Agreed - the life of a Shincheonji Church member would be so much easier openly declaring his or her beliefs. But doing so often leads to serious human rights abuses. Let me share some background with you. Since 2005, Protestant pastors who belong to the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) have initiated and implemented a programme called ‘coercive conversion’, which predominantly targets Shincheonji Church members. Coercive conversion involves pastors deceiving parents/spouses into believing their loved one has joined a ‘cult’ and must be taken out through any means possible. So, in return for monetary payment, parents are duped by conversion pastors into drugging and abducting their loved one to a remote location - usually a Protestant church or rented lodgings - for a period of weeks or months where the victim is often subjected to psychological and physical abuse until they consent to receiving ‘conversion education’ and renouncing their faith. In the last ten years, there have been roughly 1500 cases of forced conversion in Korea committed against Shincheonji Church members.

The harsh consequences of openly declaring one's belonging to Shincheonji have also been made evident amid the current pandemic. The media and politicans' callous scapegoating of Shincheonji Church that followed 'patient 31' on February 18th 2020 - fuelled by the Protestant Church's vested interests in power and authority - has resulted in the leakage of Shincheonji Church members' personal information that led to c.7000 members being openly discriminated at work, forced out of their studies or, in at least three cases, being killed by their own family members for their religious affiliation. In Korea, the mere mention of ‘Shincheonji’ can lead to instant panic and fear and severe abuses. Korean law does little to nothing to protect religious minorities.

It can be difficult to imagine that this is happening in a country as advanced and 'democratic' as the Republic of Korea, which 'recognises' freedom of religion within its constitution, but this is all true.

I hope this helps you understand who difficult it is for Shincheonji Church members in Korea (and abroad) to openly declare their beliefs.

Yet as Shincheonji Church members, we hold on to our faith in spite of this difficulty because of the certain hope we have in seeing God’s promise recorded in the Bible come to pass in our times today. It is because of our hope that we persevere through all this hardship. I hope this helps put everything into context😊