Minjung Theology: A Korean

Contextual Theology
A. SUNG PARK*

'Theology is contextual. Liberation theology emerged

from the concern of La,tin American theologians for the
poor in their countries. Political theology came into being
in response to the· privatized hermeneutics of ex~stentialist
theology in Germany. Black theology arose from the
struggle of the Blacks for their civil rights in ~the United
. States. Feminist theology emerged' from women's aware-
ness of themselves in relation to God's freedom. Minjung
theology came out of the struggle of concerned . Korean
Christians for social and political justice in Korea.
This paper is written to introduce Mihjung theology and
to discuss its salient points. Since Minjung theology is a
theology in ther making, this paper attempts Ito show the
growing edges of this theology called Minjung.

I. The Origin of Minjung Theology

'.

In the 19708, a handful of theologians and lay Ileaders.

became involved in the struggle of the "minjung" ~the
oppressed) for justice and freedom. As their involvement
'on behalf 0'f the Minjung in:tensified, the Korean. govern...
ment dismissed them from their universities anl seminaries.
Having l0'st their teaching jobs:, they chose to participate
more actively in Minjung movements. They chanted with
laborers staging sit-in-strikes, demonstated with studen~
in the stree,ts, and cried with the families of PO'litical
prisoners. When these Christians committed themselves to'
* Rev. A. Sung Park, the author, is an ordaiued minister iu the United Methodist
Church and a Ph.D candidate at the Graduate Theological uniou in Berkeley, CA.
 Minjung movements, they "were forced to reflect upon their
Christian discipleship in basement interrogation' rooms, in
trials, facing court-martial tribunals, hearing the allegations
of prosecutors, and in, making their own final . defense."l Out
of these in-depth human' experiences, Minjung theology was
born.

U. The Meaning of "Minjung".

Tong H. Moon, one of Minjung theologians, defines the

meaning of "Minjung" in this way : "The term came to be
used first during the Yi dynasty .('1392,...1910) wheu the
common people were oppressed by Yangban class, the ruling
class of the time ... At that time any'one who was excluded
from the Yangban class was a Minjung. During the! Japanese
occupation ~1910-1945), most Koreans were reduced to'
Minjung status except for a small group who collaborated
with the Japanese imperiaJists. Today the term .Minjung
may be used for all those who are excluded from the elite
who enjoy prestigous positions in the present dict~tDraa
system.,,2 The Minjung are those people who have suffered
from exploitation, poverty; socio-political. oppression, and
cultural repression throughout the ages. They know the
pain of dehumanization. Their lives; have been rooted in
the age-old experience of suffering and the present experi-
ence 'of it. They have been treated as non-beings by their
rulers. Yet they have not given in but resisted the oppres-
sion of their rulers. They have suffered for changing Korea
into a' just nation. This is the positive dimension of the
Minjung suffering. The Minjung identification, at any rate,
can be found in suffe'ring caused by socio-political and cul-
tural oppression .

. HI. The Goal of MinjuDg Theology

With what problems do Minjung theologians deal? What
is the nature of the Minjung experience? "Han" lies at

'1. David Kwang-sun Suh, "Minjung and Theology in Korea: A Biographical

Sketch. of an Asian Theological ConsuHatiou", In Minjung Theology, ed, Yong-
Bock Kim (Singapore: The Christian Conference of Asia, 1981), p. 18.
2. Tong Hwan Moon,' "Korean Minjung The"logy", January 1982. (Type-written).
pp. 3-4.

2
 the heart of the Minjung experience. It is the obstacle that
stands between the Minjung and their abundant me.
What is "Han"? Accordi'ng to a renowned Minjung
poet, Chi-Ha Kim, "Han is the Minjung's anger and sad
sentiment turned inward, hardened and stuck to their
. hearts. Han is caused as one's outgoingness is blocked and
pressed for an extended period of time by external oppres-
sion and exploitation.,,3 For example, the feeling of Han
deve,loped in the hearts of the bereft families who had lost
their loved ones in the masscre of Kwangju ~n 1980. The
Chun's regime slaughtered over 2,0001 Kwangju citizens
because of their demonstration against him.4 The deep-'
seated anger which is internalized turns linto Han. Again
Han is described as the feeling of deeply inte·rnalized
lamentations and anger. Han can be accumulated, . transmit-
ted, and inherited, boiling in the blood of the Minjung. For
the Minjung poet, Kim, it is the "emotional core of anti-
regime action.,,5
Dealing with the Minjung's Han creatively is the task
of Minjung theology. The goal of Minjung theology is to
learn the Hanof the M.njung, to unrave,l its historical
complexity, and to transform it for constructing' God's
kingdom.

lV. Methodology of Minjung Theology

How do Minjung theologians treat the questions that the
Han of the Minjung raises? "Dan" is the answer they give.
"Dan" means "to cut off." The Minjung poet C:hi-Ha Kim
is the person who has contributed most to developing the
theme of "Dan" for Christian theology. He describes
"Dan" as having two dimensions; at the personal level,
"Dan" means self-denial; at the social level it means to cut
off the vicious circle of Minjung's Han and revenge. 6 If
Minjung's Han explodes destruciiveIy, ,thel Minjung will hate,

:to Ihid., p. 4.
4. This demonstration was suppressed hy the extremely violent punishment of
the paratroopers. The cruel punishment escalated students' resis!ance and led
them to defending themselves with arms. The military troops moved into the
city K,vangju at last and masscred over 2,000 young citizens.
5. Nam·Dong Suh, "Towards a Theology of Han", in Minjung Theology, p. 60.
6. Ihid., p: 61.

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kill, Ol~· revenge their oppressors endl~ssly. Dan is to over-:-
come the vicious circle of Han.
A dialectic unification of Han and Dan leads the Minjung
to their creative liberation. For the poet Kim, the dialectic
unification of Han and Dan means to underg;o' the four
stages of revolution. The first stage is "inviting God in the
heart" (Shi-Chun-Ju,) the second stage is "letting God grow
in the body" (Yan-Chun-Ju), the third stage is "practising
the struggle for embodying God" .(Haeng--Chun-Ju), the
fourth stage is "living as humble! and resurrected champ~ons
of the M.injungbeyond death" .(Sang-Chun-Ju).7 For Kim,
revolution for social justice and revo1ution for. individual
spirituality are one. This dialectic uhlfication of Han and
Dan liberates the Minjung from self-destruction by trans-
forming their-Han into creative revolution.
/There are several Minjung theologians who deal with
Dan from different perspectives. By discussing the view
points of four selected theologians, I plan to show different
methodologies used in Minjung theology today.
Nam-Dong Suh, former professor of systematic theology
at Yonsei University, develops a method of theology in
"Minjung's stories" (Mindam). He pe'rceives that in these
stories of the Minjung, Han is revealed in its fullest. The
power of these stories lies in the imagery that transforms
the feeling 'of Han into a revolutionary consciousness. Suh
believes that the mission of Christians is to be the "priests
of Han" working for the creative Dan of the Minjung's Han.
The Dan of the Minjung's Han is not only the psychological
catharsis of the accumulated Han, but a revolution trans-
forming the evil social structure which produces the
Minjung's Han. Examples of such a revolution are the
April-Nineteenth Student Revolution of 1960 and the March-
First Independence Movement of 1919. The stories of the
l

lVIinjung are the main tDols bringing creative Dan into the
Minjung's Han.
Byung-Mu Ahn, former professor of New Testament at
Hankuk Theb·logical Seminary, calls our attention to' the

7. Ibid., p. 63.

4
scholarly studies which look at the audience' to whom
Jesus spoke and taught. He holds that New 'I1estament
scholarship has focused on the audience of Jesus' 'teach:-
ing, nO't on the social character iof his a:udience. Conse,..
quently, New Testament schO'larsMp has ignored the
sociological interpretatian af Jesus' teachings.
Through studying the gaspel of Mark sociologically and
biblically, he reports that· Mark avoided using the term
"Laos" {Gad's people); instead, he· chO'se the term "Ochlas"
(the O'utcast). For Mark, Jesus preached the kingdam ' of
Gad to the Ochlas, and shared the eschatologicalhape with
them. Jesus was always with the Ochlos in his ministry.
By prO'viding exegetical evidence fO'r the impartance af the
Ochlos, Ahn calls our attentian to the exigencies of
Minjung's liberatian.
YO'ng-Back Kim, Directar of the Christian Institute far
the Study af Justice: and Develapment, tries to replace 'the
Western style af systematic theology with the "social' bia,.
graphy of the Karean Minjung." But, what concrete sada\i
transformatians can accur through a social biagraphy of
the Minjung"? He answers that the Minjung, as historical
:subjects, transcend the socia-ecanamic determi!nation of
history. This he supparts thraugh unpacking the stories af
Han. This pracess of unfolding stories itself has the pawer
to' move the Minjung to
a newly transformed history beyond
the presently glaamy structures of oppressive power.
Kim identifies this transfarmation as the self-transcen-
dence af the Minjung.(He prefers to caB it "messianlc'
palitics.,,)8 The Minjung cansciausness of "messianic
palitics" (self-transcendence) cantradicts the false con-
sciausness of made["n ideolagies. Far him, the social bia-
graphy of the Minjung becames a means of ,leading people
to a cansciousness af '''messianic politics". 'This cansciaus-
ness identifies with the suffering people and then warks as
a servant with hape fo!, the liberatian af the Minjung. 9
Yaunghak Hyun, former professar of religian at Ewha
.s. Yong-Bock Kim, "Messiah and Minjung: Discerning Messianic Politics over'
against Political Messianism", .In Minjung Theology, pp. 185-100.
JJ. David Kwang-sun Suh, "Minjung and Theology in Korea", p. 36.

5
 Women's Universi~y, ~xplores the Korean mask dance to'
understand the Han of the Minjung. - In the mask I dance,
the ~ctors or the actresses, common people, become free and
make fun of the ruling class of the old KO'rean society. In
the laughter of mask dances, the performelrs and the
audience experience "critical transcendence" qf the in-
justices of the world. Through the performance of the
mask dances, the suppressed feeling of the Minjung's Han
explodes into concrete body languages and the Minjung
become conscientized. In the process of the explosion, the
Minjung will gain a stance of critical transcendence. Such
critical transcendence never arises from the b~ography of
an isolated individual, but rather from the socio~political
and historical biography of the Minjung. The experience
. of critical transcendence leads the Minjung to laugh at
themselves, transcending the present history, and transfor-
ming the world of oppression.
These Minjung theologians work to bring Dan (cuiHng
off the vicious circle) to the Han of the Minjung. They dn
it by using different methods; Suh uses the stories of the
Minjung, Ahn, socio-biblical analysis of the OcMos, Kim, the
the social bingraphy of the Minjung, Hyun, the Korean
mask dance.

v. The Significance of Minjung Theology'

. How is Minjung theology similar to other theologies?
What are ,the salient points of Minjung theology?

1. The Central Theme of Minjung Theology

For Paul TiUich, the norm of Christian theology is "Jesus
as the Christ." Instead of talking about the norm of theo-
logy, Minjung theology deals with the centra!l theme of
theology. There are two different opinions on the central
theme in Minjung theolo'gy. Nam-Dong Suh says that the
central theme of Minjung theology should nQlt be Jesus but
the Minjung.. Byung-Mu Ahn says that its central theme is
both Jesus and the Minjung because they are inseparable.
Suh asserts that the opressed (Ochlos) were not a channel
to help our understanding of Jesus, but rathN Jesus was . .

6
the channel to he,lp our understanding of the oppressed.
Jesus' cries and suffering represent those of the ' Ochlos.
Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve the Ochlos.
Jesus was concerned about) the Ochkis than' he was con-
cerned about hirriseU. 'I'hereiore, the central theme of
Minjung theology is the Minjung.
Ahn asserts that Jesus and the Ochlos cannot be under-
stood separately. To develop his theory, Ahn analyzes the
term "Son of Man." The title "Son of Man" in the bO'ok of
Daniel originally connotes a collective expression and later
the title was given to Jesus.lO A few new Testament
scholars recognize that Jesus as the Son of Man nO't only
was one person, but also represent,ed a group of people
{Ochlos)Y Hence, Ahn does not separate Jesus from the'
Ochlos. In fact, Jesus was one O'f the Ochlos. Without
Jesus, we cannot understand the Ochlos. Without the
Ochlos, we cannot understand Jesus fully. We are able tQ>
find the true identity of Jesus and of the OchIos only in
their relatian to each other. Thus, Ahn's theme ~s Jesus
and the Minjung.
c

2. 1 he Minjungof Korea and the Poor of Latin America

Some people ask whether the Minjung 'Of Korea are the
same as the poor 'Of Latin America. They are not the same.
In Latin American cauntries, the neo-calonialism 'Of the
United States has liquidated their business and industry.
Oligarchies prevail in these countries. Pov1e['ty is the single
biggest prablem in Latin America. Because 'Of the huge
gap between the rich (minarity) and the paor (majarity),
Latin American liberatian theology is main!&, concerned
with the liberation 'Of the poorP
In Karea, social prablems arise fram cultural, social;
political repression as wen as economic 'Oppression. Korean
10. Byung·Mu Ahn, "The Historical Subject in a Perspective of the Gospel of
Mark", In lvlinjung and Korean The,'logy, ed. Committee of Theological S~udy,
KNCC, (Seoul: Korean Theological Study Institute, 1982} , p. 179.
11. They art C. H. Dodd, T. W. Manson, V. Taylor, H. H. Rowley, H. Odeberg,
etc.
12. Gustavo Gu~ierl'elz, The Pow', {f the Poor in History, Trans. by Robert Barr
(Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1983} , pp. 136-37.

T
 :society' has been torn apart· by cultural,. social, . anp. pcilitical
oppressions mainly because of authoritarianism . and the
hierarchy of Confucianism. Thus, the t€irm '''Minjung''
designates not only theeconomicaUyoppressed, but also
the culturally, politically, and socially repressed. Of course,
the poor in Latin America have been exploited poUtically,
socially, and culturally as weH as economically . . The main
source of their oppression, however, comes from the econo-
. mic dimension. The problems of the Korean Minjung,
somewhat similar to those of the Blacks in the United States,
<:annot be solved by the eHm~nation of. poverty. Their
problems are multi-dimensional. The Minjung are made
up of political outcasts, labore,rs, women, the poor, the
illiterate, the illegttimate, etc. 'The concept of "Minjung"
is broader than that of the Latin' American poor.

3. The Sources of Minjung Theology

For Tillich, the sources of theology are the Bible, church
history, the history of religions, and. culture. Moreover,
experience is treated as the medium of theology. In Min-
jung theology, the major source of theology is the experience
-of ,the Minjung. The experience of the Minjung is made' of
two parts: "One is their contemporary experience and the
,other lis their past experiences which' we usually call their
social biography. ,,13
Minjl\ng theology does not exclude other sources of theo-
logy like the Bible. For Nam-Dong Suh, both the Christian
tradition of the oppressed (the biblical Ochlos and the op-
pressed in the history of Christianity) and the Korean tradi-
tion of the Minjung are the major sources of' theology. He
sees both the Christian tradition of- the oppressed and the
.Korean tradition of the Minjung as united :iin God's mission
{Missio Dei}. God was actively working among the Minjung
in Korea while Jesus was teaching and serving the Ochlos
in Palestine. In God's eyes, the expe'rience of 1lhe Korean
Minjung is as important as the experience of the Ochlos in
Israel. In the history of Korea, we can find God's salvific
work. This means that God's reveIation is nntl limited in the

13. Tong Hwan Moon, "Korean Minjung Theology", p. 2.

events of the Bible but is persasive everywhere. Minjlmg
theologians insist that the history of Korea is as sacred as
the history of the biblical revelation. Thus, they identify
the experience of the Korean Minjung as a major( source for
their theology. .

4. A Theology of Story telling

In traditional theology, a set of. theological tools has been
provided by philosophy~especially the philosophy of Plato,
Aristotle, Hegel, or Heidegger. Latin American liberation
theologians have found another set of tools; they use Marx-
ist theory for the analysis of the situation in Latin America.
For them, Marxism is not a world view by which they make
.their decisions for social actions, but a tool for social analy-
,sis. They find that a Marxist social analysis hellps them to
understand their world better. 14 Marxis.t socio-economic
theory is very pertJinent for analyzing thel structure of the
Latin Amerkan society and for. constructing liberation
theology.
Minjung theologians found that Marxism is not the best
instrument to analyze Korean social problems, because the
Korean Minjung eocperience of socio-economic and political
oppression occured before the introduction of capitalism into
Korea. Rather than Marxist social analysis, the stories of the
Minjung are the tools which effectively unmask the structure
'of a deeply oppressive society. The stories of Minjung
,expose the absurdity of socielty, the injustice of the oppres-
sor, and the deeply hidden Han of the Minjung. Stori~
. ;contain the history of the suffering Minjung,' their courage-
ous resistance against their rulers, and the vision of a new
society. In stories, the Minjung accuse, challege, and lament
the injustice of their society. Korean stories are filled with
. the Han of the victims of starvation, wars, malignant diseases,
political conflicts, tyranny, etc. 15 Stories have the potential
power of being able to explode the Minjung's accumulated
Han and to bring forth a revolution.
14. Robert McAfee Brown, Theology in a New Key, (Philadelphia: The West-
minister Press, 1978), 'pp. 64·67.
15. Here the term "story" includes folk-tales (Mindam), the senario of the mask'
dance and play (Talchum and Yonguk), Korean opera (Pansori), native songs
(Hyang.gha), and true stories of the oppressed (Silhwa).

9
 Stories raise the anti-establishment consciousness of the
Minjung. Stories lead the Minjung to see the reality of the
world holistically. The Minjung do, not need philosophical,
theological, or sociological jargon to understand truth. Any
abstract academic I te'rm will turn the Minjung off from
seeing truth. Minjung language, which is thoroughly con-'
crete, is story-teUing.
Minjung theologians begiJn to cherish the treasure of
Minjung stories, to learn how to' listen to these stories and
to use them for transforming Korean society. By hearing
Minjung stories, these theologians experience their own
transformation first; then they seeik to share the stories with
others. One of the important tasks of Minjung theologians.
is to be Minjung story-tellers.

Conclusion
Minjung theology is a socio-political hermeneutics of the
Christian gospel from the viewpoint of the past and the pre-
sent experience of Minjung suffering. This theology shows
that the biblical message cannot be fully understood, until
we' understand the history of the Korean Minjung, because
the Bible is rooted in the history of the biblical Minjung.
The Christian gospel and the history of the Korean Minjung
interpenetrate through the hermeneutical process of Minjung
theology.
The basic hermeneutical task of Minjung theology is not
to interpret the Bible (the text)"' in the light of the Karean
situation (the context), but to interpret the suffering experi-
ence of the Korean Minjung (the context) in the light oti the
Bible {the text)\. Minjung theology contends that the Min-
jung dO' not exist for the autharity of the Bible, but the
autharity of the Bible exists for the freedam af the Minjung.
'rhis does nat mean that! the Minjung are more important
than the Bible; it means that ,the Minjung are a starting
point for a biblical hermeneutics.
Minjung thealogy is not primarily concerned about the
Korean Christians in particular, but the oppressed Korean
Minjung in general. 'This thealogy specifically disc avers the·
deep-seated feeling of Han in the Minjung and endeavors

10
to transform it through Dan. Dan means to cut off 'the
vicious circle of the Minjung's Han by exorcizing the evil
spirit of revenge against the oppressive rulers from the Han-
ridden hearts of the Minjung (self-denial) .and by trans-
forming the Han into the power of revolution for establish-
ing a God's nation.
Since Minjung theblogy is not accepted by a majority of
Korean Christians, it remains a challenge for Minjung theo-
logians to persuade Korean Christians to l'lIIinjung theology.
The destiny of Minjung theology is, however, not to be a
theology of church dogmatics but a theology for the oppres-
sed Minjung, of the oppressed Minjung, and by the oppres-
sed Minjung.

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