The Growth of Korea Soka Gakkai International (KSGI) and Its Civic Engagement in the Socio-Historical Context

Abstract

This paper examines how and why Korea Soka Gakkai International (KSGI) has grown rapidly in the Korean religious market. Although Soka Gakkai was introduced to Korea as a Nichiren Shoshu lay community in the 1960s, KSGI has achieved remarkable growth without the structurally covert and organizationally authoritative control typical of traditional elite Buddhism. This fact is significant in both theory and practice, as lay movements have historically not been very successful in Korean religions. Focusing on the paradoxical affinity between secular civic movements and religious lay movements, this paper explains why and how KSGI had to combine the two movements in a socio-historical context different from that of its Japanese partner, which established a public political party, the Komeito, and formed a coalition government with other parties. As a result, this paper reveals the following findings: first, KSGI’s nonpolitical civic engagement led to a more effective growth strategy tailored to the Korean socio-historical context. Second, the Korean government’s policy of opening up to Japanese culture since the 2000s played a significant role in the growth of KSGI. Third, the spread of civil movements in Korea contributed to enhancing KSGI’s social adaptability and credibility.

Keywords

• Korea Soka Gakkai international
• Korean Buddhist lay movement
• faith-based civic engagement
• Korean new religious movements
• Korean religious market