Protestant church deemed most unpopular religious institution by South Koreans

A new study has found that the Protestant church is regarded by South Koreans as the most unpopular major religious institution in the country.

The findings of the survey, released by the Korean National Association of Christian Pastors on Thursday, revealed that the approval rating for Protestantism stood at only 9.5 percent, compared to 40.6 for Buddhism and 37.6 percent for Catholicism.

According to The Korea Bizwire, most non-Protestants used words like "selfish," "materialistic," and "authoritarian" when asked to describe their feelings towards Protestants in South Korea.

When the respondents were asked about the challenges facing South Korean churches, 24 percent said "self-interested pastors." Sixteen percent of the respondents said "self-centeredness" and another 16 percent said "focusing far too much on expanding in size."

Previous polls have also shown that South Koreans are becoming more skeptical of Protestantism. A survey conducted by the Christian Ethics Movement in 2014 found that only 20 percent of South Koreans consider Protestant churches to be trustworthy. Around 44 percent said that Protestant churches are not trustworthy while 36 percent said they were ambivalent.

Another study, conducted by Ji&Com Research at the request of the Korean National Association of Christian Pastors, found that less than half of South Koreans believe in religion.

The survey of 5,000 South Koreans aged over 19 revealed that only three in 10 consider themselves religious. Around 20 percent of those who still consider themselves religious identified as Protestants. Around 19 percent identified as Buddhists and about six percent were Catholics.

Statistics Korea, a government body, has found that the share of South Koreans identifying as having no religion has risen from 47 percent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2015.

A poll conducted by Gallup Korea revealed that 31 percent of South Koreans in their 20s considered themselves religious, down from 46 percent a decade earlier.

Experts have attributed the declining numbers to rising youth employment and skepticism. "Young people nowadays are caught in this long cycle of studying hard to get into university, then having to get a good job. They also have technology and many options for leisure activities. All these things have brought young people away from churches," said Andrew Eungi Kim, a professor at Korea University in Seoul.

Kim further explained that South Koreans are becoming less trusting of hierarchical institutions, which leads to their decisions to turn away from religion.

"Young South Koreans are far better educated than their parents and are more likely to be skeptical of the claims religious leaders make," he added.