When people think about religion in Asia, they often assume that Buddhism must be the dominant religion in South Korea. This is understandable given Korea's long Buddhist history, the many temples found throughout the country, and the country's geographical location. However, modern South Korea is quite different from this stereotype.
South Korea is, in fact, a highly secular society. The largest religious category is not Buddhism or Christianity, but people who say that they have no religion.
statistics
According to a 2025 Korea Research survey, approximately 51% of South Koreans have no religious affiliation. Among the major religions, about 20% identify as Protestant, 16% as Buddhist, and 11% as Catholic, while only around 1% belong to other religions.
This means that Christianity, when Protestantism and Catholicism are combined, represents a larger share of the population than Buddhism. Christianity is therefore more widespread in South Korea than many foreigners might expect. Pew Research Center similarly found that about 52% of South Korean adults were religiously unaffiliated, while 32% identified as Christian and 14% as Buddhist.
The biggest misconception
Korea is not predominantly Buddhist
South Korea's Buddhist heritage is very important historically and culturally, but historical influence should not be confused with current religious affiliation.
Buddhist temples, statues, traditional ceremonies, and Buddhist cultural sites are highly visible throughout the country. This can give visitors the impression that Buddhism is the main religion of modern Korea. However, in terms of people who actually identify with a religion today, Christianity has a larger following.
At the same time, even these numbers should not be interpreted as meaning that most Koreans are deeply religious. The largest group by far is people who do not identify with any religion.
This is one reason why describing South Korea simply as a "Christian country" or a "Buddhist country" can be misleading. Neither description captures the reality of modern Korean society.
Religious affiliation is different from religious practice
Another important point is that identifying with a religion does not necessarily mean that someone regularly practices it.
Some Koreans may have been raised in a Christian, Buddhist, or Catholic family, occasionally attend religious services, or visit a church, temple, or Catholic church with family members or friends without considering religion a central part of their lives.
The opposite can also happen. A person may identify as having no religion while still participating in traditional customs, ancestor-related ceremonies, or having some connection to Buddhist, Confucian, or other traditional ideas.
Pew Research Center found that religious identity in South Korea is particularly fluid. Around 35% of South Korean adults said they had been raised in a religion but no longer identified with one, one of the highest levels of religious disaffiliation measured in the study.
This helps explain why simply asking whether someone has ever visited a church, Buddhist temple, or Catholic church does not necessarily tell us whether that person is genuinely religious.
South Korea has relatively few large religious groups
Another interesting characteristic of South Korea is that its religious landscape is relatively concentrated.
Unlike some countries where the population is divided among many large religious traditions, South Korea's modern religious population is dominated by three major groups : Protestant Christianity, Buddhism, and Catholicism. The 2025 Korea Research figures put all other religions together at only about 1%.
There are certainly people who follow other religions, including Islam and various new religious movements, but they represent very small minorities compared with the three major traditions.
This makes Korea's religious landscape somewhat unusual. It is not a country where many different religions each have a substantial share of the population. Instead, most people either belong to one of the three major religious traditions or have no religious affiliation at all.
Religion is often less important than personal goals
Perhaps the most important point is that religion generally does not occupy a central position in the everyday lives of most Koreans.
For many people, especially younger generations, priorities such as education, career, financial stability, relationships, housing, hobbies, and personal goals can be much more important than religious identity.
Pew Research Center found that relatively few adults in the East Asian societies it surveyed considered religion "very important" in their lives. South Korea also has a high rate of people leaving the religion in which they were raised and becoming religiously unaffiliated.
This does not mean that Koreans have no spiritual beliefs. In fact, the relationship between religion and culture in Korea can be complicated. Some people who describe themselves as having no religion may still feel connected to Buddhism, Confucian traditions, ancestor-related customs, or other forms of spirituality.
So, rather than thinking of South Korea as a strongly religious Asian country, it is more accurate to see it as a modern, highly secular society with three historically important major religions.
The common image of Korea as a Buddhist country because it is located in Asia is therefore misleading. Buddhism is certainly an important part of Korean history and culture, but most South Koreans today do not identify as Buddhist, and the largest group has no religion at all.
In short, South Korea is better described as a country where non-religion is the norm, Christianity is the largest religious tradition, Buddhism remains culturally important, and Catholicism forms another significant religious community.
For many Koreans, religion is simply one part of life rather than the center of their identity. In everyday life, personal ambitions, economic circumstances, family, career, education, and individual interests often receive far more attention than religious belief.
