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.