Minjung theology

[7] Jeon Tae-il was a factory worker and union organizer who had burned himself to death along with a copy of South Korea's labor laws in an act of political and religious protest.

[4] In the 1970s theologians began exploring the theme of minjung liberation and many were removed from their positions at universities and seminaries for coming to the defense of those who were oppressed and imprisoned by the Park Chung Hee regime and the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.

[18] The word Minjung translates literally as "the mass of people," but a more comprehensive definition of the term is "those who are oppressed politically, exploited economically, alienated socially, and kept uneducated in cultural and intellectual matters."

For instance, the Exodus, a story told from the perspective of Moses, is about the liberation of the Hebrew people from the oppressive rule of the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II.

The conversion of women and the training of Christian girls should be a special aim, since mothers exercise so important an influence over future generations.

The Word of God converts where humankind is without resources; therefore it is most important that we make every effort to place a clear translation of the Bible before the people as soon as possible.

The mass of Koreans must be led to Christ by their own fellow country men; therefore we shall thoroughly train a few as evangelists rather than preach to a multitude ourselves.During the Tonghak rebellion, the minjung held the belief that "humanity is heaven" and that the lower classes were subjects of history rather than simply objects being acted upon.

Once Korea was officially annexed to Japan in the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 Koreans were expected to recognize the Imperial Rescript on Education and the divinity or Arahitogami of the emperor.

Korea under Japanese rule led to the persecution of Christians who began to interpret the bible within the context of their struggle for independence by turning to the Exodus story and would culminate in the March 1st Movement.

At the end of World War II, in 1945, the Korean minjung achieved independence from Japan in much the same way that the Hebrew people liberated themselves from the Egyptians.

When the life of Jesus is interpreted within different Asian contexts he is often cast in a subversive light, defying both locally established and colonial powers.

[32] William Huang of the conservative MercatorNet has criticized believers in minjung theology for supporting restrictions on beef imports from America, encouraging peaceful dialogue with North Korea, and calling for the National Security Act to be repealed.