Islam in Korea

In South Korea, the Muslim population has been steadily increasing since the introduction of the Islamic faith shortly after the Korean War. The Muslim (both Korean and foreign born) community is centered around Seoul, where the first large 20th-century mosque was built in 1976 using the funds of the Malaysian Islamic Mission and other Islamic countries.

In addition to fewer than 30,000 indigenous Korean Muslims, there has been a slow but evident growth of South Asian, Middle Eastern (i.e.Iraqi), Indonesia and Malaysian immigration to South Korea, the majority being Muslims, during the 1990s and 2000s, usually arriving as guest workers to the country. In total, there are up to 35,000 Muslims in South Korea.

It is believed that there is no significant presence of Islam in North Korea, where autonomous religious activity in general is almost non-existent.