International Review of MissionVolume 100, Issue 1 pp. 85-95
Korean Christian Zionism: A Sociological Study of Mission
Sung-Gun Kim
First published: 20 April 2011
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.2011.00059.x
Citations: 27
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Abstract
From the perspective of the sociology of missions, this study explores the Korean Christian Zionists' mission work after 9/11. The current Pentecostal success in South Korea has spurred the nation to send more missionaries abroad than any other country except the United States. As America has been losing the trust of the world since 9/11, some evangelical fundamentalists argue that Korea should take over the initiative of world mission from the United States. The Jerusalem Jesus March in 2004 and the South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan in 2007 have served to admonish Korean churches to hastily reconsider coercing their missionaries to proselytize in dangerous areas such as Islamic lands. This study unfolds issues such as “spiritual subjectivism” and “Korea-centrism”, illustrated by the Jesus March incident and the Afghan controversy, and suggests that the expansionism of Korean Pentecostal/evangelical missionaries taken up with the idea of “global spiritual conquest” is a manifestation of “Korean Christian Zionism”.
Citing Literature
Number of times cited according to CrossRef: 27Gideon Elazar, Christian Zionism and the crisis of meaning in post-Mao China, China Information, 10.1177/0920203X251328478, 39, 2, (149-169), (2025).
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Ömer Kemal BUHARİ, (Dost) Düşmanlar: Hıristiyan Siyonizminde Antisemitizm ve Anti-İslamizm, Cumhuriyet İlahiyat Dergisi, 10.18505/cuid.591223, 23, 3, (1315-1330), (2019).
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Bibliography, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-025, (491-537), (2018).
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Afterword, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-024, (477-489), (2018).
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From Exception to Empire, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-023, (456-475), (2018).
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Hunters of the Sourlands, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-022, (431-455), (2018).
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Deporting Cambodian Refugees, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-021, (411-430), (2018).
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Radicalizing Empire, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-020, (391-410), (2018).
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Empire as Accusation, Denial, and Structure, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-019, (369-387), (2018).
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Trust Us, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-018, (350-368), (2018).
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Love and Empire, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-017, (333-349), (2018).
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Locating Landmines in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-016, (313-332), (2018).
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The Empire of Choice and the Emergence of Military Dissent, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-015, (291-310), (2018).
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Domesticating the U.S. Air Force, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-014, (270-290), (2018).
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Islands of Imperialism, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-013, (249-269), (2018).
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Time Standards and Rhizomatic Imperialism, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-012, (227-245), (2018).
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Sites of the Postcolonial Cold War, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-011, (214-226), (2018).
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Shifting Geographies of Proximity, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-010, (194-213), (2018).
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In Their Places, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-009, (173-193), (2018).
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Exceptionalism as a Way of Life, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-008, (149-169), (2018).
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Training for Empire?, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-007, (129-148), (2018).
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Inhabiting the Aporias of Empire, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-006, (112-128), (2018).
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Sovereignty, Sympathy, and Indigeneity, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-004, (72-89), (2018).
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Milking the Cow for All It’s Worth, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-003, (47-71), (2018).
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The “Affects” of Empire, Ethnographies of U.S. Empire, 10.1215/9781478002086-002, (27-46), (2018).
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The Free Library > Humanities > Philosophy and religion > International Review of Mission > April 1, 2011
The Free Library > Date > 2011 > April > 1 > International Review of Mission
Korean Christian zionism: a sociological study of mission.
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Korean+Christian+zionism%3a+a+sociological+study+of+mission.-a0256456915
Link/Page Citation
Abstract From the perspective of the sociology of missions, this study explores the Korean Christian Zionists' mission work after 9/11. The current Pentecostal success in South Korea has spurred the nation to send more missionaries abroad than any other country except the United States. As America has been losing the trust of the world since 9/11, some evangelical fundamentalists argue that Korea should take over the initiative of world mission from the United States. The Jerusalem Jesus March in 2004 and the South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan in 2007 have served to admonish Korean churches to hastily reconsider coercing their missionaries to proselytize in dangerous areas such as Islamic lands. This study unfolds issues such as "spiritual subjectivism"and "Korea- centrism", illustrated by the Jesus March incident and the Afghan controversy, and suggests that the expansionism of Korean Pentecostal/evangelical missionaries taken up with the idea of "global spiritual conquest" is a manifestation of "Korean Christian Zionism".
Korean Protestant success, fundamentalism, and Christian Zionism
Boasting 27 of the world's 50 biggest mega-churches, South Korea exhibits the proliferation of Christianity in the nation. (1) Philip Jenkins, in The Next Christendom: The coming of global Christianity (2002), reports,
The number of Christians in the whole of Korea was only 300,000 or
so in 1920, but this has now risen to 10 million or 12 million,
about a quarter of the national population.... As in Latin America,
Protestant growth has been largely Pentecostal. At the time of the
Korean War, the nation's Pentecostal believers could be counted
only in the hundreds, but by the early 1980s, their ranks had
swelled to almost half a million. The growth of individual
congregations has been dazzling. (2)
South Korea has the largest Christian congregation in the world: David Yonggi Cho's famous Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFGC), affiliated with the Assemblies of God, is located in the financial centre of Seoul, the country's capital. (3) In line with the embodiment of "Pentecostalization of the churches", (4) mainstream Protestant churches have succeeded impressively in adjusting their theology and worship following the Pentecostal flow. (5) Among its reasons for success, I believe, is the strategy of evangelical Protestant Christianity in its Pentecostal form, which had been imported following the Korean War (1950-53), in nestling itself between Korean shamanism and modern American capitalistic materialism, (6) a wise manoeuvre that enabled it to proliferate within South Korea, producing a centre of evangelicalism here. (7)
While Japan and China saw Christianity as a product of imperialism, Korea saw it as a new form of nationalism. (8) Korean nationalism had been underdeveloped until the Japanese colonization; Christianity in Korea worked in tandem with the peoples' hopes of preserving their traditions against the Japanese rule. Koreans welcomed Protestantism for its religious creed, for its political, social and cultural ideals and activities, and for the way it compensated for the loss of their country's nationhood.
Since the birth of the Korean church in the late 19th century, evangelicalism has been one of its characteristic hallmarks. (9) During the year 1907, American missionaries in Pyongyang marked the ordination of the first Korean missionary. The Korean churches' dispatching of 157 missionaries between 1907 and 1937 followed. (10) Even after the Japanese occupation (1910- 45) and the Korean War, the Koreans' evangelistic zeal remained open to the modern mission movement that grew out of American evangelistic efforts such as the student revival movement.
To the students in theological seminaries, the year 1880 marks the beginning of a new missionary interest. (11) The first Inter-Seminary Convention was held in October 1880, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, forming the American Inter-Seminary Alliance. The Alliance held conventions every }Tear at theological seminary centres until it merged with the Intercollegiate Young Men's Association in 1897. (12) Numerous early missionaries to Korea made their decisions for foreign mission work either during or following these conventions. (13) At the conventions, the students concluded that the Lord would hasten his coming and that the time had come to preach the gospel of the kingdom throughout the world for a witness unto all nations. As Paul A. Varg asserts, "It was in the prevailing spirit of Moody revivalism that the missionary movement found its deepest religious source; emphasizing not the theology, exploiting the guilt complex and preaching the justification by faith." (14) Fundamentalism held sway in Korea as American missionaries imprinted their American brand of religious fundamentalism on Korean Protestant churches. (15)
Originally, fundamentalism was a religious movement, (16) a movement among American "evangelical" Christians, professing complete confidence in the Bible. According to Ernest Sandeen, fundamentalism was basically the outgrowth of the "millenarian" movement that developed in late 19th-century America, especially through Bible institutes and conferences concerning the inter. pretation of biblical prophecies. (17) The movement's millenarian teachings, i.e., "dispensational millennialism", divided history into distinct periods or dispensations. (18) The final dispensation would be the "millennium" or one-thousand-year personal reign of Christ on earth. Indeed, most avowed "fundamentalists" are strict millenarians who also insist on biblical infallibility.
As Ernest Tuveson accurately points out, fundamentalism is part of "dispensationalism", (19) reconciling biblical prophecies of the Old and New Testaments literally. Pre-millennialism generally follows the basic outline of the "Christian Zionism" of the Irish pastor, John N. Darby: Israel returns to the Holy Land, the church is ruptured, a tribulation brings Armageddon, and Christ returns. Darby's system, referred to as "dispensationalism," taught a literal fulfilment of prophecies in the near-present age. He used the biblical books of Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Revelation to weave a consistent picture of the Last Days. But above all, the revival of Israel is the catalyst for the End Times. (20) Christian Zionism is a more recent term for pre-millennial dispensationalism, which began in England in the 19th century. (21)
For Christian Zionists, the modern state of Israel, started in 1948, is the fulfilment of God's covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12: 3) and the centre of God's action from now until the second coming of Christ and the final battle of Armageddon when the antichrist will be defeated. (22) However, biblical prophecy foretells that Jews from other countries shall return to Israel before the Armageddon battle.
Christian Zionism is a theological position with political implications, (23) as it transforms faith into political ideology. Strongly conservative in theology and biblical criticism, typical American missionaries who came to Korea after the 1882 Korean treaty with the United States supported the pre-millenarian view of the second coming of Christ. (24) Note that dispensationalism, tied to Israel and prophecy, tested evangelical orthodoxy from 1920 to 1960. (25) As Timothy R Weber maintains, the descendents of the militant fundamentalists in the 1920s were s61l exclusively dispensationalists. (26) Hence, in the United States, Christian Zionists are currently an evangelical subset amounting to 20 million. (27)
During "compressed modernization", which started in the 1960s in Korea, Protestants have been successful under the American mission influence, currently dispatching missionaries following the United States' example. (28) According to various figures from the Korea World Missions Association (KWMA), South Korea had sent over 16,000 evangelical missionaries abroad at the end of 2006. (29) Some evangelicals even predict that the South Korean church could become the leading mission-sending church in the world. Witnessing the largest Christian gathering in Yoido Island during his 1973 Seoul Crusade, Billy Graham referred to Korea as a passageway for missions to Asia. (30) According to the Korean Research Institute for Missions' (KRIM) biennial report, 47 percent of Korean missionaries are working throughout Asia, a quarter of them in Muslim countries. (31) According to a figure in 2006, South Korea sends out more than 1100 new missionaries every year, producing even more missionaries annually than those of all the West combined. (32) South Korean Christians deem their missionaries a religious bridge between the affluent West and "majority-world" nations. Thus, focusing on the "majority- world" mission movement, mission scholars agree that Koreans are potential vanguards for an emerging missionary movement that is about to eclipse centuries of Western-dominated Protestant missions. (33)
"Christian Zionism" is a movement within Protestant fundamentalism that perceives the modern state of the country/region of Israel as the fulfilment of biblical prophecy. Since 9/11, Middle East experts and the mainstream media have been investigating self-proclaimed Christian Zionist organizations such as the International Christian Embassy-Jerusalem and the United Statesbased Bridges for Peace. (34) Today the charismatic, Pentecostal and independent Bible churches in Protestant fundamentalism support Christian Zionism. For example, though Pentecostal biblical scholars reject "Darbyism" or "fundamentalist dispensationalism", Pentecostals are fascinated by dispensationalism. (35) Christian Zionism should be placed in the fundamentalist wing of Protestant Christianity. As Korean Protestant churches still display the American brand of religious fundamentalism, (36) a majority of Korean evangelical/fundamentalist groups such as InterCP (37) can be classified as "Christian Zionist". For instance, InterCP, in its so- called "prophecy seminars", indoctrinates participants with the entire history of the dispensationalist paradigm.
Korean Christian Zionists: A historical analysis
On 30 May 2004, terrorists in Iraq kidnapped Sun I1 Kim, a Korean interpreter who had devoted his life to mission work in war zones in the Middle East. The kidnapping astonished both the South Korean government and the Westerners, as the little-known Korean missionary movement was for the first time broadcasted around the world. The incident ended with the terrorists' beheading of hostage Kim after the Korean government refused to remove their soldiers from Iraq. (38) On 22 June 2004, Kim's mutilated body was found in the outskirts of Baghdad. The terrorists acknowledged on their website on July 20 that the murder was committed for "religious" reasons. Kim's case reveals that some South Korean Christians share a trait of reckless dedication, eager to carry out mission works even in dangerous regions.
A month after Kim's death, on 22 July 2004, the South Korean government urged Christian groups to cancel or postpone the "Jerusalem Jesus March" scheduled for the following month, warning that terrorists were likely to attack during the event. (39) However, on 7-11 August, some 2,500 South Korean Christians participated in the "Jerusalem Jesus March" sponsored by the Institute of Asian Culture and Development (IACD), an umbrella organization of InterCP which is inciting Christian Zionism in South Korea. (40) The "Jerusalem 2004" march in the holy city called for peace between Israelis and Palestinians through prayer. A Pentecostal evangelist and the head of both InterCP and IACD, Paul Choi, suggested that Korea should take over the initiative of world mission from the United States, mentioning the rise of anti- Americanism after 9/11.
Moreover, in August 2006, a group of 927 Korean evangelicals, sponsored by IACD, went to Afghanistan for a "peace march" only to face deportation by the Afghan government. (41) The "peace march" was programmed despite dissuasion by both the Korean and the Afghan government. An official of the Kabul government said, "In a Muslim nation, the presence of Christian activists could offend many people. We are warning the organizers of the 'peace march' but they are not listening to us." (42) Paul Choi, the organizer of the event, expressed his
disappointment, claiming that "Afghan local authorities and people were greatly cooperative." He argued that the event was non-religious, promoting peace and helping reconstruct the war-torn country. But the government urged them to stop the event as it could be a venue of preaching Christianity--an activity the radical Muslim groups would love to hate.
On 19 July 2007, 23 South Korean missionaries from Saemmul Church were held hostage by Taliban while travelling through Ghazni Province of Afghanistan. Among the 21 hostages were two female guides (missionaries) affiliated with InterCP. (43) Two of the hostages were executed during the negotiation between the Taliban and the South Korean government. The release of the hostages was eventually secured with the withdrawal of two hundred South Korean troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2007. (44)
Many Koreans were critical of the hostages who were conducting Christian missionary work in Afghanistan despite repeated warnings of the government. The South Korean society blamed the aggressive evangelicalism of Christians as the cause of the incident, and Protestant churches were a so harshly chastised, (45) resulting in their reconsideration of continuing aggressive mission works in perilous lands. (46)
Korean mission scholars generally suggest that the fervour of the missionaries supposedly comes from their shamanistic cultural roots and pre-millennial dispensationalism but that they are deficient in strategy and cultural sensitivity. For example, Korean theologian Chai-sik Chung, a professor of social ethics at Boston University, said, "Cultural factors must be taken into account in order to explain their zeal" (47) and that "Shamanistic culture still appears in the form of Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism." (48) Shamanistic traits are found in the highly emotional and passionate characteristics of Korean Protestants who undertake Christ's command "to go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Thus, devout Korean Christians maintain that the hostage incident was due to the poor arrangements of InterCP, while their purpose was undoubtedly admirable according to the Bible, (49) arguing that they were only helping others under God's orders. Put differently, many Korean Christians agree that they should have made a more cautious approach, but are reluctant to scrap their evangelical cause to ward off criticism. Aggressive evangelism is still a key practice in many Korean churches that believe that their current "prosperity" was descended from the works of Western missionaries who came to Korea during Japan's colonial rule and the Korean War. The majority, of Korean Christians believe that they should emulate those missionaries (50) through their "service" in impoverished countries. In short, while the hostage crisis frustrated Korean society, it also gave Korean churches the chance to reflect on their actions of radical missionary work. (51)
How can we understand Korean evangelical fundamentalists' extreme commitment to missions after 9/11?
Karen Armstrong, in The Battle for God: A history of fundamentalism (2001), argues that fundamentalism, as exemplified by the catastrophe of 9/11, is not a throwback to the past but a response to the spiritual crisis of the modern world. Osama bin Laden, the prime perpetrator, proclaimed that the events of 9/11 showed that the world was divided into two hostile camps: one for God and the other against God. (52) Similarly, the American Christian fundamentalists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson maintained immediately that the tragedy was a Godly judgment on the secular humanism in the United States. "Since 9/11," Armstrong says, "it has become more urgent than ever to comprehend the fundamentalist movements that in many parts of the world are becoming more extreme." (53)
According to Mark Juergensmeyer, the moral leadership of the secular state has become increasingly at risk in the last decade of the 20th century following the end of the Cold War and the rise of the global economy, which is undermining national sovereignty in countries poor or rich. (54) For example, since the economic crisis and the following introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme by the International Monetary Fund in South Korea in 1997, the moral leadership of the left-wing nationalists who were in power lost their credence, while right-wing religious nationalist leaders (mainly evangelical Protestant) attempted to draw public recognition of the legitimacy of their religious world views.
Given the global rise of religious nationalism since the watershed Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, it should be noted that "ideological" religious nationalism is a strident and stubborn force in contemporary world affairs. (55) Ideological religious nationalism is associated with certain ideas and beliefs. The leader of Aum Shinrikyo, for example, borrowing Christian ideas from the 16th-century French astrologer Nostradamus, predicted the coming of Armageddon in 1997 in the form of World War III, after which the survivors-- mostly members of his own movement--would create a new society in the year 2014, led by Am- trained "saints". (56) According to Mark Juergensmeyer, ideological religious nationalism follows a process that begins with a disaffection with secular nationalism, then moves to perceiving politics in a religious way, identifying mortal enemies as satanic foes, and envisioning the world as caught up in a cosmic confrontation, one that will ultimately lead to a peaceful world order constructed by religious nations. (57) Politicized religious movements such as Aum Shinrikyo are the response of those who feel desperate and isolated in the current geopolitical crisis. "Until there is a surer sense of the moral legitimacy of secular nationalism, religious visions of moral order will continue to appear as attractive solutions, and religious activists will continue to attempt to impose these solutions in violent ways, seeing themselves as soldiers in a cosmic drama of political redemption." (58)
As shown by the "Afghanistan controversy", repeated predictions over the years that Pentecostal/evangelical fire will burn out have been falsified. (59) Therefore, we must understand Korean evangelical fundamentalists by decoding their fundamentalist imagery (e.g., pre- millennialism) and the motives underlying their aggressive mission activities in dangerous regions such as Iraq, Israel and Afghanistan.
9/11 invigorated the expansionist agenda of Korean Pentecostal/evangelical missionaries who are steeped in the ideas of "global spiritual conquest", (60) mainly shaped by "Korean Christian Zionism", as a mixture of evangelical fundamentalism and ideological religious nationalism. (61) Within the American fundamentalist wing of Protestant Christianity, Korean Christian Zionism in the current geopolitical crisis is a product of various (theological, historical, cultural, social, political etc.) interrelated (or sequential) factors: (1) "pre-millennial eschatological expectations" rooted in the American mission influence; (2) "Korean Christian triumphalism" from the extraordinary Korean Protestant success in world Christianity; (3) "Korean moral superiority" and its enhanced nationalist pride drawn from the economic success of the country; and finally (4) "Korea-centrism" as concomitant to the increase of anti-Americanism in the world after 9/11. Some of these factors need closer explanation in connection with the case of evangelist Paul Choi.
Paul Choi of InterCP, representing the Korean biblical pre-millennialists, strongly supports the establishment of Israel in 1948, predicts the imminent end of the world, and believes that the world must be conquered for Christ prior to his return. At present, following the American "spiritual warfare movement" leader C. Peter Wagner, (62) Choi stresses "global spiritual mapping". Also, Choi is a well-known proponent of the "Back to Jerusalem Movement", (63) the perspective of the Chinese house churches to evangelize all the Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim countries along the Silk Road, an ancient trade route that extended from China to the Mediterranean Sea. Interestingly, Choi insists that "Aswan" in Isaiah 49:12 is China. (64) He says it is surprising how the leaders of nascent Chinese churches are initiating the "Back to Jerusalem Movement".
Choi, in his sermon on "Jesus March in Jerusalem: The last spiritual war" (2007), suggested that South Korea should be the one to take over the leadership of world mission from the United States after 9/11, which reveals his "spiritual subjectivism" and "Korea- centrism". His ideas, psychologically speaking, display "egocentric thought", that is, the demonstration of one's self bias in social explanation. (65) Political contenders or social extremists, for example, oftentimes regard their actions or speech as fearful enough to thwart their adversaries who are mostly imaginary. This was reflected in Choi's Afghan project. Choi, in his sermon on the eve of the departure of the "peace march" in August 2006, which later resulted in the "Afghanistan controversy", proclaimed that he had been approved by God in his prayer about his journey. However, because the Afghan government concluded Choi's project would be a desecration of Islamic culture and customs, Choi had to cancel the march just shortly before the scheduled date. His bold intentions again signify Korea-centrism, subjectivism and self- centeredness. Regrettably, these immature and arrogant attitudes toward world mission are not uncommon among Korean Christian Zionists.
Samuel Huntington--who recently compared South Korea's development with the underdevelopment of Ghana in his preface to Culture Matters." How values shape human progress (2000)-pointed out that economic prosperity to East Asians (including South Koreans) is alone the proof of their "moral superiority". (66) Within the global village of capitalism, cultural affirmation follows material success; hard power generates soft power. This partially explains the religious zeal of South Korean evangelicals/Pentecostals that resulted in their deportation by the Afghan government.
In the wake of the Afghanistan abduction, Sung-Deuk Oak, professor at UCLA of Korean Christianity, said Koreans have long criticized "self-centred" mega-churches in Seoul, since the churches seem to lavish their offerings only on themselves without attending social and political issues. He added, "Now they are attacking the churches' triumphalism in mission, the lack of sensitivity toward other cultures and religions, and theological fundamentalism of conservative Protestant churches." (67)
Incidentally, just after the failure of the "peace march" in Afghanistan, Paul Choi, in his sermon, (68) envisioned the world as a cosmic battlefield between descendants of Isaac and those of Ishmael, and proclaimed that he and his followers are "peacemakers" who could cease the warfare. This once again exemplifies Choi's "egocentric perspective" in perceiving foreign affairs of the world. Also, Paul Choi's above suggestion regarding South Korea's new leadership in world mission after 9/11 reminds us of American Christians who embraced a "Manifest Destiny" for their nation in the 1840s. (69) Choi argued that Korean churches, while commemorating the sacrifices of American fundamentalist missionaries, must realize Korea's pivotal role for the world's conversion. Despite fierce criticisms against his religious arrogance and political ignorance in the wake of abductions in Afghanistan, Paul Choi asserted in his editorial in GMNnews (70) that "[F]rom a spiritual point of view, the kidnapping represents satan's challenge to Korean churches. Therefore, Korean churches should not stop evangelizing the world."
In the sphere of ideological religious nationalism, perceiving politics in a religious way often leads to identifying who or what religious power is at fault when things go amiss. (71) In a religionized view of politics, social and political problems are often expressed in religious terms. Since "satanization" (72) is the most extreme term for describing adversaries, Paul Choi is a religious extremist as he defines his enemies such as the Taliban as "satanic foes".
As shown in Samuel R. Friedman's hypothesis on the religious effects of the American Civil War (1861-65), (73) the social reality' of an enemy during and after the Korean War (e.g., communists) and after 9/11 (e.g., Islamic terrorists) would urge evangelical fundamentalists to believe in satan's existence. After the Korean War or 9/11, the sign for the expansion of Christian religiosity would be the revival movement. "Satanization" would persist in South Korea as long as the Korean peninsula is divided and the country engages, in James Hunter's words, in a "culture war". (74)
Concluding remarks
Missiologist Andrew Walls predicted that, despite the increasing number of missionaries from new sending-countries such as South Korea, Protestant missionaries will continue to be equated with Americans unless otherwise identified. (75) Walls recently identified five elements regarding Great Britain's mission-sending success: strong local churches, a highly educated constituency, economic prosperity, international political influence and a sense of eschatological urgency. (76) According to David Neff of Christianily Today, aside from its inability to match the British Empire's once global sphere of influence, South Korea now possesses all of these factors. (77)
Walls's theory reminds me of the famous thesis of a British sociologist Peter Smith: in nation states experiencing ascendancy and hegemony, "establishment" religion will gain popularity, while during periods of decline, such religion will lose popularity. (78) Written from the world-system theory, Smith's article is open to serious challenge. (79) Changes in the most international aspect of establishment religion- foreign missions--not only fail to conform to the world- order model but also seem to contradict it. World-order theory is relatively intact in regard to some subtleties in the religious situation. Given that "[Z]eal is an extraordinary human resource but a volatile one," (80) supposed Korean religious zeal is not likely to be exhausted soon. Thus, religious activists such as Paul Choi will continue their vociferous acts certainly for a time.
As Armstrong reiterates in the afterword of The Battle for God, fundamentalism or the militant piety exemplified by "Christian Zionism" is not going to disappear, but is part of the modern scene, and it is a reality we should learn to deal with. It is not useful to dismiss fundamentalism as the preoccupation of a small group of deluded crazy people. History shows that attempts to suppress fundamentalism simply make it more intense. (81) Unless we appreciate the immense implications of the religious commitment to fundamental beliefs, (e.g., pre- millennial dispensationalism), we cannot appreciate the dynamics of fundamentalist thought and action. (82) To conclude, Korean Christian Zionism, linked with the fundamentalist wing of American Protestant Christianity, is a product of various interrelated factors: pre-millennialism, Korean Christian triumphalism, Korean moral superiority and Korea-centrism.
In one study regarding the future of Korean Protestant Christianity, carried out just before the 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, I concluded that "[D]espite Korean Protestantism's recent decline in social legitimacy, its foreign export of religious enthusiasm, as exemplified in the 'Afghanistan controversy', paradoxically, is rather multiplying for the time being." (83) The attitude of some South Korean evangelical fundamentalists, such as Paul Choi of InterCP, who are so eager to proselytize Muslims in the global village, could be considered paternalistic or a kind of "spiritual imperialism". (84) It is to be noted that the 19th- century Christian mission, in the very exercise of its activity, caused a number of sociological problems in the mission field because of its profound and subtle ties to Western civilization. Historically speaking, the Christian mission has not always been very sensitive to the social disturbances that it brings about by the very nature of its evangelical actions among the peoples of foreign lands. (85) Christian mission has a record of reckless evangelical actions that elicited serious social disorder in countries abroad. "Korean Christian Zionism" after 9/11, the Jesus March incident and the Afghan controversy provide unfortunate contemporary manifestations of this.
(1) Paul Freston, Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001, p. 62.
(2) Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The coming of global Christiania, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, p. 71.
(3) Freston, Evangelicals and Politics, p. 62.
(4) Russell P. Spittler, "Implicit Values in Pentecostal Missions", Missiology: An International Review 16(4), 1988, pp. 409-24.
(5) Sung Gun Kim,. "Korean Protestant Christianity in the Midst of Globalization: Neoliberalism and the Pentecostalization of Korean Churches", Korea Journal 47(4), 2007, p. 148.
(6) Sung Gun Kim, "Pentecostalism, Shamanism and Capitalism within Contemporary Korean Society.,", in Spirits of Globalization: the growth of Pentecostalism and experiential spiritualities in a global ed, ed. Sturla J. Stalsett, SCM Press, London, 2006, pp. 23-38.
(7) Freston, Evangelicals and Politics, p. 61.
(8) Donald N. Clark Christianity in Modern Korea, University Press of America New York 1986, p.8.
(9) Rob Moll, "Prophecy and Politics", Christianity Today (March 17, 2006), p.1. http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2006/march/ 17.32.html (11/18/2006).
(10) Ibid.
(11) L. George Paik, The History of Protestant Missions in Korea 1832-1910, 4th ed., Yonsei University Press, Seoul, 1987, p. 95.
(12) R. R Wilder, "The Movement among Theological Students", The Intercollegian (21)1898, pp. 8-10.
(13) Paik, The History of Protestant Missions in Korea, p. 96.
(14) Paul A. Varg, "Motives in Protestant Missions, 1890-1917", Church History (23) 1954, p. 69.
(15) S.J. Palmer, Korea and Christianity, Hollym Corporation, Seoul, 1967, p.26; D. Kwang-Sun Suh, "American Missionaries and a Hundred Years of Korean Protestantism", The International Review of Mission, 74(293), 1985, p. 11. It should be noted that whereas "evangelicalism" really is distinct from "fundamentalism" in most of the world, in South Korea, like parts of the United States (probably especially the "Bible belt"), that distinction is rather less clear, and the older fundamentalism continues to exist.
(16) George M. Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture, Oxford University" Press, New York, 1980, p. 3
(17) Ernest R. Sandeen, The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and American millenarianism 1800-1930, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1970, p.xv.
(18) Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture, pp. 4-5.
(19) Ernest Lee Tuveson, Redeemer Nation: The idea of America's millennial role, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1968, p. 225.
(20) Gary M. Burge, "Christian Zionism, Evangelicals and Israel", (n. d.), p. 2.
(21) Jane Lampman, "Mixing Prophecy and Politics", The Christian Science Monitor, 7 July 2004, p. 4.
(22) Ibid., pp. 1-2.
(23) Tony Richie, "Is Pentecostalism Dispensationalist? An Honest Answer to a Hard Question", (n. d.), p. 1. http://www. christianzionism.org/Article/RichieT01.pdf(9/1/2007)
(24) Palmer, Korea and Christianity, p. 26.
(25) Richie, "Is Pentecostalism Dispensationalist?", p. 2.
(26) Timothy P. Weber, Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming, Oxford University Press, New York, 1979, p. 177.
(27) Lampman, "Mixing Prophecy and Politics," p. 1.
(28) Rob Molt, "Missions Incredible", Christianity Today (March 16, 2006), p. 1. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/003/ 16.28.html (5/25/2007).
(29) Yonhap News, 25 September 2007 (in Korean).
(30) Moll, "Prophecy and Politics", p. 1.
(31) Moll, "Missions Incredible", p. 4.
(32) Ibid., p. 3.
(33) Ibid., p. 2.
(34) Ibid.
(35) Richie, "Is Pentecostallsm Dispensationalist?", p. 4.
(36) Several Protestant denominations in South Korea stemmed from a split in the United States' fundamentalism. Presbyterian schisms over fundamentalism and doctrines were remarkable. Korean Evangelical Council of Christian Churches is formerly Korea Fundamentalist Association of Churches, sometimes called National Association or Assembly of Evangelicals, NAE. See "Country Table 2. Organized churches and denominations in South Korea," in D. B. Barrett (ed.), World Christian Encyclopedia: A comparative study of churches and religions in the modern world AD 1900-2000, Oxford University, Press, Oxford, 2001, pp. 686-687.
(37) InterCP is a non-denominational, frontier mission organization established in 1983. http://www.intercp.us (22 May 2010).
(38) NBC News, 22 June 2004.
(39) AsiaNews, 22 July 2004.
(40) AsiaNews, 12 August 2004.
(41) The Chosun Ilbo, 1 August 2006 (in Korean); The Korea Times, 4 August 2006.
(42) AsiaNews, 2 August 2006.
(43) NewsNJoy, 20 September 2007 (in Korean).
(44) It is also informally known that the withdrawal was planned before the hostage crisis, and that the Korean government made other pledges for the release.
(45) Sarah Pulliham, "Costly Commitment", Christianity Today (September 25, 2007).
(46) AsiaNews, 29 August 2007; Yonhap News, 31 August 2007; NewsNJoy, 31 August 2007.
(47) K. Connie Kang, "Abductions Spotlight Koreans' Missionary Zeal", Los Angeles Times, B2 (August 4, 2(/07).
(48) Ibid.
(49) Jennifer Veale, "Korean Missionaries Under Fire", TIME (July 27, 2007).
(50) E.g., Scottish missionary Robert Thomas was killed in Pyongyang by the Korean army in 1866.
(51) Kang, "Abductions Spotlight Koreans' Missionary Zeal", p. 2.
(52) Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God: A history of fundamentalism, Ballantine Books, New York, 2001, p. viii
(53) Ibid., p. ix.
(54) Mark Juergensmeyer, The New Cold War? Religious nationalism confronts the secular stale, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1993, p. 229.
(55) Mark Juergensmeyer, "The Global Rise of Religious Nationalism", in Religions/Globalizations: Theories and cases, ed. Dwight N. Hopkins et al., Duke University Press, Durham, 2001, p. 69.
(56) Ibid., p. 76.
(57) Ibid., pp. 79-80.
(58) Ibid.
(59) The Economist (December 23, 2006), p. 50.
(60) Allan Anderson, Spreading Fires: The missionary nature of early Pentecostalism, SCM Press, London, 2007.
(61) Recently, the early draft of this paper was presented at the Korea Society of Mission Studies (KSMS) Conference (Seoul, September 6, 2008), and my thesis (that Korean missionaries are influenced by "Korean Christian Zionism", and that Paul Choi of InterCp can be treated as a controversial representative of Korean missionaries) was generally approved by the audience.
(62) C. Peter Wagner, Warfare Prayer: How to seek God's power and protection in the battle to build His kingdom, Regal Books, Ventura, Calif., 1992.
(63) www.backtojerusalem.com
(64) Paul (Han Woo) Choi, "Jesus March in Jerusalem: The last spiritual war", 2007, (in Korean). http://www.intercp.net (10/01/ 2007).
(65) Elliott Aronson, The Social Animal, 9th ed., Worth Publishers, New York, 2004, pp. 136-38.
(66) Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, A Touchstone Book, New York, 1997, p. 109.
(67) Sarah Pulliam, "Costly Commitment: In wake of abductions, Korean Christians take heaW criticism. Christianity Today (September 25, 2007). http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/september/3.23.html (2/23/2011).
(68) Paul (Han Woo) Choi, "The Afghanistan Peace March: Its meaning and tasks", 2006 (in Korean) http://www.intercp.net (09/ 24/2007).
(69) Walter La Feber, The New Empire: An interpretation of American expansion 1860-1898, Cornell Press, Ithaca, NY, 1963, pp. 1-60.
(70) "How Can We Understand the Hostage Crisis in Afghanistan?", GMNnews (July 21, 2007), (in Korean).
(71) Juergensmeyer, "The Global Rise of Religious Nationalism", p. 76.
(72) Juergensmeyer, The New Cold War?, pp. 22-23.
(73) Samuel R. Friedman, "War and Religious Belief", International Yearbook for the Sociology of Religion (9) 1975, pp. 201-5.
(74) James D. Hunter, Culture Wars: The struggle to define America, Basic Books, New York, 1991.
(75) Andrew E Walls, "World Christianity, the Missionary Movement and the Ugly American", in World Order and Religion, ed. Wade Clark Roof, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1991, p. 151.
(76) David Neff, "Honoring Pioneers: The early missionaries serve as examples to modern-day ones", Christianity Today (September 25, 2006), p. 2.
(77) Ibid.
(78) Peter Smith, "Anglo-American Religion and Hegemonic Change in the World System, c. 1870-1980", British Journal of Sociology, (37) 1986, pp. 88-105.
(79) Michael A. Burdick and Philip E. Hammond, "World Order and Mainline Religions: The case of Protestant foreign missions", in World Order and Religion, ed. Wade Clark Roof, State University Press, Albany, 1991, p. 194.
(80) Jon Miller, The Soda/Control of Religious Zeal: A study of organizational contradictions, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 1994, p. 1.
(81) Armstrong, The Battle for God, p. ix.
(82) Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture, p. 3.
(83) Sung-Gun Kim, "Korean Protestant Christianity in the Midst of Globalization", p. 171.
(84) Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, Vol. IX. 3rd ed., Eyre and Spottiswnode, London, 194l, p. 52.
(85) Roger Mehl, The Sociology of Protestantism, trans. J. H. Farley, SCM Press, London, 1970, p. 173.
Sung-Gun Kim
Dr Sung-gun Kim is professor of sociology in the department of Social Studies, Seowon University, Cheong Ju, South Korea.
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