In South Korea, progovemment and opposition factions alike have their fingers crossed following President Chun Doo Hwan’s decision to hold direct presidential elections and enact other reforms suggested by his party chairman, Roh Tae Woo.
Chun, the 56-year-old president of the ruling Democratic Justice Party (DJP), agreed to the reforms last month after nationwide protests began June 10, marking the worst political violence since the former general took power in 1979.
In spite of the domestic unrest, South Korea claims the fastest-growing economy in Asia. That economic growth has whetted Koreans’ appetites for democratic reforms, and many feel these reforms have been painfully slow in coming.
Christians In The Middle
South Korea’s burgeoning Christian population has been caught between the rising expectations for full democracy and pressure to maintain the status quo.
About 25 percent of South Koreans are Christians (compared to about 40 percent who are Buddhists or shamanists), and the church is growing four times as fast as the country’s population.
Some Korean Christians support the political opposition, with many Catholic and mainline Protestant believers practicing civil disobedience. But the majority of evangelical Christians seems unwilling to participate in or sanction demonstrations against the government. Some, like Paul Yonggi Cho, pastor of Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church, which claims more than 500,000 members, seem tolerant of the current regime. At a recent service at Cho’s church, congregational prayers were offered for political leaders, for the “confusion and disorder” in the land, and for the “prosperity and security of the nation.”
Most evangelicals agree that democracy is the goal, but struggle with how to reach that goal. Hwang Sung Soo is an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) worker at Yonsei University, one of four major Seoul universities that are frequent sites of demonstrations. Hwang said that out of some 70 committed IVCF students, 4 are regularly involved in demonstrations.
“Eighty to 90 percent of the Christian students are not active politically, although many are unhappy with the government,” said Hwang. “The Christians active in demonstrations are often criticized by other Christians for associating with the activists. Part of that is because the other Christians feel they should be patient for reform, and part is because some activists have been involved in acts of violence that we as Christians oppose.”
A small group of Christian students interviewed by CHRISTIANITY TODAY agreed that most students were dissatisfied with the status quo. But they said they were more concerned about changing society after they complete their educations and become established in their careers.
Chun’s recent reshuffling of his cabinet in the wake of an investigation of police involvement in the torture death of a student protester in January was seen by many as a good sign. Meanwhile, Korea’s Christians continue to watch, wait, and pray.
“Everyone wants a democratic form of government,” said Billy Kim, of the Christian Far East Broadcasting Company. “But 100 people will have 100 different definitions of what democracy is.…
“The students seem to want a form of democracy that is total freedom, of being able to do everything they wish,” Kim added. “But with freedom comes responsibility, and that may take five, ten, or fifteen years.”
By Steve Rabey and Lyn Cryderman,
in South Korea.
