Targets of 'Forced Conversion' - Female College Students, Pregnant Women & Vulnerable Cancer Patients Who Suffer 'Kidnap, Confinement & Brainwashing'

On 25th December 2020, Cheonji Daily published an article in Korean entitled "Targets of 'Forced Conversion' Suffering 'Kidnap, Confinement, Brainwashing' - Female College Students, Pregnant Women, Vulnerable Cancer Patients." 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 Jisol Lee] In the last issue of this paper, we looked into the background of why forced conversion is taking place in South Korea, and the methods and resulting aftermath of forced conversion. This issue will examine actual cases.

According to the Human Rights Association for Victims of Coercive Conversion Programs, as of October 2020, this year alone has registered about 180 cases of forced conversion. Since records began in 2003, 1725 cases of forced conversion have occurred (link below).

Most victims of forced conversion are women, mainly in their twenties, who are more physically vulnerable. Family members who attend an established church or have close friends use all possible means to bring Shincheonji Church congregants to the forced conversion programme. This is because they receive terrifying reports about Shincheonji Church directly from pastors of the Christian Council of Korea's Heresy Counselling Centre, who run these programmes. For this reason, family members attempt forced conversion through kidnap and confinement, violating one's basic rights. Forced conversion, which was founded upon hatred by Protestant pastors, has become a social issue, but is often dismissed as a 'religious' or 'family issue'.

In addition to the Ji-in Gu case, which attracted the attention of scholars at the Pew Research Center, shocking cases of forced conversion have continued to occur throughout Korean society. On December 29th 2017, at the age of 27, Ji-in Gu was dragged to a forced conversion programme and assaulted while imprisoned in a pension lodging in Hwasun, Jeollanam province, and died on January 9th the following year. Earlier, in July 2016, she was imprisoned in a Catholic monastery in Jangseong county and was forced onto the conversion programme. This case resulted in media exposure abroad.

One case which made national headlines was 'Abduction of a Female College Student in Jeonnam University' through the forced conversion of Shincheonji Church congregants in July 2012. Although this case was led by a conversion pastor who instructed the family to kidnap their relative - a Shincheonji Church member - some Christian media agencies published distorted reports alleging that Shincheonji Church had led the kidnapping under the provocative title, "Shincheonji Abducts University Student".

① Eun-young Jang (pseudonym, 24) who was kidnapped and imprisoned in Jebu island, stands by the sea opposite the pension lodging. The road behind Jang is open only at low tide. ② The police station where Jang first escaped to and pled for help. The police dismissed Jang's kidnapping and imprisonment by her family as a 'family matter', and sent her back to her family, the perpetrator. Subsequently, Jang's first attempt to escape went in vain.

There was also a case involving a woman who had been kidnapped and confined on a remote island for forced conversion and managed to escape. Eun-young Jang (pseudonym, 24, Gwangju Metropolitan City) reported her story to this magazine after her escape on January 8th 2017, having spent 56 days' forced confinement in a pension lodging and undergoing the forced conversion programme. Magazine reporters visited the site of Ms. Jang's forced conversion immediately after interview. The pension she was dragged to is located at a spot where vehicles are allowed to traverse between the land and island at low tide only. At high tide, there was no option to escape.

Ms. Jang said that she tried to escape due to the lack of surveillance and asked the police who were on patrol for help. However, the police yelled at Jang for having left her family and told her to go back. She had escaped from imprisonment, refusing to be brainwashed with Presbyterian doctrine, but the police dismissed it as a mere 'family matter'. Ms. Jang also filed a petition with Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency on the 13th of the same month to rectify the police's religiously biased administration. 

Ms. Shin (25), who attended theological college, was imprisoned for four months in a warehouse in the mountains by her parents following counsel of a conversion pastor. Ms. Shin said she refused to renounce her beliefs and convert, later testifying that her parents mobilised employees of the security firm. She was also confined in a pension for 17 days.

Ms. Shin filed a case after her escape. However, she expressed her intent not to go through with it because she did not want to punish her parents, but the real perpetrators, who had evaded the law. Her father, therefore, was dismissed without prosecution. Nevertheless, Ms. Shin's father changed the password on the front door without informing her and proceeded to take part in an outdoor protest calling for her daughter's return. Ms. Shin was unable to regain a sense of normality and had to receive psychological treatment due to the severe trauma of violence and confinement incurred by the forced conversion programme.

Pregnant women are no exception. Im Mi-kyung (pseudonym) was imprisoned at a parent church belonging to the Presbyterian Church of Korea when she was six months pregnant, and was forced onto a conversion programme while sitting on a stiff steel chair for more than 14 hours a day. The conversion pastor spewed all kinds of slander and accusations at Im, who was immobilised, and treated like a psychopath. Ms. Im said that her request for police protection was met with the police walking away. Her husband, in a fit of rage, then testified that he dragged Ms. Im and even threatened her with a knife. Im described the forced conversion programme as a 'modern-day religious abomination'.

The forced conversion programme was also carried out on cancer patients. Deacon Jeong-mi Song (pseudonym, 42), who was diagnosed with gastric MALT lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, was imprisoned at a forced conversion site for 10 days in 2019. After Deacon Song rejected the conversion programme, the family took turns swearing, condemning and pressing her. They also inflicted violence upon her, grabbing her by the hair and trousers. As the forced conversion progressed, her three children were sent to her parents' and relatives' homes. Their stable family unit had been torn down.

Among victims, there were testimonies of imprisonment at a psychiatric ward for refusing the forced conversion programme. Mrs. Ji-hye Seo (pseudonym, 62) of Yeosu city, Jeollanam province, said in an appeal that she had been confined in a psychiatric ward after protesting against conversion to the conversion pastor. She recalled having to take sleeping pills and antipsychotics for one month in a psychiatric ward. She said that, many years later, she is still unable to forget the experience of being force-fed drugs with her whole body bound.

The forced conversion programme does not exclude men with a sturdy physique. Despite being in his 20s, Mr. Sang-hoon Lee (pseudonym) suffered a family breakdown four years ago after being taken to the site of forced conversion because of the acts of people from the heresy counselling centre, before even graduating from university. Mr. Lee's parents fed him sleeping pills as a way to coerce him onto the forced conversion programme, was cuffed and abducted to a secluded pension. Afterwards, he tried to escape, but was caught by the police. Asking the police to rescue him, the police responded, "We don't care about religious matters." Eventually, Mr. Lee's parents expelled him out of the family home where he was forced to survive alone.

On October 1st 2011, Ms. Soo-min Kim (pseudonym, 22) was abducted for the purpose of forced conversion and assaulted. After an initial failed attempt by her parents to coerce her onto the conversion programme, Ms. Kim was taken onto the programme on May 3rd 2012. Her father carried out indiscriminate abuse, throwing chairs, punches and kicks at his daughter who refused to be converted. Screaming and terrified, Ms. Kim's mother told her to stay quiet and dragged her outside her home by her head. A friend of Ms. Kim who was outside Ms. Kim's home spotted her and tried to stop her father, but her father's two friends who were staying in a nearby van forcefully blocked Ms. Kim's friend. Ms. Kim fled with all her might to a nearby district, bleeding and bruised all over her body and eyes. Police officers who saw Ms. Kim told her to sue her parents. She even had to undergo surgery for a perforated eardrum. Doctors, police and medical institutions were most concerned about the trauma that Kim had received. Ms. Kim testified to being violently beaten by her parents, particularly by her father's violence that could have killed her.

Forced, or coercive, conversion is predominantly carried out by the Presbyterian Church on believers of Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The problem is that, even though violence is used on victims of this process, society tolerates and neglects them, dismissing them as 'religious' or 'family issues'. Isn't it time we consider the basic rights and religious freedoms of all citizens in the Republic of Korea, pursuant to Article 20 of the Constitution?

Source: bit.ly/3rriyey

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Cases of Coercive Conversion (also known as 'Forced Conversion' or 'Deprogramming')

1000s of Cases of Abduction, Confinement and Assault: Shocking Stats Expose South Korea's Shameful 'Coercive Conversion' Endemic

⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/12/1000s-of-cases-of-abduction-confinement.html

International Community's Petition for an End to Coercive Conversion, While National Human Rights Commission of Korea Turns A Blind Eye

⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/12/international-communitys-petition-for.html

Allegation "Shincheonji Stole My Daughter" Found to Be a Lie

⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/12/allegation-shincheonji-stole-my.html

Imprisoned in a Country Pension to Undergo Coercive Conversion because of My Life of Faith at Shincheonji Church of Jesus

⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/10/imprisoned-in-countryside-pension-to.html

“Forced to Undergo 'Coercive Conversion' Thrice Within Two Years, Even Confined in a Psychiatric Ward Simply Due to My Faith at Shincheonji Church of Jesus"

⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/10/forced-to-undergo-coercive-conversion.html

“Liars Allege that Shincheonji Church Confiscates Property, Destroys Families & Endorses Coercive Conversion. It’s Coercive Conversion Pastors Who Do Such Things!”

⇨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

⇨https://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/10/confined-on-2nd-floor-of-police-station.html?m=0

Imprisoned for 2½ months in a secluded location in the mountains. My ‘crime’? Being a believer at Shincheonji Church

⇨http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2020/10/imprisoned-for-2-months-in-secluded.html

“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”

⇨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"

⇨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)

⇨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)

⇨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