This study examined 64 compassion cultivation program studies published in Korean academic journals from 2016 to 2025 to identify research trends, program characteristics, and core mechanisms of compassion-based interventions. Findings showed that research has expanded since the COVID-19 pandemic, with a predominance of quantitative studies in psychology, counseling, and education, mainly targeting adults and university students. Programs primarily aimed to enhance self-compassion and related self-constructs, with effects extending to emotional and mental health, quality of life, and relational functioning. Most programs were based on direct compassion training approaches such as MSC and CFT, combined with mindfulness- and acceptance-based approaches, and commonly utilized meditation, writing, and group counseling. A shared phased structure was identified, involving recognition of suffering, reduction of self-criticism, cultivation of self-kindness, and integration into daily life. Compassion-based interventions operated by reconstructing the relationship with the self, shifting emotion regulation from threat-based to safety-based systems, and reinforcing compassionate responses through repeated practice, extending from self to others. These findings provide a systematic understanding of compassion cultivation programs and offer foundational implications for future intervention design and application.