Interview with Victim of Forced Conversion in Busan: “They told me Granddad was Sick. He wasn't. I was Imprisoned and Forced to Convert”

[Cheonji Ilbo = Reporter Hye-ji Lim, Seon-young Yoon] “I pleaded, 'What did I do wrong? Why are you doing this? He told me, 'I just need to make sure'. It was agonising and heartbreaking.”

Mr Young-min Seon (pseudonym, 27), who was rescued by police after being imprisoned for 19 days by his parents because of his choice of faith in Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church of Jesus), gave an interview to Cheonji Ilbo on the 16th June.

On the 11th June, Mr. Seon had been rescued from an officetel in Suyeong-gu, Busan by the police and emergency rescue workers. Police had arrived at the scene, heard Mr. Seon's desperate cries for help, and forcibly opened the door to his studio to get him out.

Mr. Seon has not returned home since that day because the subjects who imprisoned him were none other than his parents. Since being rescued, Mr. Seon has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and has filed for a restraining order on his parents to prevent them from forcibly detaining him again. At the crime scene, the police found three people, including Mr. Seon's parents and a 'conversion counsellor' from a heresy counselling centre, and brought them to the police station for ongoing investigations.

“It was around 11pm on Monday, May 24th. As soon as I opened the front door after a long day, my parents came and said, 'Granddad is in a critical condition. Let's quickly go to hospital together'. I got into my uncle's car parked in the basement of the apartment. As my uncle drove, my only thought was, 'Granddad is sick and we're all going together'. However, my father suddenly said, 'I know you go to Shincheonji Church.' At that moment I had a gut feeling that I was being dragged onto the forced conversion programme.”

When his family, who had always treated him with respect, suddenly changed their demeanour, Mr. Seon felt humiliated. He said, "I explained the situation surrounding their misunderstandings about me and my life of faith at Shincheonji Church. I assured them that if I had made any mistakes, I would amend them. I appealed to them not to resort to extremes, but it did not work."

Mr. Seon testified to the place of forced conversion as being a 'prison'. A lock was installed on the door to prevent escape without the key, and the door was taped tightly so that it could not be opened. All means of communication, including his mobile phone, were also confiscated. 

Mr. Seon pleaded several times, saying, “I don’t want conversion - this is wrong”. But it didn’t work. His parents coerced him to undergo the conversion programme as pressure mounted and he succumbed to their demands. A short while after, the heresy counsellor, 'Mr. B', who belongs to a well-known Protestant group in Busan, entered exhibiting a piece of paper in his hand. It was a conversion agreement form.

"The form said in writing that even if there was one thing found false about Shincheonji, then I would have to abandon my faith. I was offended because it felt like it was written with the intention of forbidding my life of faith in Shincheonji Church on any grounds.”

The conversion programme, which seeks to mask the truth about Shincheonji Church, eventually led to hatred against Shincheonji Church. Direct accusations against the Shincheonji Church representative were also made. Jesus' teaching to 'love your enemies' was nowhere to be found. This is what most affected Mr. Seon. 

On June 11th, while undergoing the conversion programme, Mr. Seon, heard murmurings outside and instinctively shouted, “Help me!” He was forcefully restrained by the counsellor and his parents, as they meted out threats including, 'You'll have to kill me to get past', or, 'Do you want to see us die?!', or, 'Listen to us and then you can go!'. That's when the police stormed in. Mr. Seon testified to the police that he had become a victim of kidnap who was threatened to be cast out of his family. After 19 days in confinement, Mr. Seon was released.

Mr. Seon said, "It was clear to see how the conversion pastor influenced my parents' actions." He also emphasised that he finds forced conversion unacceptable on all grounds.

“Korea is a country with freedom of religion. You have the right to choose your religion according to your conscience. This kind of acts was illegal. It makes me sick that this is being carried out in the name of 'love'. I believe that forced conversion, which suppresses the individual freedom to religion in favour of an enforced other religion, must be eradicated.”

'Forced conversion', which is carried out on people like Mr. Seon whose freedom of religion has been discarded, is not a recent phenomenon. Freedom of religion has been virtually quashed by our society because of the 'cult culture' established by mainstream denominations and affiliated pastors, permeating across all strands of society.

Forced conversion is an ongoing issue. According to the Human Rights Association for  Victims of Coercive Conversion, as of October 2019, a total of 1725 ​​victims of coercive conversion had been registered. Up until 2012, the number of victims annually reached less than 100, but registered 151 in 2013, and has been steadily growing since then.

The problem is that criminal acts owing to forced conversion are rampant with grave consequences. Per category, there have been 2 deaths, 946 kidnappings, 1131 cases of forced confinement, 579 cases of assault, 100 cases of drugging with sleeping pills, 200 cases of forced leave of absence from work or studies, and 32 cases of divorce.

A case study on the horrors of forced conversion is shown through a female university student in Hwasun, South Jeolla Province, who was suffocated to death by her parents as she resisted forced conversion. Even before then, there was a case involving a husband who killed his wife because she refused to convert. That sent shockwaves throughout society at that time.

According to the results of a survey taken of roughly 900 victims of forced conversion, 55% of victims said they received threats and were indoctrinated during the conversion programme and 52% were imprisoned.

10 victims have been forcibly admitted to a psychiatric ward because they refused to convert. In the case of female victims, 'humiliation (171 people, 34.5%)', 'powerlessness or depression (152 people, 31%)', and 'suicidal ideation (50 people, 10.1%)' were cited as common experiences. 

While coercive conversion has received minimal attention in Korea on grounds that it is a 'family matter' and 'religious issue', the international community has turned its attention to this affliction in Korea, and has begun to raise its voice. 

In particular, in July 2019, the UN Human Rights Council announced the 'Eradication of Forced Conversion', and in the same month, at the 'Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom' meeting held at the US State Department in Washington DC, case studies were presented.

About 100 governments and 500 NGOs and religious groups participated in the conference, and US Vice President Mike Pence, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Ambassador Sam Brownback of the Office of International Religious Freedom attended the conference. On the 'International Religious Freedom Roundtables', there was discussion on cases of human rights violations owing to forced conversion carried out against members of emerging religions within Korea.

At that time, meeting participants strongly criticised the Korean government for the so-called 'heresy counsellors', who instigate families to carry out acts of forced conversion on their relative - who belongs to an emerging religion - through confinement and assault, and the fact that the police and the court remain silent.

Moreover, 15 major international NGOs urged the Korean government to take measures to eradicate forced conversion, addressing President Moon Jae-in in a letter, writing, “Korea is the only democratic country where forced conversion is tolerated". However, the Korean government remains silent on this issue of forced conversion.

Source: http://www.newscj.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=871416

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