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

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents.

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.
readExodus 4:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will equip them with the words and wisdom to proclaim His message effectively.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

35 people groups

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