Author: Daniel Jeffreys in Seoul
Publication: The Independent
Date: August 4, 2007
URL: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2833902.ece
The kidnap of South Korean church volunteers
by the Taliban has caused deep divisions back home, forcing into the open
a dark truth: many Koreans resent Christians and the speed with which they
have become a dominant force in the upper echelons of society.
The captive missionaries - 18 women and five
men - who were seized in Afghanistan two weeks ago hailed from the Saemmul
Presbyterian Church, which is based in an affluent dormitory town south of
Seoul.
After they were taken hostage, the church's
online bulletin board was deluged with negative statements. Many called the
missionaries "arrogant" for trying to proselytise in a Muslim country
gripped by conflict.
When the group's pastor, Bae Hyung-ku, was
killed last week, the hostile messages increased and the church decided to
close its site rather than endure what a press release from Bae's family called
"more hatred and misunderstanding."
But this did not halt the critics. A news
bulletin board at Naver, Korea's leading portal, attracted vicious denunciations.
"Yes, let's pray for the hostages' safe return, only to see these missionaries
kneel down and apologise to the people for the Protestants' arrogance,"
wrote a man who described himself as a "humanist teacher."
Whang Sang-min, a psychology professor at
the prestigious Yonsei University, said: "There is growing resentment
toward Christians. Many Koreans feel oppressed by the power of the church."
Korea was a Buddhist country 120 years ago,
with only a few thousand Christians, mostly Catholics, who faced intense persecution.
By the 1960s, Korea had about a million Christians, but their numbers exploded
in the decades that followed.
Christians now make up 31 per cent of South
Korea's population. At night, the Seoul skyline glitters with video billboards
and neon lights but all the commercial illumination is rivalled by the thousands
of bright red crosses that shine from the churches found on almost every street
corner.
Korea now has more than 36,000 churches, and
many of them are loud and proud with a firm commitment to missionary work
and a passionate zeal for evangelism.
A typical example is Somang church in the
Apgugeong district, Seoul's equivalent of Knightsbridge. It attracts over
15,000 worshippers every Sunday, and the weekly church collection plate rakes
in more than £30,000, much of which is devoted to funding overseas missions.
The choir is packed with professional and semi-professional opera singers,
and the conservative presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak is a member of the
congregation.
Saemmul, the captive missionaries' church,
was formed by a breakaway group from Somang and it has grown so big it recently
converted a five-storey shopping centre into a new church - the Yeoido Full
Gospel church in central Seoul, which has 750,000 regular attendees, making
its congregation the largest in the Christian world.
Korea has 16,000 missionaries working overseas,
second only to the US.
The chairmen of all South Korea's top-10 companies
are Christians, as are the majority of National Assembly members.
If the Taliban kills another one of its hostages
there will be great sadness here, but also more anger against Christians.
A posting on Naver earlier this week gives a taste of the degree of resentment
some Koreans feel: "The missionaries are getting what they deserve,"
wrote a woman who described herself as a secular Buddhist. "Maybe now
some of them will stop trying to ram Jesus down our throats."
Kang Sung-zu, South Korea's ambassador to
Afghanistan, has arranged to meet with Taliban forces within the next few
days to begin negotiations for the release of the remaining 21 church workers.
The Taliban have already killed two of its
captives, but it announced yesterday that no more will be executed before
the direct negotiations with Mr Kang take place.
