You Are Totally Wrong About 'Witch Hunts' | Kim Hak-cheol, Professor, Yonsei University Undergraduate College [The Religion]

Summary

Professor Kim Hak-cheol corrects common misconceptions about historical witch hunts, emphasizing they occurred not in the medieval period but in the early modern era and were driven by religious competition, economic incentives, climate pressures, legal procedures, and human psychology. He draws parallels to contemporary society, arguing that modern media and anxiety-driven dynamics continue to produce similar scapegoating phenomena. The discussion touches on Korea's perpetual crisis narrative and collective anxiety as fertile ground for modern witch hunts.

• Witch hunts were an early modern phenomenon, peaking from ~1560–1630, overlapping with the Scientific Revolution, not the Middle Ages.
• The printing press amplified witch trial manuals, analogous to social media today spreading narratives faster.
• Economic and judicial incentives made witch trials profitable; accusers often acted as judges under inquisitorial procedures.
• Religious competition between Catholics and Protestants intensified witch hunts as a form of 'brand competition' for legitimacy.
• Modern witch hunts continue in parts of India, Africa, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere, sometimes with legal witch trials.
• Korea's pervasive crisis mentality, market-anxiety loops, and binary scapegoating create conditions that mirror historical witch hunt dynamics.
• Professor Kim advises against reductionist blame and urges nuanced introspection rather than simplistic us-vs-them narratives.