Abducted and Confined Inside a Van for 40 Hours – “Conversion Pastor Even Took My Kids Away”
📰On 25th August 2020, Cheonji Daily published an article in Korean entitled “Abducted and Confined Inside a Van for 40 Hours – 'Conversion Pastor Even Took My Kids Away'”. This is a translation of that report.
“Pastor, Husband & Relatives Mobilised to Kidnap and Imprison Me
I Underwent Appalling Coercive Conversion Programme
Unimaginable Hurt That Few Would Understand”
[Cheonji Ilbo = Reporter Kang Soo-kyung] It is not easy for a married woman to ascribe to a different religion to that of her family. It demands tremendous sacrifice from a select few. Should I have sacrificed my faith and belief in God for my family? Although religious freedom is enshrined within the Constitution to protect one’s choice of faith, this is, in all honesty, a pretence set up by a ruling minority with a desire for authority and power.
The story of Mrs. Ho-soo Kim (pseudonym) of Chuncheon city, Gangwon province, reflects the abhorrent consequences of failing to enforce this law. Mrs. Kim underwent kidnap and imprisonment through the coercive (forced) conversion programme initiated by pastors of the established Church, who spoke words of slander about her faith to her family, even instigating them to carry out barbaric acts of cruelty towards Mrs. Kim. It reached a point where Mrs. Kim was denied access to her children. What follows is a full account of Mrs. Kim's appeal.
✍️To the authorities of this country who lead the Republic of Korea,
Please read what I am about to write. I am making this appeal to inform you of the outright violation of my basic rights as a citizen of the Republic of Korea.
I am a wife, mother, daughter-in-law and faithful office worker who has maintained a full-on home-work life balance. I love my family and have loved my country. I am a God-fearing believer who loves Jesus and does her best to keep Biblical teachings by putting love into practice.
What I have endured is something unimaginable that no one should go through - coercive conversion. It is a depraved programme which acts in stark contrast to the constitution that supposedly guarantees ‘freedom of religion’. The reason I was forced onto the conversion programme is not because I had broken the law, but simply because of my beliefs of a religion which the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) labels a ‘cult’. Coercive conversion is very commonplace throughout South Korea, where basic freedoms are being violated.
The CCK has established ‘cult-framing’ through the creation of their ‘Christian Cult Counselling Centre’ (Heresy Investigation Committee), which is comprised of pastors who are hell-bent on dismantling family units through any means possible in order to achieve their goal.
My mother-in-law, husband and sister-in-law all fell victim to the CCK’s cult-framing from the moment they were approached and informed by a church pastor that I had joined a ‘cult’. Against my will, I was dragged off to the ‘Christian Cult Counselling Centre’ in Uijeongbu city (Gyeonggi province) where I underwent a two-month coercive conversion programme with a ‘conversion pastor’ under confinement.
On the morning of the incident in February 2011, my husband and I left home for work, as usual. Seeing my brother-in-law at the entrance of the first floor, I asked him why he was there so early. He replied, "I came to collect my sister-in-law" and grabbed me by my arms and proceeded to drag me into a parked van which I saw a man (pastor) and my sister-in-law hiding behind. Resisting my brother-in-law’s use of force, this senior pastor of ‘A church’ teamed up and pushed me into the van. My brother-in-law drove with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law in the passenger seats. My husband and the pastor were holding my arms and legs firmly in place. I pleaded with them to let me out, but to no avail.
For two days over a 40-hour period at the back of a van, this pastor and my family continually urged me to give my consent for ‘conversion counselling.’ I resisted their wish and callous treatment so I could preserve my faith. During those two days, I was fed bread and milk, and whenever I needed to relieve myself, they brought me a rubbish can from outside.
If this is not religious oppression and violation of one’s basic rights in South Korea today, then what is?
As a result of these acts of kidnap and imprisonment for the purpose of coercive conversion, my family unit completely broke down. Family trust was shattered. My choice of faith was rejected, so I was unable to return home. My mother-in-law even prevented me from seeing my children and made up all sorts of lies to them about me.
When I returned to my employer where I had worked for over 20 years, my boss and co-workers stared at me coldly. It became too much and I quit my job.
The thought of going to visit my family now and the possibility that they might try to coerce me back on to the conversion programme fills me with dread. I can no longer trust them.
I’ve heard it said that Shincheonji Church is responsible for a few of its congregants leaving home, for the family breakdown or for forced leave of absence from work and studies. Is this really what Shincheonji Church does? I wish to reveal the truth to society and the world which I hope will one day be upheld by justice and truth.
Pastors who claim to serve God are people who approach families and create all these outcomes in return for financial gain.
Article 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states, ‘All citizens shall enjoy freedom of religion'. Yet there is no such guarantee of one’s religious freedoms. The words and actions of conversion pastors who infiltrate stable homes for the purposes of coercive conversion, and manipulate one’s parental and fraternal love in order to satisfy their own greed leaves an indelible mark on family stability and human rights records in South Korea.
I am desperate to see my precious children and family, but I can not. I can not touch them or even hear their voices. How many nights must my children spend waiting to see their own mummy?
Everyone - in a country where there is freedom of religion, isn’t it absurd that a documentary on coercive conversion was broadcast in an attempt to justify the illegality of the coercive conversion programme on believers of a religion that the CCK labels a ‘cult’? This programme violates one’s basic rights and separates families. It must be eradicated from the face of the earth.
At a time when the world is yearning for peace and religious unity, the government is silent to the cries of pain and anguish of the many victims of coercive conversion. The government is failing to hold these conversion pastors, who commit these illegal acts, to justice through a court of law. I sincerely appeal to all citizens of Korea to do everything you can to ensure one’s basic freedoms are upheld according to the Constitution. One must be free to carry out a life of faith without fear.
Source: http://www.newscj.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=772037 =============================================================
Cases of Coercive Conversion (also known as 'Forced Conversion' or 'Deprogramming')
Cancer Patient Abducted and Forced to Undergo Coercive Conversion at Protestant Church in Korea