Measuring religion in South Korea the Korean General

% of Religious groups by Four East Asian Countries, 2012 EASS 100 90 0.

Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) • Korean Version of the US GSS • 2003

KGSS Religious Items: 2003 -2004 vs. 2005 -2016 2003 -2004: 28. What is your

Religion Questions by Several Data Sets 　 Census 82 83 84 85 86 87

% of No Religious Affiliation Across five data sets 100 90 80 70 60

% of Religious Affiliation in Korea, 1985 -2015 Census 57. 3 60 49. 6

% of Religious Affiliation, 2003 -2016 KGSS 38. 3 39. 1 39. 7 38.

Trend of religious service attendance at least once a week among Religious Group, 2003

Religious Service Attendance, 2016 KGSS 10. 2 13. 9 27. 4 3. 1 4

Religious service attendance at least once a week, 2003 KGSS vs. 2003 SSS 100

Trend of Strength of Religious Affiliation (% Strong), 2003 -2016 KGSS 50 45 40

Strength of Religious Affiliation, 2016 KGSS 41. 0 56. 4 57. 9 36. 9

% of Church Attendance at Least Once a Week and Strength of Religious Affiliation

“(Regardless of your religious affiliation) do you consider yourself a Confucian? ” (% of

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Measuring religion in South Korea: the Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) Jibum Kim, Sungkyunkwan University

% of Religious groups by Four East Asian Countries, 2012 EASS 100 90 0. 0 6. 6 80 0. 2 1. 1 5. 5 6. 9 40. 0 70 60 50 65. 1 85. 6 30 0. 2 0. 1 20 10 0 9. 0 20. 3 40 0. 2 2. 0 22. 1 China Japan 55. 5 29. 6 19. 1 1. 0 3. 7 20. 5 5. 5 Buddhist Protestant Catholic South Korea No religion Other Taiwan Don't know

Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) • Korean Version of the US GSS • 2003 -2014, 2016 • Cross-sectional survey of adults • Data Collection Mode: Face-to-face interview using PAPI • Response rate: 60% in early 2000 s 47% in 2016 • Interviewers: 37 university students (400) • June to October

KGSS Religious Items: 2003 -2004 vs. 2005 -2016 2003 -2004: 28. What is your religion? ① Buddhist ③ Catholic ② Protestant ④ No religion (GO TO Q 29) (5) OTHER (SPECIFY________) (IF YOU HAVE A RELIGION) 28. 1. How often do you attend religious services? (1) A few times a week (5) Several times a year (2) Once a week (6) Once a year (3) Two or three times a month (7) Less than once a year (4) Once a month (8) Never (88)DON’T KNOW 28. 2. Do you call yourself a strong, or not a very strong follower of your religion? ① Strong ③ Not very strong ② Somewhat strong (8) DON’T KNOW 2005 - 2016: 36. How often do you attend religious services? (01) A few times a week (06) Once a year (02) Once a week (07) Less than once a year (03) Two or three times a month (08) NEVER (04) Once a month (88) DON’T KNOW (05) Several times a year 37. What is your religion? ① Buddhist ④ No religion (GO TO Q 38) ② Protestant (77) OTHER (SPECIFY: ) ③ Catholic 37. 1. (IF YOU HAVE A RELIGION) Do you call yourself a strong, or not a very strong follower of your religion? ① Strong ③ Not very strong ② Somewhat strong (8) DON’T KNOW

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION

Religion Questions by Several Data Sets 　 Census 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 　　　　　　　　　　 SSS 　　　　　　　　　　 WVS 　　　　　　　　　　 Korean 　　　　　　　　　　 Gallup KGSS 　　　　　　　　　　

% of No Religious Affiliation Across five data sets 100 90 80 70 60 50 57. 6 56. 0 45. 446. 7 54. 2 53. 0 49. 450. 4 47. 8 47. 0 45. 2 39. 1 40 50. 0 42. 2 39. 1 28. 8 30 20 10 0 1985 1995 Census SSS 2005 WVS Gallup KGSS 2015

% of Religious Affiliation in Korea, 1985 -2015 Census 57. 3 60 49. 6 50 47. 2 40 30 20 16. 1 20 19. 4 23. 2 18. 2 22. 8 [값] 10 0 1985 1995 Protestants Catholic 2005 Buddhist Other No religion 2015 56. 9

% of Religious Affiliation, 2003 -2016 KGSS 38. 3 39. 1 39. 7 38. 8 39. 3 39. 9 9. 2 9. 1 10. 1 8. 3 8. 6 9. 4 24. 0 22. 2 20. 4 23. 9 26. 1 23. 9 27. 6 28. 1 28. 9 28. 3 2004 2005 2006 2007 43. 9 10. 6 19. 9 Buddhist 43. 8 40. 5 42. 7 43. 6 42. 2 46. 0 7. 1 9. 3 9. 5 9. 0 11. 4 9. 0 24. 2 23. 0 23. 3 20. 6 22. 4 24. 5 21. 3 24. 2 25. 7 24. 9 25. 7 26. 4 23. 8 20. 6 22. 7 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2016 Protestant Catholic No religion Others

RELIGIOUS SERVICE ATTENDANCE

Trend of religious service attendance at least once a week among Religious Group, 2003 -2016 KGSS 100 90 67. 1 80 70 60 43. 2 50 40 30 20 10 0 3. 8 2003 7. 1 2004 2005 2006 2007 Buddhist 2008 2009 Protestant 2010 2011 Catholic 2012 2013 2014 2016

Religious Service Attendance, 2016 KGSS 10. 2 13. 9 27. 4 3. 1 4 5. 9 4. 4 11. 3 1. 1 4. 2 6. 7 11. 6 3. 2 41. 8 42. 4 9. 5 67% 29. 5 11. 8 25. 3 7. 6 2. 9 4. 2 Buddhist 7% Protestant 13. 7 Catholic Never Less than once a year Once a year Several times a year Once a month Two or three times a month Once a week 42%A few times a week

Religious service attendance at least once a week, 2003 KGSS vs. 2003 SSS 100 90 75. 9 80 73. 3 70 60 50. 2 48. 2 50 40 30 20 10 0 3. 9 3. 8 KGSS SSS Buddhist Protestant Catholic

Strength of Religious Affiliation

Trend of Strength of Religious Affiliation (% Strong), 2003 -2016 KGSS 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 28. 4 22. 1 19. 3 15. 8 15 10 5 0 16. 1 2003 11. 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Buddhist 2009 Protestant 2010 2011 Catholic 2012 2013 2014 2016

Strength of Religious Affiliation, 2016 KGSS 41. 0 56. 4 57. 9 36. 9 26. 3 32. 6 22. 1 11. 0 Buddhist 15. 8 Protestant Strong Somewhat strong Catholic Not very strong

% of Church Attendance at Least Once a Week and Strength of Religious Affiliation (% strong) among Protestants and Catholics in US and Korea, 2016 GSS and 2016 KGSS 100 Attendance 80 67. 4 54. 1 60 40 43. 2 35. 7 33. 7 23. 4 20 0 Strength Protestant Catholic US 22. 1 15. 8 Protestant Catholic KOREA

RELIGIOUS GROUP vs. CONFUCIANISM

“(Regardless of your religious affiliation) do you consider yourself a Confucian? ” (% of YES by religious group, 2016 100 KGSS) 90 80 70 67. 1 60 60. 4 47. 2 50 40 37. 5 30 20 10 0 Buddhist Catholic No religion Protestant

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