Seoul National University’s Center for Contemporary Korean Studies held an international conference titled “Korea as Symptom” over two days, on August 22 and 23. As the third session of the conference, the Values and Identity Team organized a session titled “Religion, Culture, and Political Identity in Korea II” in Room 230, Building 101, at Seoul National University. Chaired by Professor Jung Hyun-joo of Seoul National University, the session featured the following three presentations.

The first presenter was Research Professor Kim Dong-kyu of Sogang University, who delivered a presentation titled “Korean Political Scandals and Shamanism Rhetoric.” Professor Kim pointed out that the rhetoric of shamanism has been mobilized in political scandals in Korea. In particular, although the two presidential impeachments in twenty-first-century Korea occurred for different reasons, narratives repeatedly emerged in both cases suggesting that political decisions had been influenced by shamanism. Through this discourse, he reinterpreted twenty-first-century shamanism as a construct of the twentieth century and analyzed the meaning of shamanism in both the public and private spheres of contemporary Korea.

The second presentation was delivered by Professor Baik Soong-gi of Sahmyook University, titled “Stigma and Charisma: The Political Theology of Shincheonji Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis.” Professor Baik explained that, during the pandemic, Shincheonji was stigmatized as a “social virus” and became the target of intense public criticism. He further analyzed how Shincheonji responded to this stigma by portraying itself as the victim of irrational persecution, reinterpreting the increase in its membership in eschatological terms, and simultaneously seeking to secure social legitimacy through compliant strategies such as cooperation with public health authorities. This was presented as a case that clearly illustrates the strategies new religious movements mobilize to maintain legitimacy and solidarity in a hostile environment.

The final presentation was given by Dr. Kim Min-A of Incheon National University, titled “Fear, Hatred, and Anger: The Affective Politics of Far-Right Protestantism in South Korea.” Dr. Kim showed that far-right Protestant groups have emerged as important political actors in Korea, analyzing their process of political mobilization against the backdrop of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment crisis. In particular, she pointed out that far-right Protestants mobilized fear, hatred, and anger to strengthen internal cohesion, while externally weakening democratic values and institutional legitimacy.

This session explored the intersections of religion and Korean politics and offered a new analytical framework for understanding contemporary Korean politics. It carries important implications in that it presented a perspective from which politics and religion can be examined together through an interdisciplinary approach.