, Police Commissioner General Uhm Ki-man appeared in an advertisement poster for the Christianization of the police force, and temples were omitted from the government's geographic information services for transportation and education, sparking outrage from the Buddhist community. In particular, the excessive search of the vehicle carrying Ven. Ji Gwan, the Jogye Order's Executive Chief Monk, prompted the Buddhist order to respond politically.



Although the religious issue is currently manifesting as a conflict between the Buddhist community and the Blue House, negative perceptions of the government's religious policies are not limited to the Buddhist community. Survey results show that six out of every ten citizens believe the government is biased towards a particular religion. 58.9% of the total population responded that the government's religious policies are biased, nearly four times the 15.4% who responded that they are "not biased." "Somewhat biased" received 21%, and "don't know or no response" accounted for 4.4%. [Figure 1]



What is concerning is the distinct difference in socio-political perceptions among religious groups. By religion, 72.0% of Buddhist adherents pointed to the current government's religious bias, followed by atheists (64.4%) and Catholics (62.3%). Meanwhile, only 39.5% of respondents who identify as Protestant answered that it is biased, indicating a more lenient assessment of the government's religious bias. [Figure 2]



These perceptual differences based on religion are also clearly evident in the approval ratings of President Lee Myung-bak's administration. 45.3% of Protestants responded that the Lee Myung-bak administration is doing well, significantly exceeding the average approval rating of 32.8%. In contrast, only 33.3% of Buddhists and 29% of Catholics responded that President Lee Myung-bak is doing well, showing a considerable gap. The approval rating for President Lee Myung-bak among non-religious voters is 26.2%, indicating the most indifferent assessment. [Figure 3]



Furthermore, there are significant differences in ideological orientation among religious groups. In terms of self-assessed ideological orientation, Protestants showed the highest proportion of respondents identifying as conservative at 38.9%, followed by Buddhists at 32.7%, and Catholics at 27.5%. Regarding Korea-US relations, the proportion desiring a strengthened alliance was 39.7% for Protestants and 36.2% for Catholics, while it was 30.6% for Buddhists and 28.5% for atheists. This confirms that differences in religion extend beyond differing religious views to differences in ideology and political attitudes. This suggests that religious differences could become a new social cleavage. [Figure 4]



Moreover, the opposition parties are actively participating in the Buddhist community's rallies, attempting to politicize the issue, which is widening the perceptual gap among supporters of different political parties. Among party supporters, opposition party supporters perceive the government's religious policies as more biased than ruling party supporters. 63.6% of Liberty Forward Party supporters, 75.3% of Democratic Party supporters, and 80.6% of Democratic Labor Party supporters believe the government's policies are religiously biased. Among Grand National Party supporters, while significantly lower than opposition party supporters, nearly half (45.3%) responded that the government's policies are biased. Those who responded that they are not biased accounted for only 27.9%. [Figure 5]



Religion is an object of blind faith rather than a domain of human reason. Therefore, issues surrounding religion are not easily subject to rational discussion and tend to result in intense emotional confrontation once a debate begins. Internationally, countries where religious issues have become political cleavages are known to have much greater difficulty achieving social integration and political cooperation compared to countries where this is not the case.



The fact that various religions have coexisted in Korean society without leading to socio-political conflict thus far can be seen as a result of the efforts by politicians and religious orders to uphold the "separation of religion and politics" themselves. While resolving the immediate conflict between the Buddhist community and the government is important, the urgent priority is to prevent the unwritten rule of "tolerance," by which each religion has respected and maintained the boundaries of the other, from being broken. This is a time when cautious conduct by the government and religious orders is more crucial than ever.

[Figure 1] Evaluation of the Lee Myung-bak Administration's Religious Policies (%)

[Figure 2] Proportion of "Biased" Responses Regarding the Lee Myung-bak Administration's Religious Policies by Major Religious Adherence (%)

[Figure 3] Proportion of "Doing Well" Responses in National Performance Evaluation of President Lee Myung-bak by Major Religious Adherence (%)

[Figure 4] Ideological Self-Assessment ("Conservative") and Stance on Korea-US Relations ("Strengthen Korea-US Alliance") by Religious Adherence

[Figure 5] Evaluation of Government's Religious Policies as "Biased" by Party Supporter (%)

[Photo] Maeil Business Newspaper, February 20, 2007