[Presidential Candidates and Religion] What Is the Commonality Between Lee Jun-seok and Han Dong-hoon? [AK Radio]

The Most Common Religion Among Presidential Candidates Is Catholicism
No Buddhist Candidates
Ahn Cheol-soo, Lee Jun-seok, Han Dong-hoon Are All Catholics

The presidential election has entered full swing. The People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea are accepting candidate registrations until today. The People Power Party will announce the first round preliminary candidates on the 16th after document screening. The Democratic Party will begin regional primary elections starting from the Chungcheong region on the 16th. As the candidates for each party are finalized, planning related to the presidential candidates begins. The first topic explored was 'Presidential Candidates and Religion.'

Analyzing the religions of the presidential candidates, the eight candidates from the People Power Party are evenly split between Protestantism and Catholicism. Former Minister Kim Moon-soo, former lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja, Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk, and former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo are Protestants, while lawmakers Na Kyung-won and Ahn Cheol-soo, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, and former party leader Han Dong-hoon are Catholics. Among the Democratic Party candidates, Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province and former party leader Lee Jae-myung are Protestants, while former Governor Kim Kyung-soo of Gyeongnam is Catholic. Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok and Justice Party leader Kwon Young-guk are Catholics.

Former Minister Kim Moon-soo converted from no religion to Catholicism and then to Protestantism. Kim became a Catholic after receiving baptism while hiding in a Catholic facility during a manhunt in the 1980s labor and student movements. However, he converted to Protestantism in 2018. Regarding his conversion, he stated in a February 2020 interview with JoongAng Ilbo, "Sometimes when listening to Catholic sermons, I feel a leftist perspective. In some cases, it feels less like religion and more like a pro-Moon Jae-in, pro-North Korea faction. When I was governor of Gyeonggi Province, Catholics held daily masses opposing the Four Major Rivers Project for 970 days. I did not want to attend."

Lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo became a Catholic on October 11, 2017. He received baptism at the National Assembly chapel (a church without a resident priest) from Father Baek Chung-yeol, the Seoul Archdiocese's National Assembly chaplain. Ahn was active in the Catholic student association while attending Seoul National University College of Medicine. Meeting his wife, Professor Kim Mi-kyung of Seoul National University, was also through volunteering in a Catholic organization. Although he completed catechism at Hyehwa-dong Church in Jongno-gu, he had not received baptism at that time. His baptismal name is 'Hasang Paul,' after Saint Jeong Hasang Paul. His godfather was former three-term lawmaker and lawyer Oh Yu-bang.

Former party leader Lee Jae-myung is Protestant. He has said that his mother and spouse Kim Hye-kyung are Protestants and that "thanks to my wife, I accepted the Lord belatedly in 2005." On March 4, 2022, in a speech on CBS radio, he said, "The place where God led me to politics, the place where I first decided to enter politics, is the church," and added, "I will always revere God, repent, and humbly serve the people."

He used to attend Bundang Woori Church but was removed from the church membership in 2021 due to not attending for over ten years. This led to perceptions that he was a 'Canaanite believer' with shallow faith. When this issue became controversial, he attended services at Yangnim Church in Gwangju on November 28, 2021, during a campaign in Honam, and at Seonggwang Church in Jeongeup on December 5.

Lawmaker Lee Jun-seok attended the National Assembly New Year's Mass on January 9, 2025, stating, "As a politician, I will strive to make 2025 more stable than 2024, and a politics of peace and love for all." On January 22, 2016, he revealed on his social media a childhood photo and disclosed that he is Catholic. "Now, if I transfer my church registration, should I go to Nowon Church based on my residence, or to Sanggye-dong Church where I regularly attended as a child? I am drawn to Sanggye-dong Church, where I was once scolded for playing in the confession room," he wrote. Lee was baptized at Sanggye-dong Church. During the last general election, Lee's mother revealed that she consulted a priest about her son's difficulties after he was ousted as party leader.

Han Dong-hoon, former party leader, who moved to Mochung-dong, Cheongju, Chungbuk at age four, spoke about his experience attending church influenced by his parents during a visit to Archbishop Jeong Soon-taek of the Seoul Archdiocese on January 30 last year. He said, "I have many ties to Catholicism. My baptismal name is Thomas Aquinas," and added, "When I lived in Cheongju, I served as an altar boy at Sudong Church alongside Father Gerard Hammond (Korean name Ham Je-do). I was baptized. My parents strongly encouraged it." Han graduated from St. Anna Kindergarten affiliated with Sudong Church in Cheongju and attended Unho Elementary School in Cheongju before transferring to Seoul in fourth grade.

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, during his time as a member of the National Assembly representing Dongdaemun-gu Eul district, was appointed a deacon at Jeonnong Methodist Church along with his wife Lee Soon-sam and attended the church for over ten years. After shifting his political base to Gyeongnam and Daegu, it is known that he did not actively practice his faith. In a March 2017 interview with Buddhist Newspaper, Hong stated that although he is Protestant, he has a deep connection to Buddhism due to his devout Buddhist mother.