Japanese vs. Korean attidue toward Religion

In information I received from several classes, I perceived that Japanese tend to be less religious, while South Koreans tend to be more religious.

I get these conclusions because of hostage cases in Iraq. Japanese Christian missionaries went to Iraq and were captured and held hostage by terrorists. They eventually were set free, but the Japanese government made them pay for their plane tickets home, and imposed huge fines on them. Many of the former Japanese hostages now live in disgrace.

When the Korean Christian missionaries were captured and held hostage by the terrorists this past summer, the Korean government tried to immediately come to their aide by negotiating with the terrorists. They eventually became free also, but they were not criticized like the Japanese.

These two hostage cases in Iraq show the religious differences between the two countries.