The Role and Implications of Shamanism in Korean Disaster Management

Abstract

The number of shamans, as a category of disaster management stakeholders, has significantly increased in Korea. However, the role of shamans in mitigating the psychological impact of disasters has not been adequately studied. This research explores how to improve the role of shamanism in the field of Korean disaster management toward the ultimate goal of mitigating the psychological impact of disasters. Descriptive content analysis is used to systematically compare the secularism approach with the psychological impact mitigation approach by considering professional shamans, community leaders, educators and researchers, and disaster victims. The most significant finding is that Korea needs to supplement its current secularism approach with the psychological impact mitigation approach. Asian nations could benefit from insights on the significance of behavioral change, cultural competency, neo-shamanism, and multiple networks. The value of this study lies in its more rigorous investigation of Korean shamanism in relation to disaster management compared with previous works.