185 foreign media publicise the recent “Ban Coercive Conversion” Advertisement in the NY Times

In the lead-up to the one year anniversary of the death of Ms. Gu (27), murdered on January 9th 2018 for refusing to renounce her religious beliefs, the press outside South Korea have continued to publicise the evils of the “coercive conversion” programme established and implemented by pastors of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK). A total of 185 overseas media channels, including ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation) 6, CBS (Colombia Broadcasting System) and FOX News Channel 34, have now reported the 28th November New York Times’ advertisement “Ban Coercive Conversion”, which highlights the devastating effects of this practice in what is a supposedly democratic country guaranteeing religious freedoms within article 20 of its constitution.

The reason why foreign, and not national or local, media has brought Ms. Gu’s death to the international limelight is because her death had initially been treated by local police as a 'religious and family issue. After Ms. Gu, who was a believer at Shincheonji Church of Jesus, had escaped her first kidnapping at a Catholic monastery in July 2016, she then petitioned to the then Korean president for justice and for the eradication of the CCK’s coercive conversion programme. However, her plea was ignored and she was kidnapped for a second time before her death on January 9th 2018 as she tried to escape. Despite the gravity of this issue, domestic media has kept her case hidden from the Korean people. ABC6 report has admitted this.

Ms. Gu is the second victim of this coercive conversion programme. On June 7th 2006, Mrs. Kim was kidnapped by her then husband and sister to a nearby motel where she received ‘counselling’ by a pastor of the ‘Korean Cult Counselling Office’ for refusing to renounce her religious beliefs. After her escape and subsequent divorce, her ex-husband bludgeoned her to death with a hammer in October 2007. Korean media remained silent about this issue.

FOX34 wrote, "As a result of the joint effort by the international media, much attention has been paid to human rights violations caused by coercive conversion." Following Ms. Gu’s death, 25 rallies have been held in 17 countries demanding punishment of these pastors - who are mainly from the CCK - and eradication of their coercive conversion programme. Media in 33 countries has actively reported on these rallies.

After a New York citizen heard about Ms. Gu’s death, she started a fundraising campaign on the ‘Go Fund Me’ site, writing "Coercive conversion still continues. I hope the ads will inform the world about the actual situation of coercive conversion of Korea.” The New York Times highlighted the seriousness of the issue, writing "The whole world is paying attention to the violation of religious freedoms and there is an increasing effort to help people who need to be protected from religious persecution." It is disturbing that such events are taking place today in a country like South Korea, the home of K-pop. Coercive conversion continues, with an estimated 140 victims - mainly Korean youth - kidnapped since Ms. Gu’s death.