04/01/2021

Confined in a Remote Mountainous Log Cabin - Coercive Conversion Predominantly Targets Shincheonji Church Members (Part 2/2)

On 31st December 2020, Cheonji Daily published an article in Korean entitled "Confined in a Remote Mountainous Log Cabin - Coercive Conversion Predominantly Targets Shincheonji Church Members”. This is a translation of that report.

The once unknown term 'forced conversion' became a serious topic in South Korean society in 2008 after Pastor Yong-Sik Jin sent Mrs. Baek-Hyang Jeong to a psychiatric ward in order to carry out forced conversion. He was later punished by law. At that time Pastor Jin, who headed up the Heresy Investigation Committee of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), forcibly converted believers who belonged to denominations of the established church labelled so-called 'cults', including Mrs. Jeong’s. Such cases began to rise in leaps and bounds. At first, pastors carried out ‘forced conversion’ (also termed ‘deprogramming’ or ‘coercive conversion’) themselves, but later altered their approach. Today, forced conversion pastors instil fear and anxiety in the families of Shincheonji Church members by slandering Shincheonji Church, so that families are deceived into believing their beloved child, wife or parent has fallen into a ‘cult’ and are prone to making immediate hasty decisions. In order to prevent this, forced conversion programs tainted by illegal practices that include kidnap, confinement and violence become the 'last straw' to save the family. In 21st century South Korea, where issues around religious freedom have been brought to the limelight, ‘forced conversion’ continues unabated. This paper intends to serialise the distressing appeals of victims who have had to endure human rights violations and oppression through forced conversion, and are otherwise unable to voice their plea.

“Even if converted, I was told I had to remain in the studio near the church
Indoctrinated without work for 3 months
Scheme for me to Assist in Deceiving Fellow Shincheonji Church Members
After 6 months, I was told I'd have to carry out my life of faith in a Presbyterian church"

[Chunji Ilbo = Reporter Kang Soo-kyung] Ms. Hye-mi Yoo (pseudonym) of Buk district, Gwangju city, was shocked by the content of the coercive conversion programme she underwent because she was told that, post-conversion, she would have to continue receiving Presbyterian doctrine for three months at a studio near a church which the conversion pastor manages.

She was equally shocked to hear that she was asked to help forcibly convert other Shincheonji Church congregants.

She was finally set free from her ordeal six months later, under the condition that she goes on to attend church belonging to the Presbyterian denomination. Ms. Yoo became troubled by the fact that forced religious indoctrination is taking place in 21st century Korea. What follows is an account of Ms. Yoo's appeal.

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Conversion Pastors Instructed my Family to Confine me in a Log Cabin

I was informed that, even if I were converted, I would have to hire a studio next to a Presbyterian church in order to completely 'erase' Shincheonji Church doctrine in place of Presbyterian doctrine for a period of three months.

I was also informed by the conversion pastor that, during this three-month coercive conversion programme, I would be unable to go to work but instead had to assist in deceiving other Shincheonji Church members. After six months, I was told, I could then join any Presbyterian church I wished.

One day, after acting upon a conversion pastor's counsel, my parents called me at work to tell me I had to leave my work for a few days because something urgent had arisen.

Soon after, I was dragged without any forewarning to a log cabin where I was held a prisoner. On the morning of day four, after the log cabin manager sensed something unusual, the police arrived. My mother told the policeman, "Officer - my daughter is mentally unfit, so she has come here for a retreat. I was worried she might go insane and flee so I blocked the windows with iron bars."

I was treated like a criminal. As I lay there confined, the police did not for a moment ask me for my version of events, but listened only to my family's story, believing that we were all there together in order for me to address a serious mental health issue.

On day five, I was barely rescued with the help of friends of Shincheonji Church. Even during that moment, the coercive conversion Evangelist Im called and instructed my mother to fall in front of police officers and blocked the vehicle which would transport me to a safe place.

We live in the 21st century, yet I was forced to undergo 'conversion counselling' through this coercive conversion programme. During those five days of imprisonment, I was terrified and trembled, unable to sleep as my heart pounded. I had to take medication and receive psychiatric treatment to address the trauma.

Whenever I bumped into my colleagues outside, they would glare at me up and down as if I were a criminal. I felt very hurt. Rumours spread throughout the workplace among hundreds of my colleagues, who listened only to distorted rumours, labelling me a religious fanatic. It was a heartbreaking experience for me as someone who as genuinely committed to their work. Who truly knows my pain?

Against my will, I was abducted, dragged off and confined for the purpose of religious conversion because of my faith in Shincheonji Church. I've never posed a threat or harm to society or my family and have abided by the law of the Republic of Korea which guarantees freedom of religion. I would like to inform the world of their unscrupulous behaviour.

How can an everyday, good-natured family conjure the idea of forcing their own child to a remote mountainous log cabin in order to undergo coercive conversion? The real perpetrators are profit-driven religious scammers who violate the rights of Shincheonji Church believers through their coercive conversion programmes.

Those who are blinded by a desire for wealth and carry out psychological manipulation are willing to go to great lengths to achieve their purpose, trampling on the rights of families and collecting payment or 'offerings' from families for their victim 'eligible' for the programme. My family also paid a large sum amounting to hundreds of thousands of Korean Won to Evangelist Im.

Victims of coercive conversion endure great hardship and are unable to sue the real perpetrators because their families would also have to be punished. Conversion pastors teach and instruct families how to abduct and imprison their relative, yet evade criminal punishment and the law.

Since March 2015, Korea's leading Christian broadcaster has aired the eight-part documentary “People Who Fell into Shincheonji”, slandering Shincheonji while glorifying the coercive conversion programme for the purpose of raising funds to resolve their financial crisis.

This broadcasting station broadcast a ludicrous documentary that sought to cover up the human rights violations of the coercive conversion programme.

Moreover, Christian broadcasting stations justified the recorded acts of kidnap, imprisonment and other human rights issues, and deceived viewers like conversion pastors' money-making servants.


Fellow Koreans,

Please wake up to the unjust reality today of coercive conversion and relieve the pain of its victims. Should one's basic freedoms and rights be trashed because of one's religious beliefs in Shincheonji Church? We are all citizens of the Republic of Korea and possess basic rights that must be protected and respected. I reiterate - we are all citizens with basic religious freedoms and rights.

In Korea, where freedom of religion is 'guaranteed', the coercive conversion programme continues on, advocating for domestic violence, human rights abuses, kidnap, imprisonment and assault. This programme must be eradicated and conversion pastors must be punished.

Please don't turn a deaf ear to the cry of its victims, but help ensure these conversion pastors are punished by law. I also appeal to the government, judiciary and media to promote the truth.

Thank you.

Source: http://www.newscj.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=814374

Part 1: http://noahbrown1984.blogspot.com/2021/01/confined-in-remote-mountainous-log.html

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Cases of Coercive Conversion (also known as 'Forced Conversion' or 'Deprogramming')
Imprisoned and Starved for Over One Week for Refusing to Renounce My Faith in Shincheonji Church. How Can I Forgive these Conversion Pastors?!

73-Day Coercive Conversion Programme in Confinement for Attending Shincheonji Church - I Fled Mid-Winter through the Bathroom Window

Targets of 'Forced Conversion' Suffering 'Kidnap, Confinement, Brainwashing' - Female College Students, Pregnant Women, Vulnerable Cancer Patients.
1000s of Cases of Abduction, Confinement and Assault: Shocking Stats Expose South Korea's Shameful 'Coercive Conversion' Endemic

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

“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"


“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

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”
⇨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
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