Hendrik Hamel, a Dutch tradesman who shipwrecked at the Jeju Island in 1653 and had been kept in Korea for 13 years, reported his life in Korea to the Dutch East India Company. Since its publication in 1668, his journal has been a valuable source for Korean religion to Western and Korean scholars. As for religion, his journal has been accepted as a denial of religion in Korea and, at best, a superficial observation for Korean religions in 17th century. However, previous versions of Hamel`s journal has been transformed by commercial publishers and misunderstood through translations. According to the Hoetink version, which is based on the original Dutch manuscript, we can revise the previous interpretation of Hamel`s text. From this rereading, this study suggests three points concerning Hamel`s description on Korean religion as follows: First, far from being the denial of Korean religion, Hamel`s description supposes the existence of religion, or belief, in Korea. Second, the terms used in Hamel`s description are those of religious debates during the Reformation. Because Hamel did not have the "religion" as a general concept, which is developed since the modern age, in his mind, it is impossible for him to raise the question of universality of religion. Third, Hamel`s experience in Korea ranges various classes from King in Seoul to common people in Cheolla province. This enabled him to perceive the dual structure consisting of the elites and popular traditions in Choseon dynasty. As Hamel`s journal originally intends for the report to the commercial company, it emphasizes the systemic aspects in Korean religions. For European readers, however, it has been read as a story of escaping from the savages. Similar to the case of Cabeza de Vaca who survived the shipwreck in North America, Hamel`s story has not been accepted as a journal or report on Koreans but a story of shipwreck, which was a religious metaphor distancing Koreans from Europeans. Koreans as savages were considered not having religion. It was this understanding of Hamel`s text that enabled the interpolation of the sentence, "As for religion, Koreans have scarce any." The distortion and misunderstanding of Hamel`s text have influenced to the modern scholars of Korean religion. The rereading of it suggested in this study will rectify the previous scholarly discussion about Hamel`s description on Korean religion.