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Christianity comes to Korea
Catholic community 1784; Protestant missions 1885· Event· Bible story & events
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Korea's Catholic church began in 1784 through scholars reading Chinese books, not missionaries; Protestant missionaries followed from 1884–1885.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
Korean envoys brought Jesuit writings home from Beijing, and reform-minded Silhak scholars studied this 'Western Learning' (서학, Seohak). In 1784 Yi Seung-hun (이승훈) was baptized in Beijing, came home and baptized friends, so the church began lay-led, with no priest. The Joseon state banned the faith as a threat to Confucian ancestor rites and persecuted it until the 1880s. After the 1882 treaty with the United States, American Protestant missionaries arrived, founding schools and hospitals.
Why it matters
By the 2015 census about 28% of South Koreans were Christian (20% Protestant, 8% Catholic), one of Asia's highest shares, and Korea is among the world's largest missionary-sending countries.
Sources and history
The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, interrogation records, Hwang Sa-yeong's 1801 'Silk Letter' to the bishop of Beijing, and American mission archives document both beginnings in detail.
Questions and debates
Why Christianity grew so much faster in Korea than in Japan or China is debated: its link with modern schooling, Korean nationalism under Japanese rule, or fit with Korean religiosity.
Inside this (5)
Connections (2)
▸Matteo Ricci, Jesuit in China wrote the Chinese books that led to Christianity comes to KoreaHistorical record
The connection
Korean envoys to Beijing brought home Ricci's Chinese works, especially The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (천주실의, Cheonju sirui, 1603), and his world map. By the 1770s scholars around Yi Byeok (이벽) studied these books as 'Western Learning'; that study led Yi Seung-hun to seek baptism in Beijing in 1784, founding Korea's church.
When and where
Beijing and Seoul, about 1603–1784; Yi Su-gwang's encyclopedia Jibong yuseol (1614) is the first Korean mention; Yi Seung-hun was baptized in Beijing in early 1784.
Historical evidence
Jibong yuseol's entry on Ricci survives, and early Korean Catholics' writings and interrogation records cite Ricci's books by name.
Questions and debates
The date of the first study group (a debated 1779 gathering at the Cheonjinam hermitage) and how far study had become faith before 1784 are argued.
▸Christianity comes to Korea faced Joseon persecution, creating Korean Catholic martyrsHistorical record
The connection
Joseon's rulers saw Catholicism as a threat to Neo-Confucian order: converts refused ancestor rites, mixed social classes and had ties abroad. When believers would not renounce, the state executed them in waves (1791, 1801, 1839, 1846, 1866), often publicly, at sites such as Seoul's Seosomun gate and Jeoldusan.
When and where
Joseon Korea, 1791–1871, especially Seoul; the 1866 Byeongin persecution under the regent Heungseon Daewongun was the deadliest.
Historical evidence
Royal edicts against Catholicism, court annals and interrogation records survive and name many victims; the Church gathered testimonies for beatification.
Questions and debates
Faction politics also drove the killings: the 1801 purge struck the Namin faction, to which many Catholic scholars belonged. How much was faith versus faction is debated.