The modern era of Korea unfolded in the context of imperialism in which Western powers tried to dominate the East. Against this backdrop, modern Korean religions can be roughly divided into the three following categories. One category corresponds to religion that underwent a modern transformation of traditional religious ideas including Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism which were accepted based on Korea's indigenous beliefs. Another category includes religion in which Western religious ideas centered on Christianity were introduced and indigenized. Last but not least, as a new religion, Korea's own religious ideology emerged.
Of them, however, the new religion stood in a weak position. During the Japanese colonial period, Japan's indigenous religion called Shinto (神道), Buddhism, and Christianity were recognized as official religions and managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (文部省), while all other religions were labelled as pseudo religions and suppressed by the National Police Agency under the Ministry of Justice. Therefore, the very existence of a new religion was considered illegal.
Such circumstances continued to pertain even after liberation from Japan, and new religions were viewed as being either pseudo-religion, false religion, newly-risen religion, heresy, or cult. After the 1980s, through several surveys of new religions, a universal perspective from which they were recognized as newreligions was established.
Since the founding of a new religion called Donghak (東學) by Choi Je-woo in 1860, many denominations of the new religion in Korea have been established or become divided. Looking at each period, Donghak emphasized ethics in the first period, the enlightenment period, and science and rationality in the second period, the Japanese colonial period. In the third period, after liberation from Japan, the emphasis was placed on spirituality under the guarantee of religious freedom and the separation of religion and politics, while in the fourth period, since the 1980s, the emphasis has been placed on well-being and healing (relaxation)