Bishop Peter Kang lives on the Korean island of Cheju, is renowned a
sort of “home of the shamans” – predominantly female shamans, called
“mudang”. They heal illnesses, perform exorcisms against evil spirits and communicate with the dead.
In the third millennium, although they are considered a superstitious practice by most, shamanic rites are still widely practiced across the Korean peninsula as a religious undercurrent on an individual and family level, especially in villages.
Today, the South Korean people - who pride themselves in being the world’s leaders in terms of wealth, development and technology - have just discovered, to their horror, that the nation’s policies and decisions that are crucial in determining the nation’s future, have in fact been influenced by shamanic rites. The country’s president, Park Geun-hye, who was elected in 2012, was at the centre of a scandal and a mass protest over her controversial relationship with Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a Shamanic cult leader.
It emerged that the president is controlled and manipulated by the shaman, known as the “Korean Rasputin”. Choi Soon-sil used this influence to control state affairs (gaining access to classified documents). She planned to line her pockets by diverting contributions from industrial colossuses (including Samsung) to foundations under her control. The woman is currently under arrest for fraud and abuse of power, while her “goddaughter” Park is not much better off.
After three weeks of nationwide demonstrations, the scandal, which is now in the hands of the judiciary, shows no signs of abating. Quite the opposite: the public, the mass media and the political opposition are calling for Park’s immediate resignation. Today, 12 November, 800,000 South Koreans of all backgrounds, ages and social classes, staged a peaceful march through the streets of the capital Seoul. Meanwhile, despite President Park’s public apology, her position seems increasingly weak and unstable.
Not even the clumsy attempt at a cabinet reshuffle – replacing the prime minister, finance and interior ministers, with liberal figures – attained the desired effect. Saenuri, the conservative party park belongs to, is divided and the political crisis in Seoul is sweeping through the presidency, the government and the governing party.
“The country is shaken and the people are furious. They feel deceived and taken for a ride. President Park Geun-hye let herself be treated like a puppet. This is why people are calling for her resignation,” Bishop Kang tells Vatican Insider, speaking of Cheju.
“What’s going in Korea right now, reminds me of 19 April 1960, when Syngman Rhee, South Korea’s first president, was forced to resign after a massive student revolt, which accused him of being autocratic and corrupt and of rigging the election,” Kang recalls.
“The same thing seems to be happening now. The situation is serious. President Kang has proved to be an inadequate and incapable leader. She failed to give the country direction: she depended completely on this shaman. At this point, I think the request for her resignation is reasonable, for the good of the nation.”
For South Korea, there is a lesson to be learnt from this painful affair: “I had the chance to write about it recently: Korea’s democratic system does not seem very different from the old dynastic system in place until the end of the 19th century. It has inherited a few of the structural defects.”
“In the monarchic system of the time,” the Catholic leader said, “political power was exercised and controlled completely by the king. This approach still exists today: it seems to me there is a certain continuity in today’s mentality. In the current democratic presidential system, the president enjoys a wide range of powers, similar to the dynasties of the past.”
The bishop has noticed some authoritarian tendencies in Korea over the last few decades: “Today’s crisis,” he said, “is an opportunity to reflect and to change the institutional framework. It’s time to put the subsidiarity principle into practice, conferring greater powers and independence to local entities, starting with the people, citizens and local councils. It’s time to reform Korea’s democratic system, towards a greater real participation of citizens in the decision-making process.”