Talk:Religion in North Korea/Archive 1

Mainly Buddhist?
The fact stating that 60% of North Korea is Buddhist is inaccurate. According to, only 1.5% of the population is Buddhist. This is a very large difference. Watersoftheoasis 22:11, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Details!--Jack Upland (talk) 09:14, 21 March 2019 (UTC)

Kim Jong-Il
Perhaps the treatment of Kim Jong-Il as a religious figure in North Korea should be mentioned in the article?Web wonder (talk) 06:41, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah that seems appropriate, given that Kim Song-Il is the "eternal president" which sounds incredibly religious and that the DPRK pretty much fits all these criteria listed in the wiki article on political religion:
 * Structural
 * differentiation between self and other, and demonisation of other (in theistic religion, the differentiation usually depends on adherence to certain dogmas and social behaviours; in political religion, differentiation may be on grounds such as nationality, social attitudes, or membership in "enemy" political parties, instead)
 * a transcendent leadership, either with messianic tendencies, often a charismatic figurehead;
 * strong, hierarchical organisational structures
 * the control of education, in order to ensure the security, continuation and the veneration of the existing system.


 * Belief
 * a coherent belief system for imposing symbolic meaning on the external world, with an emphasis on security through faith in the system;
 * an intolerance of other ideologies of the same type
 * a degree of utopianism
 * the belief that the ideology is in some way natural or obvious, so that (at least for certain groups of people) those who reject it are in some way "blind"
 * a genuine desire on the part of individuals to convert others to the cause
 * a willingness to place ends over means - in particular, a willingness to use violence and fraud
 * fatalism - a belief that the ideology will inevitably triumph in the end

I will look into it and maybe add something. Dudanotak (talk) 05:13, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

Certainly you aren't the first to say that juche is or is like a state religion. Then again "They could not tolerate actual religion because they could not tolerate any rival authority or any rival source - or judge - of goodness, rectitude and justice." -Peter Hitchens It's an interesting debate and I can sure see both sides.

Atheist?!!
How can you call it an "atheist state" when there is a state religion (not a "state religion") that regards its leader as a god or demigod? Sounds exactly like the very definition of a theocracy. BugRib (talk) 21:23, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Juche
I have changed the label of the majority slice in the pie chart from "Juche" to "Non-believers". The source says "non-believers", not Juche supporters. There is no basis for saying that someone who is not a religious believer supports Juche. On the other hand, there is nothing to stop a religious person supporting Juche. I assume the members of the Chondoist party do.

I have also removed the statement that Chondoism is the sole religion with an "official basis". What about the Korean Christian Federation etc?--Jack Upland (talk) 08:32, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree with you. JimRenge (talk) 08:37, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

History

 * Korean Buddhism was nearly dead, reduced to a tiny and weak minority of monks, despite its long history and cultural influence, because of 500 years of suppression by the ruling Neo-Confucian Joseon kingdom, which also disregarded traditional cults.

I don't think "disregarded" is what's meant, but I can't check the source.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:42, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Fake?
It is often said that the religious institutions in North Korea are fake, and this is reflected at Human Rights in North Korea and Freedom of religion in North Korea. It seems hard to believe they would build a number of churches etc and print their own version of the Bible just for show. I think this issue should be addressed here more fully.--Jack Upland (talk) 10:00, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

NOT SECULAR!
North Koreans are instructed to worship the "Dear Leader" as a diety! The elder Kim is still considered the leader of the country in spite of being dead. The younger Kim of today is considered to be the elder reincarnated. Definitely more of an "Eastern" religion, considering the concept of reincarnation.

Even if I'm not completely accurate in my description of North Korean religion, it is absolutely not secular or atheist. That should be removed from this article.

Lee Hoover senecahighlander@gmail.com — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.232.142.156 (talk) 21:37, 26 April 2017 (UTC)