Socio- economic ethics of world religions

East Asia is the largest cultural region of the world and the one whose tradition has been unbroken for thousands of years. The three major countries - China, Korea, Japan - represent different paradigms of social, cultural, economic and political life. They will assume a leading role in the 21st century and exert a decisive influence on the development of world politics and the world economy. The stronger the economic presence of the countries of East Asia. the greater the international attention focused on the question of which factors have contributed to the economic success of the region. For the development of international co-operation strategies in the economic, political and cultural arena an appropriate assessment of events in non-European societies is of enormous importance. In this context, increasing importance is being attributed to the functions of religion also in the international scientific literature. Within the cultural region of East Asia, Korea occupies a key position as a bridge between China and Japan, on the one hand. and between Russia and the United States of America, on the other hand. The religions effective in Korean society and their interdependencies will have to be examined in the project submitted, especially within the historic setting of the process of modernisation, which was initiated officially in 1895 - the so-called Kabo-Reform - and has continued ever since until present time. According to authors such as Huntington.. Naisbitt and Fukuyama, Confucianism appears to be the religious/cultural factor with the strongest influence on the economy of East Asia. As far as Korean society is concerned. this is true to a certain extent only, since Confucianism is far from being the only source of religious orientation in Korea. As a working hypothesis, it is assumed that multi-dimensional religiousness as practised in Korean society, constitutes an essential factor of modernisation as a source of socio-ethical and economic motivation and an engine of economic and social development. There also should be analysed the fundamental question, which links the "Korean way" with the influence of religion on society and the economy in a world-wide context, addresses the specific importance of the "Korean way" both in the East Asian cultural framework and in the global "clash of civilisations" (Karl R. Popper) and with a view to a humane world ethos. An attempt will be made to draw conclusions regarding issues of mutual understanding and cultural, economic and political co-operation between the European and East Asian civilisations.