The Koreans of Japan

The Koreans of Japan, numbering approximately 795,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula, today forming the dominant populations of South Korea and North Korea, with a large global diaspora. They mostly adhere to Atheism and Korean is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Korean

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Japan
People Cluster: Korean
Primary Language(s): Korean (kor)
Primary Religion(s): Atheism
Population: 795,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007572
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Koreans of Japan

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Atheism
Religious Affiliation: Unaffiliated

54%
%
Atheism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Korean
Language Family: Koreanic

100%
%
Korean Speakers

Media Resources in Korean:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Korean:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Korean Bible Version✓
Korean Revised✓
New Korean Revised Version✓
Chosun Bible✓✓✓
Sanuri Bible✓

5 entries

Or check out the Korean bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Koreans are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Koreans:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Koreans of Japan

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that those who are deceived about what brings peace will not settle for any lies they’ve heard about God and will diligently seek Him and be satisfied when they learn the truth about who He is and what He’s done.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
readEphesians 6:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be alert and persistent in prayer for all believers, offering their requests with thanksgiving.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Korean Across Countries (ROP3 - 105225) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

35 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KoreansKoreansHonduras150No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansPanama325No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansDominican Republic750No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNorthern Mariana Islands1,600No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansMongolia2,800Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansSpain2,900No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansKyrgyzstan4,100No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansGuam4,300No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansTurkmenistan5,300No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansTaiwan7,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansParaguay8,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansHong Kong8,600No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNetherlands8,800Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansGuatemala15,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansIran17,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansMadagascar18,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansThailand20,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansSingapore24,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansFrance29,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansArgentina35,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanUnaffiliated
KoreansKoreansMozambique36,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNew Zealand38,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansUnited Kingdom41,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansGermany45,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansBrazil48,500No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansKazakhstan133,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansCanada163,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansAustralia167,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansRussian Federation182,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianAtheism
KoreansKoreansUzbekistan257,000No Longer UnreachedRussianAtheism
KoreansKoreansJapan795,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansUnited States1,095,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansChina2,460,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAtheism
KoreansKoreansNorth Korea26,120,000Engaged yet UnreachedKoreanAgnosticism
KoreansKoreansSouth Korea50,290,000No Longer UnreachedKoreanAtheism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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