Between Internal Competition and Post-Secular Engagement: South Korea’s Religious Field in Habermasian Perspective

Abstract

This article critically engages Jürgen Habermas’s concept of the post-secular society by situating it within the non-Western socio-religious context of South Korea and evaluating its analytical applicability beyond Europe. Drawing upon selected preliminary empirical cases, it advances a sociological account of how post-secular dynamics concretely emerge within Korea’s distinctive religious landscape. The study first examines the structural features of South Korea’s multi-religious configuration, demonstrating how these conditions simultaneously intensify interreligious competition and generate dialogical interfaces between religious communities and secular institutions. Within this framework, the dual processes described as “pressing” and “checking” compel religious actors to reformulate doctrinal convictions into rationally defensible and publicly accessible arguments. These dynamics are illustrated through two case studies—the Anti–Chunsung-san/Sapae-san Tunnel Movement and public controversies surrounding human embryonic stem cell research—revealing how structurally embedded competition can stimulate constructive participation in democratic public discourse.