ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the issue of Christianity and the state with particular reference to Christian reactions to government-led cremation in South Korea. Until the mid-1990s, burial had been the norm for Koreans in general and for Christians in particular, while cremation had largely been practised among very poor people in urban areas and employed in the case of bad deaths such as suicide. Since the early 1990s, however, the South Korean government has begun to promote cremation as a way of tackling a pressing national problem of the absolute lack of space caused by centuries-old burial practice. Welcomed by Buddhist sectors and supported by various civic groups, cremation has been rapidly popularized in South Korea over the last ten years or so, with the nationwide rate of cremation increasing from 20.5 per cent in 1994 to 56.5 per cent in 2006. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, cremation has emerged as one of
the most intensely debated issues within the Christian Church and the matter is not fully resolved. Having been conservative in their belief and practice, many ordinary Christians are facing a new and difficult choice at their death. This paper examines the ways in which the Christian Church has reacted to the issue of cremation in recent years. It first considers the history of Korean funerary customs, focusing on the relationship between religion and the state, which will situate the issue of Christianity and the state in a broader context. It then describes the rapid increase of government-led cremation over the last ten years or so and, finally, it examines the ways in which the Christian Church has approached the issue of cremation.
