1000s of Cases of Abduction, Confinement and Assault: Shocking Stats Expose South Korea's Shameful 'Coercive Conversion' Endemic
On 21st December 2020, Cheonji Daily (Ilbo) published a report in Korean entitled '1000s of Cases of Abduction, Confinement and Assault: Shocking Stats Expose South Korea's Shameful 'Coercive Conversion' Endemic.' This is a translation of that report.
Cases of religious discrimination against minority faiths in South Korea have been indexed by international research institutes. According to a research report recently published by Pew Research Center, a non-profit American think tank, the religious discrimination index level of Korea, which registered 'low' in 2018, has now risen to 'critical'. The only other country which has experienced a dramatic rise is El Salvador with gang violence directed against the Hindu community. Korea has witnessed cases of forced conversion against minority faiths. This study compares and analyses the degree of religious discrimination within each country, and has found the affliction of forced conversion a very serious topic abroad. What happened in 2018 that turned the eyes and ears of expert researchers to Korea? This report examines findings that have shocked foreign scholars, including the 2018 Ji-in Gu incident that resulted from forced conversion.
[Cheonji Ilbo = Reporter Kang Soo-kyung] This issue will look into the 'forced conversion programme', to which the Korean government and all political, social, and religious circles have turned a blind eye. To date, Cheonji Ilbo has been covering cases of forced conversion for victims and perpetrators alike by writing articles and gathering their testimonies with data. Through this, the forced conversion programme's underhand techniques and anomalies have been uncovered.
◆Religious Freedom: Why is 'forced conversion' taking place in South Korea?
According to the testimony of the victims of forced conversion, forced conversion is driven by a culture whereby religious groups are scapegoated by denominations led by the Korean Protestant (Presbyterian) Church - with their vested interest - label 'heretical'. Such Protestant denominations have formed the 'Heresy Investigation Committee' to identify and label certain churches or denominations, different to their own, as a 'heresy'. They go as far as to conduct seminars with the sole intent of slandering these minority faith groups. The problem is that this culture of exclusion, discrimination, and hatred has become established as the accepted norm among most Protestant strands. The rules and regulations imposed on 'heretics' by the Korean Church have also been implemented for political gain.
The predominant targets of the controversial forced conversion programme are members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church of Jesus). Any 'heresy' that was filtered out became an object that must be 'converted' through any means possible. The predominant targets of the controversial forced conversion programme are members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church of Jesus).
From 1984 to the early 2000s, when Shincheonji Church was still small in number, established denominations such as the Presbyterian Church did not pay much attention to them. However, as Shincheonji Church gained momentum and began to show rapid growth, denominations with vested interests suddenly panicked and gave their full attention to Shincheonji Church.
Hyun-wook Shin, who had been expelled from Shincheonji Church in 2007, forged alliances with the 'Heresy Investigation Committee' of the established denomination, where Pastor Yongsik Jin and many others are active. He began to vehemently slander Shincheonji Church. MBC (a leading Korean television and radio network company), which received a report from the established denomination, began to spread misinformation about Shincheonji Church through the broadcasting of their 'PD Handbook'. Although the vast majority of claims turned out to be lies, it drew widespread attention and interest.
Afterwards, collaboration was made between the Christian broadcaster CBS and the Heresy Investigation Committee against Shincheonji Church through their broadcast, 'People Who Fell For Shincheonji', which was embroiled in controversy because it was a biased report fuelled by their vested interests.
Due to the influence of media misinformation, Korean people acquired a negative perception of Shincheonji Church, which has since taken bitter root. Concerns and anxieties were further fuelled by the relatives of Shincheonji Church members, who themselves belong to the established Church. Pastors with bitter resentment towards Shincheonji Church freely labelled it 'heretical' or 'cultish' with allegations of runaway, divorce, renunciation of property, imprisonment, assault and all sorts of unfounded and terrifying claims. This is why relatives who hear such things then become desperate to convert their Shincheonji-believing loved one through coercive means.
In the early days, there were many flaws identified with the method of forced conversion, such as a conversion pastor directly carrying out illegal activities. As shown in the case involving Jeong Baek-hyang of the Church of God, representatives of Ansan Sangnok Church's Heresy Counselling Centre, which was administered by Pastor Yong-sik Jin, forced Mr. Jeong to be hospitalised in a psychiatric ward after Jeong refused to be converted. Pastor Jin was subsequently withdrawn from the court process while other representatives were convicted. Since then, the method of forced conversion has become more cunning.
Now, the conversion pastor who leads forced conversion does not directly participate in the act of assault, kidnap or imprisonment against the victim. Instead, and according to the victim's testimony, the conversion pastor instructs and assists the family to carry out these illegal activities from behind the scenes. The conversion pastor then instructs he family to draft a 'form of consent', which later serves as a means to absolve the conversion pastor of legal responsibility. The family then drugs the victim with sleeping pills, and cuffs and bounds them with duct tape and handcuffs in order to kidnap their victim. Outright human rights violations including imprisonment and violence are then willingly administered to coerce the victim into signing the 'form of consent'.
After the act of kidnap, victims have testified to being imprisoned from several days to several months in a motel near a church which the conversion pastor runs, or in a remote pension or studio in the mountains. There have even been cases of forced confinement in Catholic monasteries with room and boarding expenses incurred entirely by the family. There have also been testimonies of families having to give a 'thank you offering' to the conversion pastor, ranging from 100,000s to tens of millions of Korean Won.
The reason why the family kidnaps their Shincheonji-believing relative is absurd according to claims made by conversion pastors. They allege that other Shincheonji Church believers would file a 'missing persons' report to the police, which would then encourage the police to step forward and prevent the victims from undergoing forced conversion. This itself proves that the programme is unlawful. Shincheonji Church has created an emergency means for members who are at risk of forced conversion to ask for help at any time but kidnap is a means devised to prevent one from accessing the support needed.
The predominant reason given by victims' families for their rash behaviour is that denominations, such as Shincheonji Church, were identified by conversion pastors as 'heretical' and families were lectured that Shincheonji and other denominations are heretical and a cult. Moreover, they maintain that conversion pastors instil deep fear and anxiety through their groundless claims, asserting that the Shincheonji believer has fallen into a 'cult' and is now prone to making decisions that will result in confiscation of property and social ostracisation. Moreover, it seems that the patriarchal family unit in Korea where children unconditionally obey their parents' instruction plays a large role.
What makes victims consistently vexed with the forced conversion programme is the severity of the lies and kangaroo court (Communist-style people's court) brainwashing programme. Victims have described the programme as a process of 'brainwashing through Presbyterian doctrine.
According to the testimony, the conversion pastor induces them to receive 'cult counselling', saying that there are serious errors in the Biblical doctrine taught in Shincheonji Church. However, when the conversion programme begins, what follows is not Biblical proof, but derogatory personal attacks and slander against the chairman of Shincheonji Church.
It has also been revealed that the programme typically begins at 8am and continues until the evening while the victim remains forcibly confined. The victims are told to answer 'yes' or 'no'; when they do not give the desired response, they are mocked and Shincheonji is further slandered. Then, this is followed by family's verbal and physical violence towards the victim. Moreover, people who are not the victim's family intervene in the programme to give kangaroo-court-style education.
The conversion pastor compels the victim to attend his church for six months to a year to receive additional 'counselling' with some victims testifying that church officials demanded a gratitude offering ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of Korean Won.
◆"Conversion through counselling" or "family breakdown"
The victims of forced conversion are those who have expressed their intention not to convert. They are people who refused the oppressive "If-you-don't-convert-family-will-breakdown" threat.
The victims of forced conversion are those who have expressed their intention not to convert. They are people who refused the oppressive "If-you-don't-convert-family-will-breakdown" threat.
Families who initially choose to proceed with forced conversion do so with only two thoughts in mind: 'conversion through counselling' or 'family breakdown'. The concept of 'religious freedom' and 'respect for religion' has been discarded. In addition, the conversion pastor does not present any other option for the family. What infuriates victims is the fact that conversion pastors are not held responsible for resulting family breakdowns because they manipulate and use families as dirty instruments.
Indeed, all the blame is shifted onto Shincheonji and victims' families are urged to protest. It seems that despite parents' best efforts to do so, their child fails to be converted. The parent appears to have carried out their one-man protest to relieve stress and resentment. One parent who showed up on a certain broadcast said that they couldn't stand the anger, so they protested again and said that they got better. They went to churches and education centres, and turned on their loudspeakers and screamed for them to be brought out, even though they knew their child was absent. There was one shameful case of a parent being arrested for demanding their child be released even though their child was by their side.
This happens because the conversion pastor does not present the victim's family with the option of engaging in 'smooth dialogue' with their child.
According to the Human Rights Association for Victims of Coercive Conversion Programs as of October 2020, a total of 1725 victims have suffered from forced conversion. The number of victims, which was less than 100 per year until 2012, has steadily exceeded 100 with 151 in 2013, and 180 cases this year. As for the aftermath incurred, there were 2 deaths, 946 kidnappings, 1131 in forced confinement, 579 assaults, 100 drugged with sleeping pills, 99 forced leave of absence, 101 forced leave from studies and 32 forced divorces.
In a survey of about 900 victims of forced conversion, 55% of victims complained that they were threatened and brainwashed during counselling and 52% were imprisoned. 42% of the victims said they were kidnapped and taken away. 2% (10) of victims were even forcibly admitted to a psychiatric ward for refusing to convert. In the case of female victims, 'shame' (171 people, 34.5%), 'helplessness' or 'depression' (152 people, 31%) or 'suicidal thoughts' (50 people, 10.1%) were recorded.
The main perpetrators of forced conversion are not family members, but actually 'heresy counselling centres' belonging to the Korean Protestant Church. The organisation that they are united with is the Korean Christian Council of Korea (CCK). The chairman of this association is Pastor Jin Yong-sik (Ansan Sangnok Church). He is taking the lead in overthrowing Shincheonji Church. Pastor Jin came from the Sabbath Church that Han Ki-chong had defined as 'heretical'.
Pastor Jin has a history of questionable moral and ethical perspectives as well as having been convicted by the Supreme Court in the past and caught up in controversy over his 'forged background education'. Pastor Jin received payment from victims' families for the purposes of converting members of other denominations to the Protestant Church, and was subsequently sentenced to 2 years probation and 10 months in prison in 2008 at the Supreme Court for 'Demanding Community Life at Night', 'Complicity in Confinement' and violating the law for crimes including violence. At that time, Pastor Jin delivered forced conversion 'counselling' to Baek-hyang Jeong (representative of the Association of Psychiatric Victims' Human Rights) and others from 2000 to 2001. In addition, he was convicted of complicit crimes of abetting confinement of victims at the top roof of Ansan Sangnok Church and psychiatric wards involving Mr. Jeong's family.
The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) raised suspicions about how he was able to enrol in Chongshin University, although Pastor Jin was recorded as a 'dropout' at elementary school. Before entering Chongshin University, Pastor Jin's actual education was when he entered Shintaein Elementary School in Jeonbuk in 1963 and dropped out of elementary school after completing his second year.
In 2013, the CCK designated Pastor Yong-sik Jin and Pastor Hyun-wook Shin, the representative of the National Federation of Shincheonji Countermeasures, as 'heretcs', and requested their joint resignation.
According to Shincheonji Church, Shin was expelled for controversy with words and actions that denied the Bible, saying, 'You must pray in the name of Chairman Man Hee Lee, not in the name of Jesus', and, 'You must eat the flesh and blood of Chairman Man Hee Lee.' Since then, as a member of the National Federation of Shincheonji Countermeasures, he has been leading criticism of, and conversion programmes against, Shincheonji Church. It is a reality that conversion programmes are being conducted in 17 counselling centres nationwide centred on these two pastors.
The dominant view is that forced conversion is prevalent because it becomes a 'moneymaker'. In fact, Pastor Yongsik Jin, who leads the forced conversion, urged pastors to jump into the forced conversion programme by saying, "The income from one conversion is better than the donations of 100 members of the congregation." Along with the expansion of 'cult seminars', the number of conversion pastors nationwide has increased rapidly as the awareness that conversion is a profitable income has increased, and the number of related victims is constantly increasing. HAC (Human Rights Association for Victims of Coercive Conversion) also held several press conferences, asserting through victims' testimonies that the purpose of forced conversion was to make money .
In the next issue, we will look at some cases in which such forced conversion took place.
Cases of Coercive Conversion (also known as 'Forced Conversion' or 'Deprogramming')
International Community's Petition for an End to Coercive Conversion, While National Human Rights Commission of Korea Turns A Blind Eye
Allegation "Shincheonji Stole My Daughter" Found to Be a Lie
Imprisoned in a Country Pension to Undergo Coercive Conversion because of My Life of Faith at Shincheonji Church of Jesus
⇨https://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/10/liars-allege-that-shincheonji-church.html?m=0
Confined on the 2nd floor of a Police Station to Stop me from Living my Life of Faith at Shincheonji Church. With a Crippled Arm, I Was Dragged Away for Coercive Conversion
Imprisoned for 2½ months in a secluded location in the mountains. My ‘crime’? Being a believer at Shincheonji Church
“Although I managed to evade 'coercive conversion' with every pastor in town brought in by fleeing to the army, harassment continued"
⇨https://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/09/although-i-managed-to-evade-coercive.html?m=0
“Incitement of Hatred Towards Shincheonji Tears Families Apart"
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/09/incitement-of-hatred-towards.html
“Conversion Pastor Caused Newlyweds to Divorce, Promoting Division and Conflict Among Both Families”
“Incitement of Hatred Towards Shincheonji Tears Families Apart"
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/09/incitement-of-hatred-towards.html
“Conversion Pastor Caused Newlyweds to Divorce, Promoting Division and Conflict Among Both Families”
⇨https://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/09/conversion-pastor-caused-newlyweds-to.html?m=0
Drugged and Abducted, Chained and Imprisoned...Yet Police Respond to Three Separate Appeals With the Words "We Can't Help You"
Drugged and Abducted, Chained and Imprisoned...Yet Police Respond to Three Separate Appeals With the Words "We Can't Help You"
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/09/drugged-and-abducted-chained-and.html
“Adult Male Kidnapped, Drugged, Handcuffed & Forced into a Suitcase for the Purpose of Coercive Conversion" (18th June 2020)
“Adult Male Kidnapped, Drugged, Handcuffed & Forced into a Suitcase for the Purpose of Coercive Conversion" (18th June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/adult-male-kidnapped-drugged-handcuffed.html
'Counselling Education'? No - 'Coercive Conversion' & Human Rights Abuses. Controversy Surrounds YTN As Its News Anchor Becomes Head Speaker at CBS' 'Shincheonji Counselling' Programme (June 25th 2020)
'Counselling Education'? No - 'Coercive Conversion' & Human Rights Abuses. Controversy Surrounds YTN As Its News Anchor Becomes Head Speaker at CBS' 'Shincheonji Counselling' Programme (June 25th 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/counselling-education-no-coercive.html
Coercive Conversion in Present-Day South Korea: Amoral Pastors Who Deceive Parents for Money
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/coercive-conversion-in-present-day.html
"Mum’s Piercing Words, 'Get out of the House, you Bi*ch!' Yet Later Protested 'Bring Back my Daughter!'" (Cheonji Daily, 10th June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/mums-piercing-words-get-out-of-house.html
"It’s because of 'Shincheonji Church' Vs. 'It's Parents Who Kidnap and Confine their Children'. Who's to blame?" (Cheonji Daily, 5th June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/its-because-of-shincheonji-church-vs.html
“Kidnapped & Confined: Coercive Conversion Abuses Parents’ Love & Must Be Eliminated”
(Cheonji Daily 2nd June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/kidnapped-confined-coercive-conversion.html
“Coercive Conversion Pastor Treated me like an Animal and Instigated Mistrust Within my Family”
(Cheonji Daily 1st June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/coercive-conversion-pastor-treated-me.html
Is This A Communist ‘People's Court'? The Deception of Coercive Conversion
(Cheonji Daily 21st May 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/is-this-communist-peoples-court.html
Restrained with Sleeping Pills…Resisted Forced Conversion, but was Assaulted and Eventually Fainted
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/restrained-with-sleeping-pillsresisted.html
Drugged, Handcuffed, Kidnapped, Confined; it’s OK, they Belong to Shincheonji! Today’s ‘Cult Framing' that Violates Human Rights and Tears Families Apart
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/drugged-handcuffed-kidnapped-confined.html
“Kidnapped and Confined Without Shower or Food, and Sexually Shamed”
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/kidnapped-and-confined-without-shower.html
"Family deceived and manipulated into locking up and beating pregnant family member. 'Peace' will be found when truth is revealed"
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/family-deceived-and-manipulated-into.html
"They forced me to remove my underwear in front of relatives in a car. I'm a 30 year-old woman”
(Cheonji Daily 28th April 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/04/they-forced-me-to-remove-my-underwear.html
Coercive Conversion in Present-Day South Korea: Amoral Pastors Who Deceive Parents for Money
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/coercive-conversion-in-present-day.html
"Mum’s Piercing Words, 'Get out of the House, you Bi*ch!' Yet Later Protested 'Bring Back my Daughter!'" (Cheonji Daily, 10th June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/mums-piercing-words-get-out-of-house.html
"It’s because of 'Shincheonji Church' Vs. 'It's Parents Who Kidnap and Confine their Children'. Who's to blame?" (Cheonji Daily, 5th June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/its-because-of-shincheonji-church-vs.html
“Kidnapped & Confined: Coercive Conversion Abuses Parents’ Love & Must Be Eliminated”
(Cheonji Daily 2nd June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/kidnapped-confined-coercive-conversion.html
“Coercive Conversion Pastor Treated me like an Animal and Instigated Mistrust Within my Family”
(Cheonji Daily 1st June 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/06/coercive-conversion-pastor-treated-me.html
Is This A Communist ‘People's Court'? The Deception of Coercive Conversion
(Cheonji Daily 21st May 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/is-this-communist-peoples-court.html
Restrained with Sleeping Pills…Resisted Forced Conversion, but was Assaulted and Eventually Fainted
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/restrained-with-sleeping-pillsresisted.html
Drugged, Handcuffed, Kidnapped, Confined; it’s OK, they Belong to Shincheonji! Today’s ‘Cult Framing' that Violates Human Rights and Tears Families Apart
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/drugged-handcuffed-kidnapped-confined.html
“Kidnapped and Confined Without Shower or Food, and Sexually Shamed”
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/kidnapped-and-confined-without-shower.html
"Family deceived and manipulated into locking up and beating pregnant family member. 'Peace' will be found when truth is revealed"
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/05/family-deceived-and-manipulated-into.html
"They forced me to remove my underwear in front of relatives in a car. I'm a 30 year-old woman”
(Cheonji Daily 28th April 2020)
⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/04/they-forced-me-to-remove-my-underwear.html
0 comments