South Koreans’ responses to evolution and creationism: A survey and its implications

Abstract

I analyze the results of a survey on the public reception of evolution and creationism in South Korea. I reconfirm findings from previous studies, which demonstrated the significance of antievolutionism in the country. The proportion of Koreans who deny or are skeptical toward evolution constitutes 31.6% of the population. They tend to be Protestants, women, seniors, political conservatives, and from rural regions. I also report several seemingly anomalous findings. Notably, many respondents who professed no religion take creationist stances. Moreover, young-earth creationism seems unpopular even among creationists, although it is the mainstream theory of the Korea Association for Creation Research, the country’s flagship creationist organization that influenced many Protestants. In contrast, the majority of the respondents, including evolutionists, endorse the creationist argument that both evolution and creationism should be taught in class. I provide my analyses and hypotheses on these results within Korea’s historical, religious, and cultural contexts.

Keywords

creationism evolution South Korea survey the Korea Association for Creation Research

1. Introduction

Creationism, a religious belief that denies evolutionary theory in favor of divine creation, has been successful in South Korea due to the country’s strong history of evangelicalism and the influence of Protestant Christian churches since the late nineteenth century (Baker, 2008; Kim and Kim, 2015; Lee, 2010; Park, 2003). Constituting about 20% of the South Korean population (KOSIS, 2017), many Protestant Christians have rejected evolutionary theory due to their belief in God’s creation of humanity and the world. This belief has been fostered by Christians with scientific expertise, including members of the Korea Association for Creation Research (KACR), which has tried to defend the religious belief through what it regards as “scientific evidence” (Park, 2012a, 2012b; Park and Cho, 2018). Since the 2000s, the KACR has disseminated its creationist theory not only in Korea but also in other Asian countries, including Japan, China, Mongolia, and Indonesia (Jeohn and Kim, 2001; Ko, 2002; Woo, 2001). Several scholars have thus commented on the significance of South Korea in the global creationist movement. In particular, the renowned historian of science Ronald L. Numbers (2006: 418) has claimed that South Korea is “the creationist capital in the world.” Simon Coleman and Leslie Carlin (2004: 2) have also asserted that it is important to investigate “the currently burgeoning contexts for creationist ideas, such as South Korea, Eastern Europe and Central and South America.” A popular science magazine New Scientist (2000) also published an alarming report titled, “Burning Darwin from Kansas to Korea, creationism is flooding the earth.”

The rise of South Korea as an Asian creationist hub is tied to the country’s history. Although Korea—a nation with a long tradition of Confucianism as the official religion and philosophy—did not support any monotheistic faith until the late nineteenth century, the country opened its door to creationist thoughts with the coming of Western Christian missionaries during Japanese Colonial Rule (1910–1945) (Park and Cho, 2018). Around that time, evolutionary theory also came to the peninsula with the form of social Darwinism that inspired Koreans’ nationalistic struggle to make their country stronger, independent, and more competitive amid global imperialism (Schmid, 2002: 32-8, 172–192; Tikhonov, 2010). However, there was little conflict between Darwinism and creationism, partly because the latter did not attract much attention. Many Koreans, including most Buddhists and some Christians, accepted evolution, which shaped their theological and political outlooks during their movement against the Japanese Empire that colonized Korea in 1910 (Park and Cho, 2018: 43–46; Tikhonov, 2010: 113–194). The years after the 1945 liberation did not make Korea a fertile ground for creationist endeavors, because of subsequent political chaos, the Korean War (1950–1953), and the harsh military dictatorship under Park Chung Hee (1917–1979). It was only in the 1980s that creationism, including its young-earth variety, found strong support in the southern half of the Korean peninsula. While the North Korean communists had exterminated creationism, South Koreans saw a resurgence of creationism resulting from a seminar by the American fundamentalists Henry M. Morris (1918–2006) and Duane Gish (1921–2013), who visited Seoul during the World Evangelization Crusade in 1980 (Park and Cho, 2018: 53–54). Many participants in this seminar with Christian faith and scientific credentials went on to establish the KACR in 1981 and fostered the antievolutionary movement in the country. After Korea’s democratization of 1987, the KACR strove to attack evolutionary theory with various new events and institutions available in a more liberal era, including public lectures, websites, museums, science fiction, creationist tour enterprises, and television debates on creation and evolution (Park, 2021).

These efforts are likely responsible for leading a substantial number of South Koreans to reject evolutionary theory. In 1991, a Gallup survey of 2000 showed that 33.4% disagreed with the statement that “Humans evolved from animals” (Gallup Korea, 1991). Another survey in 2009 indicated that the country had a similar proportion of antievolutionists: 30.6% of Koreans out of 500 rejected the claim that “Evolution is true” (EBS Docuprime, 2009; Park, 2012b). In this survey, 62.7% also said that “Both evolutionary theory (chinhwaron) and creationism (ch’angjoron) must be taught in high schools,” while just 24.7% of respondents stated that only evolutionary theory must be taught. A 2012 survey suggested two options to respondents: “Did humans come into being through the evolution of other species or gods’ creation?”¹ Among 613 Koreans responding to the survey, 45% supported human evolution, while 32% chose the creationist option (Gallup Korea, 2012). Remarkably, in all these surveys, more than 30% of Koreans have consistently rejected evolution, despite the distinct sets of questions. While this percentage is smaller than that of the United States—which has always exceeded 40%—it is greater than those of evolution deniers in most European countries, except Greece and Turkey (Blancke et al., 2014: 7; Brenan, 2019; Park, 2001: 173).

However, these surveys exhibit several problems, similar to flaws identified in other studies which were conducted elsewhere and have been reexamined (Bader and Finke, 2014; Baker S, 2010; Elsdon-Baker, 2015; Unsworth and Voas, 2018). Most of all, the wordings of the Korean survey questions failed to reflect the broad spectrum of opinions regarding evolution and creation. The 2009 poll that asked whether “Evolution is true” dismissed middling stances such as theistic evolutionism, which stipulated that a divine being guided evolutionary processes. In particular, many Roman Catholics believe in God’s creation but also accept evolution (De Souza et al., 2010; Francis and Greer, 1999), following the Vatican’s long-standing effort to avoid controversy on scientific theories after the Galileo affair in 1633 (Artigas et al., 2007).

Moreover, it is also inaccurate to classify respondents into either creationist and evolutionist camps based on their answers to the question, “Did humans come into being through the evolution of other species or gods’ creation?” In fact, human evolution has been one of the most sensitive issues after Charles Darwin (1809–1882) published On the Origin of Species (1859) (Livingstone, 2003: 189–194; Numbers, 2006: 162–166, 340–342; Unsworth and Voas, 2018: 84). Many of the American debates since the Scopes Trial in 1925 focused on human evolution (Berkman and Plutzer, 2010; Larson, 2006; Moran, 2012; Shapiro, 2013). Unlike questions on the evolution of “living organisms,” including animals and plants, the evolution of human beings has been deeply challenging owing to its implications for theological considerations of human uniqueness and people’s self-identities (Aechtner, 2016). Hence, many creationists around the world, including Muslims, accept the evolution of animals and plants but reject the evolutionary origin of humanity (Arjomand, 2020: 93; Edis, 2020: 21; Hameed, 2015: 392). This accounts for why a new survey should distinguish the belief in human evolution from that in the evolution of other living beings including animals and plants.

Furthermore, the surveys conducted in Korea did not distinguish the proportion of hyper-literal young-earth creationists, who believe in God’s 6-day creation of the world approximately 6000 years ago, from other forms of creationism, including old-earth theories, which argue for gods’ creation during the earth’s deep geological time. Originating from the Irish Archbishop James Ussher (1581–1656)—who claimed that God’s creation had taken place in 4004 BCE through his computation based on early biblical figures’ lifespans—the belief in a young earth was further promulgated by the Canadian Seventh-day Adventist George McCready Price (1870–1963), as well as the American creationists John C. Whitcomb (1924–2020) and Henry Morris in the twentieth century. In particular, Whitcomb and Morris popularized the idea that there was apparently a strong scientific basis for such young-earth ideas, and that all geological observations should be explained by reference to the global deluge described in the Bible’s Noachian flood story (Numbers, 2006: 88–191, 208–238). In Korea, the KACR has actively disseminated this version of creationism since its founding in 1981 (Jang, 2018; Park and Cho, 2018). Questions have remained, however, regarding how popular this belief is among ordinary Koreans in the twenty-first century. The past surveys did not tackle this question.

The earlier studies, except for the 2009 survey, also did not investigate the proportion of people supporting the teaching of both evolution and creationism in school. Creationists’ argument for what they call a “balanced treatment” of both evolution and creation in education has been controversial in the United States, especially with regard to the content of science textbooks (Berkman and Plutzer, 2010; Larson, 2003; Nelkin, 1977). By promoting a “balanced treatment” of both evolutionary theory and creationism as equivalent scientific ideas, American antievolutionists strive to mask the religious nature of their beliefs and smuggle them into science curricula. In Korea, similar public debates took place twice in 1989 and 2012 (Jeong, 2018; Park, 2012a; Yi, 2001). In this context, the 2009 poll’s result was surprising, as it showed that more than 60% of respondents supported a “balanced treatment.” Yet why did so many Koreans endorse the inclusion of both evolution and creationism in science education, when creationists constituted slightly above 30% of the population? What are the religious affiliations and scientific purviews of people who support this creationist view on science education?

The previous surveys in Korea also left several other questions unresolved. Above all, why did approximately 30% of Koreans prefer creationist perspectives, while the proportion of Protestants, who seemingly comprised the majority of creationists, constitute only 20% of the population? The 2012 survey did offer an analysis on respondents’ religions, indicating that some Catholics and Buddhists also chose creationism. However, the responses of people with other religious beliefs and standpoints were not considered. Moreover, this study did not fully investigate how Korea’s socially demarcated categories influenced the views of creation and evolution. It did examine the relevance of gender and age to the perceptions of human evolution, but it is necessary to also examine region and political orientation, because these are highly significant in shaping people’s views on evolutionary theory.

Through an in-depth survey, this article offers my answers to these questions. I identify an approximate social identity of antievolutionists in South Korea, based on their religion, region, gender, age, and political stances. This analysis will then address a somewhat puzzling finding: creationism supported by those declaring no religious affiliation. This study will also valuate the proportion of young-earth creationists in the country, and those who claim that both evolution and creationism should be taught in high school. I offer my hypotheses on the findings of the survey, drawing much from Korea’s historical legacies and cultural and religious situations.

2. Methodology

This study surveyed 1015 South Koreans above the age of 19 through remote interviewing using both landline (17%) and mobile (82%) phones from 19 to 23 November 2020. I designed all the interview questions and commissioned Gallup Korea to conduct the survey after informed consent. The surveyor contacted all interviewees through Gallup Korea’s random digital dialing system, but the proportions of their gender, age, region, and religion closely followed the country’s overall population through Gallup’s Proportionate Quota Sampling method (Gallup Korea, 2020). With this method, the surveyor rejected respondents with particular social profiles if people with the same profiles were already interviewed in sufficient numbers. The confidence level of this survey is 95% with ±3.1% margin of error.²

The most crucial part of the survey comprises three questions that progressively differentiate the 1015 interviewees. The first question was: “Do you believe that most living organisms appeared on earth through evolution?” Only those who positively answered this question were then given the second question: “Do you believe that humans were also evolved from other species?” The interviewees who said “yes” are considered “evolutionists” and these participants were further provided with the third question: “Do you believe that the evolutionary processes are guided by gods’ supernatural power?” These three questions differentiated the interviewees into “atheistic evolutionists,” “theistic evolutionists,” and “antievolutionists” (Figure 1). This scheme of the survey also allowed for a differentiation of interviewees into those who denied human evolution but acknowledged the evolution of other living organisms from people who remained undecided on human evolution but did accept the evolution of other living organisms. I call these two groupings of participants “partial antievolutionists” and “partial evolution-skeptics,” respectively.

Figure 1.

The flowchart of the first three questions in the survey.

Then, the antievolutionists and partial antievolutionists answered the fourth question: “What is the reason for your partial or complete rejection of evolution?” The fifth question was then asked to all participants to identify potential young-earth creationists among them: “How old is the earth?” The sixth question was about the education of evolution and creation, and was also asked to all: “Do you think that only evolutionary theory must be taught in high school? Or do you think that only creationism must be taught? Or do you think that both evolutionary theory and creationism must be taught?” Answers to these questions were analyzed in accordance with the respondents’ earlier choices for the first three questions as well as their religious affiliations.

3. Results

Among the 1015 participants, 23.7% (241 people) responded negatively to the first question, which relates to the evolution of most living organisms. Those who were positive (601, 59.2%) on this question answered the second question about the evolution of humanity. Among this group, 521 respondents (evolutionists) responded positively, while 52 (partial antievolutionists) answered in the negative, and 28 (partial evolution-skeptics) remained undecided. The first group, including those with a positive answer to the second question, then answered the third question about the divine guidance of evolution. The majority of respondents (364, atheistic evolutionists) responded negatively, whereas 127 (theistic evolutionists) offered a positive answer. The remaining people (30) were undecided. These figures are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1.

A tabulation of the survey result illustrating divergent stances on evolution.

Accepting the evolution of most living organisms					Rejecting the evolution of most living organisms (“antievolutionists”)	Undecided on the evolution of most living organisms
59.2% (601)					23.7% (241)	17% (173)
Accepting human evolution (“evolutionists”)			Rejecting human evolution (“partial antievolutionists”)	Undecided on human evolution (“partial evolution-skeptics”)
Accepting atheistic evolutionism (“atheistic evolutionists”)	Accepting theistic evolutionism (“theistic evolutionists”)	Undecided on gods’ role in evolution	5.1% (52)	2.8% (28)
35.9% (364)	12.5% (127)	3% (30)	5.1% (52)	2.8% (28)
51.3% (521)			31.6% (321)

Note. The numbers within parentheses indicate the actual case counts. In this table, percentage points to the proportion of a specific group of respondents in the entire group of interviewees (1015).

This result demonstrates that 31.6% of respondents (321 people) remain antagonistic or skeptical toward human evolution, which corresponds to the studies in 1991 and 2012.³ In both of these surveys, approximately 30% of Koreans denied that humans had evolved from other species. Although the current survey attempted to overcome the limitations in earlier polls, it indicates that negative or skeptical attitudes toward human evolution still remain high in Korea.

What characteristics are associated with people who express these negative or skeptical attitudes? Table 2 illustrates that this group includes more women than men, more seniors than youngsters, more rural than urban residents, and more political conservatives than progressives. Not surprisingly, the majority of Protestants (72.3%) rejected or expressed skepticism toward the notion of human evolution. Nevertheless, Protestants were not the only participants who expressed antievolutionism and skepticism toward evolution. Despite the Vatican’s standpoint on evolution, 34% of Roman Catholics indeed supported the same creationist view. In contrast, only 17.2% of Buddhists took this position, following their Japanese, Chinese, and Indian Buddhist brethren’s views on evolution (Godart, 2017; Jackson, 2020; Ritzinger, 2020). More ambiguous were the views expressed by Koreans affiliated with minor religions, including Ch’ŏndogyo, Shamanism, Won Buddhism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Taesunjillihoe. Just 14 interviewees professed to be members of these religious communities. In addition, only one person indicated that her or his religion was Confucianism. Hence, the choices of these 15 were cumulatively categorized as “other religions.” In this group, 40% denied or expressed skepticism toward evolution, but the case count (6) is too small to be meaningful. Besides, 544 interviewees (53.6%) did not declare any religious affiliation, although many of them would probably practice Confucian rituals, which do not have a strong religious connotation in contemporary Korea. A total of 95 (17.5%) non-religious participants rejected or expressed skepticism toward human evolution.

Table 2.

An analysis of the interviewees’ views of human evolution with respect to gender, age, region, political stance, and religion.

	Total Case Count	Accepting human evolution (“evolutionists”)	Accepting the evolution of most living organisms but not humans (“partial antievolutionists”)	Accepting the evolution of most living organisms but being skeptical on human evolution (“partial evolution-skeptics”)	Rejecting evolution (“antievolutionists”)	Rejecting or being skeptical toward human evolution (“antievolutionists” + “partial antievolutionists” + “partial evolution-skeptics,” total count)	Undecided on the evolution of most living organisms
Gender
Men	503	61.6% (310)	3.6% (18)	2.4% (12)	20.5% (103)	26.4% (133)	11.9% (60)
Women	512	41.2% (211)	6.6% (34)	3.1% (16)	27% (138)	36.7% (188)	22.1% (113)
Age
20s	172	70.9% (122)	3.5% (6)	2.3% (4)	16.9% (29)	22.7% (39)	6.4% (11)
30s	160	60.6% (97)	3.1% (5)	0.6% (1)	26% (42)	30% (48)	9.4% (15)
40s	194	55.2% (107)	5.2% (10)	2.1% (4)	26.3% (51)	33.5% (65)	11.3% (22)
50s	202	52.5% (106)	4% (8)	4% (8)	27.7% (56)	35.6% (72)	11.9% (24)
60s or above	287	31% (89)	8% (23)	3.8% (11)	22% (63)	33.8% (97)	35.2% (101)
Region
Seoul	194	53.1% (103)	4.6% (9)	1.5% (3)	24.2% (47)	30.4% (59)	16.5% (32)
Inch’ŏn / Kyŏnggi	315	50.8% (160)	5.1% (16)	2.5% (8)	27.9% (88)	35.6% (112)	13.7% (43)
Kangwŏn	31	48.4% (15)	3.2% (1)	6.5% (2)	25.8% (8)	35.5% (11)	16.1% (5)
Taejŏn / Ch’ungch’ŏng	107	46.7% (50)	5.6% (6)	3.7% (4)	25.2% (27)	34.6% (37)	18.7% (20)
Kwangju / Chŏlla	100	46% (46)	7% (7)	3% (3)	25% (25)	35% (35)	19% (19)
Taegu / Kyŏngbuk	100	48% (48)	5% (5)	5% (5)	20% (20)	30% (30)	22% (22)
Busan / Ulsan / Kyŏngnam	155	58.7% (91)	4.5% (7)	1.9% (3)	16.1% (25)	22.6% (35)	18.7% (29)
Cheju	13	61.5% (8)	7.7% (1)	0% (0)	7.7% (1)	15.4% (2)	23.1% (3)
Political stance
Conservative	227	52% (118)	3.5% (8)	3.5% (8)	28.2% (64)	35.2% (80)	12.8% (29)
Central	276	56.2% (155)	4.7% (13)	2.2% (6)	22.1% (61)	29% (80)	14.9% (41)
Progressive	296	60.8% (180)	6.8% (20)	3% (9)	21.6% (64)	31.4% (93)	7.8% (23)
Undecided	216	31.5% (68)	5.1% (11)	2.3% (5)	24.1% (52)	31.5% (68)	37% (80)
Religion
Protestantism	228	15.4% (35)	7% (16)	3.1% (7)	62.3% (142)	72.3% (165)	12.3% (28)
Catholicism	94	42.6% (40)	10.6% (10)	4.3% (4)	19.1% (18)	34% (32)	23.4% (22)
Buddhism	134	57.5% (77)	6% (8)	4.5% (6)	6.7% (9)	17.2% (23)	25.4% (34)
Other Religions	15	40% (6)	6.7% (1)	0% (0)	33.3% (5)	40% (6)	20% (3)
No religion	544	66.7% (363)	3.1% (17)	2% (11)	12.3% (67)	17.5% (95)	15.8% (86)
Total	1015	521	52	28	241	321	173

Note. In this table, percentage points to the proportion of a specific group of respondents in the total number of people of the same row. The numbers within parentheses indicate the actual case counts.

Religion was a significant factor even for evolutionists. A half of the Protestants who accepted human evolution were theistic evolutionists, as they claimed that evolutionary processes were guided by God’s supernatural power. A lower percentage of Catholics (42.5%) chose the same option, along with even lower percentage of Buddhists (31.2%) and other religious believers (33.3%).

The interviewees who rejected human evolution (partial antievolutionists) or who denied both the evolution of humans and other living organisms (antievolutionists) were provided with another question: “What is the reason for your partial or complete rejection of evolution?” The majority of Protestants (58.2%) and Catholics (67.9%) pointed to their religious faith as the reason for their choice. By contrast, most Buddhists (64.7%) and the majority of those professing no religious creed (72.6%) mentioned a lack of scientific evidence.

But the respondents without religious creed exhibited apparently perplexing features in this survey. Although most of them referred to the lack of scientific evidence in evolutionary theory as their reason for rejecting it, 14.3% (12 people) of them mentioned the “contradiction against religious faith” as the reason for their denial. Even among evolutionists, 66 interviewees without religion (18.2%) stated that gods guided evolutionary processes. In general, a total of 95 people (17.5%) without religion either rejected or were skeptical toward human evolution. Among this group, 67 respondents were identified as antievolutionists, 17 partial antievolutionists, and 11 partial evolution-skeptics (Table 2).

A central issue in many religious debates around evolution is the age of the earth. As Table 3 illustrates, the proportion of young-earth believers—defined in this study as individuals holding that the earth’s age is between 6000 and 20,000 years—is only 10.1% (103 people) of the interviewees.⁴ The largest number of young-earthers are found among antievolutionists (51 people), but some partial antievolutionists (6 people) and partial evolution-skeptics (2) also chose the young-earth option. These respondents (59 people) could be cumulatively classified as believers in a young earth, but more precisely, only 51 antievolutionists in the cohort should be categorized as genuine young-earth creationists. A borderline position, which delineates that the age of the earth is between 20,000 and 4.5 billion years, occupies about 26.2% (266 people). Yet deep geological time is more appealing even to the partial or complete deniers and skeptics of evolution, as the proportions of its supporters are 35.3% of antievolutionists (85 people), 34.6% of partial antievolutionists (18 people), and 46.4% of partial evolution-skeptics (13 people), respectively. This stance is also shared by the largest number (71 people, 31.1%) of Protestants, although another group of Protestants (48 people, 21.1%) constitute the most substantial portion of young-earthers.

Table 3.

An analysis of the interviewees’ views of the age of the earth with respect to standpoint on evolution and religious affiliation.

	Total Case Count	From 6000 to 20,000 years	From 20,000 to 4.5 billion years	Longer than 4.5 billion years	Undecided
Accepting human evolution (“evolutionists”)	521	6.1% (32)	32.4% (169)	50.3% (262)	11.1% (58)
Accepting the evolution of most living organisms but not humans (“partial antievolutionists”)	52	11.5% (6)	32.7% (17)	34.6% (18)	21.2% (11)
Accepting the evolution of most living organisms but being skeptical on human evolution (“partial evolution-skeptics”)	28	7.1% (2)	14.3% (4)	46.4% (13)	32.1% (9)
Rejecting evolution (“antievolutionists”)	241	21.1% (51)	22.4% (54)	35.3% (85)	21.2 % (51)
Rejecting or being skeptical toward the evolution of humans (“antievolutionists” + “partial antievolutionists” + “partial evolution-skeptics,” total count)	321	18.4% (59)	23.4% (75)	36.1% (116)	22.1% (71)
Undecided on the evolution of most living organisms	173	6.9% (12)	12.7% (22)	30.1% (52)	50.3% (87)
Protestantism	228	21.1% (48)	20.2% (46)	31.1% (71)	27.6% (63)
Catholicism	94	8.5% (8)	29.8% (28)	44.7% (42)	17% (16)
Buddhism	134	5.2% (7)	29.1% (39)	39.6% (53)	26.1% (35)
Other religions	15	20% (3)	13.3% (2)	60% (9)	6.7% (1)
No religion	544	6.8% (37)	27.8% (151)	46.9% (255)	18.6% (101)
Total	1015	10.1% (103)	26.2% (266)	42.4% (430)	21.3% (216)

The final question addresses Koreans’ view on education of evolution and creationism. The current study adopted the 2009 survey’s question but added another option to better gauge the interviewees’ responses. In addition to the two options offered to participants of the 2009 survey, this study included a third option that “Only creationism must be taught in school.” The results demonstrate that the option of teaching “both evolutionary theory and creationism” has gained even greater popularity (65.5%, 665 people), with 5% of respondents (51) choosing the more radical option of “Only creationism must be taught” (Table 4). The percentage of those who claimed that only evolutionary theory must be taught in high school decreased from 24.7% in 2009 to 18.8% (191 people) in 2020.

Table 4.

An analysis of the interviewees’ views of evolution education with respect to standpoint on evolution and religious affiliation.

	Total Case Count	Only evolutionary theory must be taught	Only creationism must be taught	Both evolutionary theory and creationism must be taught	Undecided
Accepting human evolution (“evolutionists”)	521	31.9% (166)	0.6% (3)	63.1% (329)	4.4% (23)
Accepting the evolution of most living organisms but not humans (“partial antievolutionists”)	52	7.7% (4)	3.8% (2)	82.7% (43)	5.8% (3)
Accepting the evolution of most living organisms but being skeptical on human evolution (“partial evolution-skeptics”)	28	7.1% (2)	7.1% (2)	64.3% (18)	21.4% (6)
Rejecting evolution (“antievolutionists”)	241	4.1% (10)	17% (41)	69.3% (167)	9.5% (23)
Rejecting or being skeptical toward the evolution of humans (“antievolutionists” + “partial antievolutionists” + “partial evolution-skeptics,” total count)	321	5% (16)	14% (45)	71% (228)	10% (32)
Undecided on the evolution of most living organisms	173	5.2% (9)	1.7% (3)	62.4% (108)	30.6% (53)
Protestantism	228	7.5% (17)	17.1% (39)	63.6% (145)	11.8% (27)
Catholicism	94	12.8% (12)	1.1% (1)	78.7% (74)	7.4% (7)
Buddhism	134	14.9% (20)	2.2% (3)	70.9% (95)	11.9% (16)
Other religions	15	13.3% (2)	20% (3)	66.7% (10)	0% (0)
No religion	544	25.7% (140)	0.9% (5)	62.7% (341)	10.7% (58)
Total	1015	18.8% (191)	5% (51)	65.5% (665)	10.6% (108)

A further analysis of these findings reveals that the majority of evolutionists (63.1%, 329 people), who accept the evolution of all living organisms including humans, also endorse the claim that both evolution and creationism should be taught (Table 4). Curiously, this percentage is not much lower than that of the partial and complete antievolutionists and evolution-skeptics who prefer the same opinion (71%, 228 people). Those who choose “undecided” include an equally large proportion of people endorsing the teaching of both evolutionary theory and creationism. (62.4%, 108 people).

When these findings are considered in relation to respondents’ religious affiliations, a similar pattern emerges (Table 4). Regardless of what religions interviewees identify with, most of them support the inclusion of both topics in school. Even so, Protestants are a conspicuous cohort, as 63.6% (145 people) support the teaching of both evolution and creationism, and 17.1% (39 people) indicate that only creationism should be taught. Overall, however, the option of teaching both creationism and evolution in school was most commonly selected by people with different religious affiliations, and even 62.7% of those identified with “no religion” (341 people) also chose this option.

4. Discussion and conclusion

This study demonstrates that most South Koreans who reject human evolution tend to be Protestants, women, seniors, political conservatives, and from rural regions of the country. These social characteristics of antievolutionists are similar to those in the United States, which transmitted creationism to Korea. Except for “race,” which does not exist as a significant category in this ethnically homogeneous country, the social and demographic profiles of creationists exhibit similar features (Ecklund and Scheitle, 2018: 72–92; Larson, 2006: 247–266; Numbers, 2006: 330; Rainie et al., 2015: 88–104). It is hard to find comparable studies on other countries, but an analogous demographic profile is found among creationists in New Zealand (Stenhouse, 2021: 118), while British creationists appear different (Unsworth and Voas, 2018: 89; Francis and Greer, 1999).⁵

The creationist profiles in Korea do not reflect the variety of responses in social and religious contexts. Antievolutionism was also expressed by Catholics, Buddhists, and those affiliated with other religions, although their percentages were lower. Some of the interviewees (127) who accepted evolution, including Protestants, Catholics, and Buddhists, expressed their theistic evolutionism that gods guided evolutionary processes. Gender and age were as significant as religion in Koreans’ responses to evolution, but a substantial number of women and seniors selected the “undecided” option (Table 2). In particular, among the interviewees aged 60 or above, there were more people who chose “undecided” (35.2%) than those who expressed antievolutionism or skepticism toward evolution (33.8%). This may reflect a lack of exposure to debates or education around evolution. The degree of urbanization in residential areas illustrates a less ambiguous result. A careful look at the data shows that two major metropolitan regions—Seoul-Inch’ŏn-Kyŏnggi and Busan-Ulsan-Kyŏngnam—indeed maintain the highest percentage of evolutionists. However, among less urbanized areas, two rivaling regions with different political preferences, namely, the politically progressive Kwangju-Chŏlla area and the more conservative Taegu-Kyŏngbuk area (Yea, 2003), show little difference in their proportions of evolutionists and creationists. Whether people reside in urban or rural locations seems associated with people’s views of evolution more than regional politics.

Another notable finding relates to the responses of those who declared no religious affiliation. Remarkably, along with some Catholics and Buddhists, people with no religion accounted for a substantial proportion of participants who selected creationism-related options. Many of them were either antievolutionists or evolution-skeptics and even mentioned “contradiction against their religious faith” as the reason for rejecting evolution. This partly explains why antievolutionists and evolution-skeptics constitute more than 30% of the population, while Protestants comprise only 20%.

This result is not an anomaly of this survey, but probably a manifestation of what scholars have called “spiritual” identifications, as well as the influence of “numinous” experiences. While many believe in established religions with formal rituals and sacred texts, others cultivate their own spirituality without any relation to institutionalized faith communities (Baker, 2008: 5–6). According to Daniel Stout (2012: 6–7), a number of people in the contemporary world have “numinous” experiences, which are “not the same . . . as religion,” but are “religious attitudes” that people may develop through music, movies, or other forms of popular cultures that have transcendental connotations. In South Korea, alternative forms of spiritual life seem particularly significant because of the country’s numerous new religions, whose members, as Donald L. Baker (2010a) has shown, often do not identify their communities as being religious. It is thus likely that some participants who regarded themselves as non-religious were in fact affiliated with spiritual or new religious movements and thus made antievolutionary choices in the survey. To many of these individuals, evolutionary theory lacks “scientific evidence,” but this may be another way of expressing their spirituality. As the presumed lack of harmony and coherence in evolutionary processes can have a scientific as well as religious connotation, people who are afraid of this aspect of evolution often invoke “science” to deny its truth, just like creationists (Numbers, 2006: 270–279).⁶ Although they do not profess any religion, their worldview is still spiritual, making them feel reluctant to accept evolutionary theory and its philosophical underpinnings.

There seems to be a genuine anomaly regarding questions about the age of the earth and views on teaching evolution or creationism. Despite there being 31.6% of partial or complete antievolutionists and evolution-skeptics among the interviewees, only 10.1% of respondents selected the young-earth creationist answer. Among these individuals, only 51 were classified as genuine young-earth creationists. It thus appears that deep geological time is broadly accepted without respect to religion or stances on evolution. Yet most interviewees (65.5%) specified that both evolution and creationism should be taught in high schools. This option was selected regardless of participants’ religious affiliation or perspectives on evolution. If such a large number of people exhibit their creationist stance by supporting the teaching of both evolution and creationism, how, then, can we account for such a small number of young-earth creationists?

I propose that it is hard to explain this apparent discrepancy without postulating that the two poll results reflect different dimensions of Korean society. In Korea, it is not necessarily the case that young-earth creationism is conflated with another creationist argument—teaching both evolution and creationism in school. It may be the case that Koreans supporting creationism are more likely to be old-earthers. Consequently, while participants may be less likely to self-identify as young-earth creationists, they could still be creationists of another variety who may favor the teaching of creationism alongside evolutionary theory. However, this study found that only 167 of these people (665) are antievolutionists (Table 4). The idea of teaching both topics in school is still preferred by the majority of people who accept evolution. Moreover, most Buddhists—many of whom do not worship creator-gods—also chose this option.

Korea seems to have its reasons for the apparent lack of success of young-earth creationism. Although the KACR has attempted to disseminate young-earth creationism and its technical details to fellow Christians (Jang, 2018; Park and Cho, 2018), this foreign theory has never truly become a key theme in the major debates which have split Korean Protestantism into several competing denominations and subdenominations (Kim and Kim, 2015: 198–200; Park, 2003: 97–108). There is no evidence that flood geology has ever been a highly influential idea for Korean theologians and pastors, although biblical inerrancy is widely accepted as a tenet of their faith (Buswell and Lee, 2006). To lay believers, “kibok sinang”—a Korean version of prosperity and health gospel inspired partly by the long-standing Shamanistic belief in the country—has been far more significant than Whitcomb and Morris’ flood geology (Kim and Kim, 2015: 139–142; Lee, 2010: 84–114). Although the biblical narrative of God’s creation of the world in 6 days has been important to Korean Protestants, there has been less concern with determining exactly when this creation event occurred in history. The lack of concern over the precise timing of God’s creation may also account for the substantial proportion of supporters for the middling position, which postulates that the earth’s history is between 20,000 to 4.5 billion years. This position appeals to a number of antievolutionists (22.4%, 54 people), partial antievolutionists (32.7%, 17 people), and partial evolution-skeptics (14.3%, 4 people) (Table 3). Interestingly, none of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, included in the “other religions” cohort, chooses this option, although their church’s official standpoint is that the earth is about 48,000 years old (Numbers, 2006: 347).⁷ In contrast, 20.2% (46 people) of Protestants favor this view (Table 3). These individuals appear to care little about the specific year in which God actually created the world or try to champion “evidence” for flood geology.

The substantial proportion of respondents supporting the inclusion of both evolution and creationism in school may be harder to explain, but I propose that this also stems from Korea’s historical contexts. In the United States, creationists’ arguments for teaching both evolution and creationism are occasionally understood to be democratic, antiauthoritarian, and reciprocal (Berkman and Plutzer, 2010: 36–40; Nelkin, 1977: 134–138). Similar ideologies may be invoked in South Korea, which underwent a dramatic transformation from military dictatorship to liberal democracy in 1987. The claim that “Only evolutionary theory should be taught” might then look dogmatic and undemocratic to many Koreans, because they have struggled to achieve pluralism and equal rights (Armstrong, 2007; Chang, 2015; Lee, 2007). However, the idea that evolution-only teaching is “dogmatic” also forms a main argument of the KACR, which has persisted in criticizing the “arrogance” of evolutionists in enforcing the teaching of only evolution (Kim, 1991). Yet there is no evidence that this argument has persuaded the majority of Koreans, who, unlike Americans, seldom witnessed creationists’ struggle to revise educational curricula. In Korea, there were only two public debates about the education of evolution, neither of which resulted in implementing creationists’ desire of revising school curricula (Jeong, 2018; Park, 2012a; Yi, 2001). In this context, I think, the majority of the respondents in the survey have chosen the option of teaching both evolution and creationism, according to the country’s political discourses of pluralism and antiauthoritarianism rather than the KACR’s claim. Of course, a follow-up study should further investigate the reasons for their choice.

Supplemental Material

sj-pdf-1-pus-10.1177_09636625221109730 – Supplemental material for South Koreans’ responses to evolution and creationism: A survey and its implications

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-pus-10.1177_09636625221109730 for South Koreans’ responses to evolution and creationism: A survey and its implications by Hyung Wook Park in Public Understanding of Science

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful for Thomas Aechtner, Jung Jong Hyun, and the reviewers for their careful and encouraging comments. An earlier version of this work was presented in the 2021 Korean History of Science Society Meeting. The NTU-IRB reference number for this study is IRB-2020-08-034.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The survey in the paper was made possible by the Academic Research Grant Tier-1 from the Ministry of Education in Singapore (RG 49/20).

ORCID iD

Hyung Wook Park

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

Notes

Author biography

Hyung Wook Park is a historian of science and medicine at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has studied the historical trajectories of human sufferings revealed through immunology, gerontology, tissue culture, science–religion interfaces, and the transnational appropriations of science and its institutions in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

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