[Cheonji Ilbo = Reporter Kang Soo-kyung] Practising one's faith at Shincheonji Church of Jesus does not lead to family breakdown. Yet so-called 'cult counselling experts' who belong to the established Church allege that affiliation to Shincheonji Church will lead to a complete breakdown of the family unit. This is because, from their perspective, congregants of Shincheonji Church must be 'converted'.

This is why there is deep worry among family members when their loved one refuses to consent to the coercive conversion programme and receive 'conversion counselling'. Due to the inculcation of lies, families are often filled with fear and hatred towards Shincheonji Church. 

Families who fail to convince their loved one to undergo coercive conversion do not hesitate in resorting to violent means. Mrs. Soo-hyun Yang (pseudonym) of Buk district, Gwangju city underwent coercive conversion in 2004, but refused to be converted. She then became a victim of serious domestic abuse from her own husband. 

What follows is a full account of Mrs. Yang's appeal. 

As a citizen of the Republic of Korea, where basic freedoms including freedom of religion are supposedly guaranteed, I write this plea to express bitter hurt at what I have experienced and to call for restitution from the law. 

In January 2004, a pastor from 'A Church' in Gwangju approached my husband, speaking slander and lies about Shincheonji Church - the church I attend - alleging that I had fallen into a cult. Soon after, the pastor of 'B Church', who visited the store that my husband was running, told my husband an outrageous lie and meted out a personal attack on Shincheonji Church. 

The pastor of 'Church B' told my husband that if I continued attending Shincheonji Church, I would likely give away all our property and abandon our family. 

Moreover, my husband was told that Shincheonji Church was connected to gang members who wore black suits to protect one another, and that this was in fact no ordinary church but a private organisation occupied by a den of thieves.

My husband was taken aback hearing these words and took desperate and immediate steps to protect our family and take me out of Shincheonji Church. He went online to find the contact details of a conversion pastor in Gwangju. Through careful scheming with the conversion pastor, my husband began making preparations in advance. 

In September 2004, my husband suggested we go to see a pastor, who was his acquaintance, in the town of Gurye. Without knowing anything, I accepted and left my three young daughters at home. We got into the car at 6am and with my husband driving quickly so we could meet the pastor. 

But we didn't arrive at Gurye. It was 'C Church' in Beolgyo, Jeonnam province. I realised then and there that my husband had deceived me in an attempt to get me to leave Shincheonji Church by meeting this conversion pastor named Kim. 

I was furious that my husband had tricked me. I told him I wanted to go home, but he persisted that I consent to 'conversion counselling'. My will was violated and I was forced to undergo coercive conversion at 'C Church'. 

Inside the so-called 'Education Centre' of Beolgyo’s 'C Church', pastor Kim and several associate pastors were waiting for us. Pastor Kim assured me that he would succeed in converting me, telling my husband, “Please leave this to us because I’m sure she will be converted if you leave your wife to us for just three days.” My husband made a promise to Pastor Kim without asking for my opinion, saying, "If she can be converted, the store will be closed for three days, so please do so." 

I was worried about my three daughters I had left behind and was outraged that I had been brought here against my will. I told the conversion pastors, “I can’t take this. I'm going back home because I never agreed to an appointment with you all in the first instance.” My husband grabbed me by the arm to prevent me from leaving. 

While confined, I was forced to receive 'conversion counselling' by pastor Kim from 8am-7pm (11 hours) without eating anything. My husband asked pastor Kim to cook me something, but Pastor Kim responded saying that I should continue to be 'counselled' - with all its threats and curses on Shincheonji Church - without food or a toilet break. 

That evening, pastor Kim looked directly at my husband and, to my disgust, said to him, “She will not be an easy convert because she has been brainwashed far too much. This will be difficult. Let’s admit her into a psychiatric ward.” It was beyond understanding how this so-called 'pastor', who ascribed to a different denomination, could suggest I was psychotic and in need of institutionalisation at a psychiatric ward.

I underwent coercive conversion for just one day, yet our life before and after the ‘programme’ had drastically changed. Our once stable and healthy family unit had torn apart. My husband, who had little to no understanding of the Bible nor my faith, listened only to slanderous accusations spewed by the conversion pastor. No matter how hard I tried to engage in rational dialogue with him, he was furious that I hadn’t been converted.

Daily life with my newly changed husband post-conversion was, literally, 'living hell'. He paid no attention to what I said and maintained that pastor Kim's words were all true. He repeatedly called me 'Toray' ('crazy bi*ch,'), 'brainwashed' and even slapped me on the face and bruised me with punches on my sides and waist. My husband even threatened my children and I with a knife, saying we would all die together. 

One day, the beating had been so severe that blood bled out of my forehead. My youngest daughter witnessed this and dialled 911 in a state of panic. I was finally admitted into hospital with police assistance. 

My husband had taken hold of me by my head, swung me round - causing my neck to break – and injured my back, causing temporomandibular disorder. This is why I was subsequently hospitalised. 

My temporomandibular joints are still distorted due to the aftereffects caused by the severity of my husband's violence, and it pains me now to open my mouth and speak. The conversion programme has come to an end, but the unspeakable physical and mental wounds inflicted by my husband are beyond words. 

My husband was once a homely and trusting man who changed beyond imagination after meeting a conversion pastor whose ambition was to make money.

My husband is also a victim of this coercive conversion programme. 

My husband doesn't know anything about the Bible but believes that a pastor would never lie. He took the conversion pastors' words as truth. 

Depraved money-oriented conversion pastors who carry out conversion programmes for financial gain twist and distort the hearts and minds of loving and stable family homes in order to carry out acts of kidnap, imprisonment and divorce. They knowingly violate human rights, tearing families apart. By spreading lies and making personal attacks against Shincheonji Church, they instigate mistrust and hatred between different denominations. 

I strongly urge the current government and media to quickly punish conversion pastors so that no one else will have to suffer the pain I did. I beg you to do something. Thank you.