Korean Catholicism Under Japanese Rule

Perhaps one of the reasons why Catholicism gained popularity in Korea was due to the role of high-profile Catholics who participated in the independence movement (pictured) against Japanese annexation and later occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

As Choe Sok-u pointed out, the anti-Japanese resistance movement led by An Chung-gun, a devoted Catholic, "was typical of the Catholic movement to protect national independence."

So Sang-don, who launched a movement to raise money to repay Japanese debts was also a devout Catholic.

"The Korean government owned a huge amount of debt to Japan at the time. Considering that this debt would accelerate Japanese aggressive intentions in Korea, So called on the people to raise money to pay back the Japanese debt so as to keep Japan from invading Korea ... this movement continued ... until 1910 when Japan annexed Korea." (Korean Catholicism Yesterday and Today, in The Founding of Catholic Tradition in Korea, Ed. Chai-Shin Yu, Asian Humanities Press 2004).

After the annexation, the Anak Incident occurred where An Myong-gun initiated a campaign to raise funds for the independence movement. This led to the arrest of both himself and his comrades.

During the March 1 1919 Independence Movement, students of seminaries in Seoul and Taegu took part in the movement despite the Church's opposition towards participation in such political movements.

In Kanghwa and Kwangju, Catholics led the movement, while in Ansong Father Gombert protected in his church villagers pursued by the Japanese police.

After the failure of the March 1 Independence Movement, resistance movements were launched, including the Righteous People's Corps, a Catholic Independence Army.

In Shanghai where the Interim Government of Korea was organized, several Catholics joined this government-in-exile.

But in spite of Japanese oppression, "the Korean church grew steadily with the number of dioceses increasing. Until 1910 there was only one diocese in Korea, but there were nine dioceses in the country at the end of the Japanese rule."