(Above Photo: a poster released by Daegu CBS)

Pastor Yong-Sik Jin, convicted on charges of forced conversion

Controversy surrounding ‘Very Stubborn Conservative' controversy, Sang-wook Byun, head speaker

Actually a programme for cultivating coercive conversion pastors

Public broadcasting takes the lead in unconstitutional 'religious discrimination' 

[Cheonji Ilbo = Reporter Kang Soo-Kyung] Controversy surrounds events that will take place on June 25th when, in conjunction with the Protestant Church, the Christian broadcaster CBS will publicly advocate for 'coercive conversion pastor' training. This is sounding alarm bells among religious freedoms and human rights groups. Criticism of the news channel YTN is growing as it forsakes its impartial role.

According to media reports published by the Protestant Church that include Kookmin Ilbo, CBS Daegu and a delegation from the Christian Council of Korea’s ‘Heresy Investigation Committee’, the 'Shincheonji Counselling Training Academy' has been inaugurated with the support of the Daegu Christian Association.

◆Counselling? In reality, it’s forced conversion which abuses human rights

Although branded 'Shincheonji Counselling Training Academy’, it is, in fact, a training programme for 'forced conversion pastors' to coerce Shincheonji Church members into renouncing their faith and convert to Presbyterian beliefs. According to the testimony of forced conversion victims, 'cult counselling' is designed to forcibly convert one’s beliefs and is often accompanied by human rights violations that include handcuffing, kidnap and drugging with sleeping pills.

This is also apparent through the background history of the main lecturers.

Pastor Yong-Sik Jin, Ansan Sangnok Church, who had been found guilty on charges of forcibly consigning a victim to a psychiatric ward, is the head pastor behind forced conversion. Pastor Jin belongs to The Seventh-Day Adventist Church. His associates include Pastor Hyun-wook Shin of Guri Chodae Church who had been expelled from Shincheonji Church of Jesus and become a pastor by busying himself with anti-Shincheonji Church activities in the Protestant denomination. Pastor Shin is also an individual many Shincheonji Church believers have termed a perpetrator of forced conversion. Another pastor, Pastor Jong-Han Kim, has been criticised by victims for his role as a conversion pastor.

Lecture topics will include 'cult counselling' which, for the purposes of maintaining its vested interests, will promote the Protestant church’s unilateral 'anti-cult' and 'Shincheonji counselling' stance which consists of personal attacks and defamation of Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Its targets are pastors, private nurses, seminarians and new families. This programme, due to be held seven times in total, demands a registration fee of 500,000 won.

This is because the Christian Council of Korea’s ‘Heresy Investigation Committee’ and the Christian Broadcasting Station (CBS) - which have been advocating for religious conflict and demonstrating increasingly hostile behaviour towards Shincheonji Church of Jesus with their 'anti-cult regulations' supported by the Korean Church - have taken the opportunity to play on the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). It’s hard to turn a blind eye to religiously prejudiced acts that divide people and instil greater hatred and conflict.

The process of forced conversion was broadcast in CBS’ documentary 'People who fell into Shincheonji Church' that aired in 2015. The documentary showed parents taking their children to a conversion programme while covering their heads with blankets. Coercive conversion continued on in spite of victims’ pleas. The Supreme Court ordered CBS to retract their broadcast which they did, but with ethical objections raised after broadcasting their retracted report at 3am when barely anyone was awake.

Pastor Yong-Sik Jin proposes a coercive conversion programme to pastors during a church seminar in February 2007.

◆What is the purpose of training up a ‘Shincheonji counsellor’? Money

A commonly cited purpose among victims for training up an a Shincheonji Church ‘counsellor’ is money. Pastor Jin-Sik Jin acted as vice-chairman of the Heresy Investigation Committee of the CCK (Christian Council of Korea) and led forced conversion in South Korea. In past church seminars, he has made various remarks in favour of ‘cult counselling’ with direct references to exploit it for monetary gain.

Pastor Jin recently acted as a PR ambassador for Kukmin Ilbo (People’s Daily), saying, "Let’s evangelize people through Gukmin Ilbo."

Sang-wook Byun, former CBS HQ director, said in January 2015 during the 67th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Society of Theological Seminary that he had installed cameras to film the forced conversion process. Former HQ director, Mr. Byun, said, "I had hidden the camera in an enclosed location, somehow managed to drag a Shincheonji Church member onto the coercive conversion programme and filmed them receiving ‘cult counselling’ as they grappled back and forth with the conversion pastor again and again."

According to the testimonies of forced conversion victims, the expression 'somehow managed to drag' refers to the use of sleeping pills, rope and handcuffs to restrain and bind the victim’s body and kidnap and drag them to a confined location. This is a serious human rights violation. After being dragged away by their families, victims undergo the forced conversion programme. Regardless of the victim's opposition to it, they are subjected to ‘cult counselling’ from morning to evening. Upon listening and watching the instructor's entire lecture, the victim must then give their consent to prescribed answers. A common testimony among victims of coercive conversion is that continuous refusal to renounce one's faith leads to immediate labelling as a ‘cult member’ and ‘psychopath’.

At a church conference, former director of CBS HQ, Sang-wook Byun, said in March 2014 that he had established a ‘Shincheonji Countermeasures’ team under the direction of former CBS president Jae-Cheon Lee

◆CBS & its financial crisis

Why is CBS heading up such an immoral human rights programme? Its background can be found in the comments of its former HQ director, Sang-Wook Byun. In March 2014, he was the general manager of the ‘Shincheonji Countermeasures’ team, and as a church speaker, revealed that CBS had acquired the support of the Korean Church to gain monetary funds. He said, “The boss (CEO Jae-cheon Lee, former president of CBS) called one day and said, ‘You need to work on Shincheonji. Think about it - no Christian broadcaster can function well when there are millions of Christian cult members.”

He said, “Shincheonji's countermeasures team consists of two executives, four directors, managers and as much human resources support of the CBS as is possible.” He claimed to have slandered Shincheonji Church of Jesus through every possible means including visiting all police stations, public prosecutor's offices, courts, city halls and education offices.

CBS set up the Shincheonji Countermeasures Team in 2012, fearing worsening crises within the Christian broadcasting management team due to a sharp fall in Christians. It was at that time that CBS initiated its movement to withdraw from Shincheonji Church by persistently chanting 'Shincheonji OUT!'.