There’s something about the nighttime skyline in any Korean city. If there’s a church, you can see it from miles away. Maybe that’s the point: to call in the lost and wayward should they need a guiding light after a night of Soju and Noraebangs. Since none of the churches that I’ve passed by late in the evening appear to be open and waiting for the inebriated and needy to come seeking succor for the soul, I must consider alternate explanations.
Whatever the reason, each and every church in Korea bears the same fixture atop its edifice: a gleaming red neon cross. The neon cross is de rigeur, as if in order to proclaim one’s existence as House of God, there must be a red neon cross, as specified in Chapter 3, paragraph 4, Subsection 6e of the Korean building code. I’m sorry, sir, since you don’t have the requisite neon cross, measuring no less than 2 meters high, using red neon #23, displayed in a prominent position on your structure, we’ll have to revoke your license. You may, however, continue to hold weekly bingo games in said establishment. until compliance is obtained and duly notarized. Since a building code or zoning laws most likely doesn’t exist in this country (that’s a whole different discussion on this blog I’ll have to do later) I’d have to give that option little consideration as well.
Perhaps its a tax consideration. Should one wish to remain tax free as a place of worship, its status must be visible to all, night or day.
My money is on homogeneity. Korea is one of the most homogeneous populations on the planet. Close to 97% of the people here are Korean. China, for example, has more than 90 distinct ethnicities. Japan has several as well. The US, well, that’s the classic salad bowl. But Korea, well, its a quintessential one trick pony with a lemming-like population. If a couple of Koreans get together and decide something is a good idea, you can bet the rest of the society will follow suit, right over the same cliff.
My guess is that someone, somewhere on this peninsula, decided that his church would look pretty darn fancy with a nice red neon cross on the top. Soon after that, red neon crosses (blue, green or purple just isn’t done) popped up all over the land like pimples on a teenager’s face after a chocolate binge.
And why not? Red neon is splayed throughout most other parts of any Asian towns, particularly on restaurants, bars, nightclubs and noraebangs. Why not a church? After all, it’s a fairly accurate depiction of the crucifixion itself: poor, tired, beaten down Jesus, struggling to carry his old, rugged, red neon cross up the hill, trailed by throngs of wailing disciples and one very long extension cord.