Source: Lausanne Global Analysis, November 2021
Korea and Japan are called, “the closest but the farthest nations.” Yonhap News reports that only 16.7 percent of Koreans have positive feelings toward Japan, while 20.2 percent [of] Japanese have positive feelings for Korea. The Japanese prohibition of hate speech has not extinguished the discriminatory actions against Koreans, and the anti-Japan campaigns in Korea seem to be a political strategy for more support from citizens. A deep gulf still exists between the two nations.
The Christian population in Korea is 19 percent of the total population, while in Japan it is about 0.8 percent. Korea often identifies herself as the “Israel in East Asia.” Japan, to the contrary, is known as the “graveyard of missionaries.”
In the midst of such contrast, learn how a Korean church reached across the divide and contextualized its efforts to share the gospel in Japan.
You might be interested in another (brief) article from Lausanne, Friendship Is Part of Our Gospel.