As discussed above, Confucianism and Buddhism have played the most conspicuous roles among those conservative forces opposed to Westernization. However, Korean nationalism is just as important as a strong conservative force of the modern era. In general, nationalism has appeared in the guise of either religious or intellectual movements.
Religious Movements: Following Ch'oe Su-un's Tonghak movement in 1860, countless new religions appeared in Korea. Tonghak means "Eastern Learning" and as the name implies, it was an Eastern religion embodying the Korean spirit, in opposition to Christianity which had come from the West. Tonghak's central teaching was embodied in its Kaebyok (Opening) ideology. Kaebyok was a cosmic chronology which claimed that a new era was beginning. In the West, cosmic changes typically signaled a conclusion, but in the East, they represented a new creation or "iKaebyok." According to Tonghak, Kaebyok heralded the advent of a new utopia which would be centered around the Korean Peninsula and its people.
Tonghak ideology thus fostered a nationalistic faith that culminated in the Tonghak Rebellion-a defining event in Korea's modernization. Moreover, Tonghak played a pivotal role in maintaining this nationalistic consciousness, leading up to the March First Independence Movement of 1919. Tonghak's Kaebyok ideology later became the philosophical model for Korea's new indigenous religions, such as Chungsan-gyo and Won Buddhism. During the 1930s, these religions were already referring to themselves as "Korean Folk Religions," and they continue to do so even today.