Shincheonji Church of Jesus Holds 7th 'Rally to Denounce Religious Persecution' Outside Gyeonggi Provincial Office and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization
“Do you think we don’t know that the cancellation of the grand opening was based on political calculations and other hidden agendas? Are we being taken for a fool?”
“Gyeonggi Provincial Office and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization made a plausible excuse on the surface that the reason for the cancellation was North Korea’s security threat. However, other events were held in the same venue every day, so why was only Shincheonji Church of Jesus’ rental cancelled? Did they treat the good Shincheonji Church of Jesus members like fools? This is clear religious oppression.”
With such bitter cries in minus temperatures, the leaders and 1000 members of the Thaddeus Tribe of Shincheonji Church of Jesus rallied in protest in front of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea, on the 29th November. A rally was also held on that day in front of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization by approximately 500 members of the John Tribe.
Previously, Shincheonji Church of Jesus had planned to rent out the Imjingak Peace Nuri Park in Paju on the 29th and 30th of last month to hold the international event 'Religious Leaders' Forum and Graduation Ceremony for Peace, Freedom, and Unification'. However, on the day of the rental, Gyeonggi Tourism Organization and the Gyeonggi Provincial Governor Dong-yeon Kim unilaterally cancelled the event, even though the Organization had stated until the day before that there were "no plans to cancel." Despite months of preparations, the event, which was scheduled to welcome 30,000 attendees from 78 countries, was cancelled last minute under alleged pressure from vested religious groups.
The leader of the Thaddaeus Tribe, who gave the main speech, criticised public officials “who should protect the law and principles as if they were their own lives, but listened only to the words of a certain religious group and carried out biased administration, religious oppression, and human rights suppression based on political motivations.”
He added, “If it was true that the rental was cancelled on the same day for security reasons, they should have talked to us from the beginning.”
Tae-hoon Moon (25, male), who played the drum at the rally, said, “I hope that religion and politics will not become one and that we will quickly become an honest country that upholds the law.”
Bok-hee Kim (66, female) of Shincheonji Ansan Church expressed her anger, “As a citizen, this is something I deplore. In the Republic of Korea, a free country, citizens should be able to enjoy their rights. The same-day cancellation is ridiculous even to a child.”
Ok-hwa Jeong (50s, female), who works at a nearby E-Mart, said, “I watched the entire Shincheonji Church of Jesus rally from beginning to end when 25,000 people attended (on 15th November). Politicians who make fun of the people should not be allowed to do so. They should step down.”
A few kilometres away, 500 members of the John Tribe gathered in front of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization wearing tied red headbands and waving pickets that read, “What kind of biased religious oppression is this?” They demanded the resignation of Won-yong Cho, the president of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, by presenting the Constitution and the Civil Servant Code of Conduct, including Article 20 Clauses 1 and 2 which stipulate that "All citizens shall enjoy freedom of religion" and "Church and state shall be separated," respectively.
Meanwhile, a petition posted on the Gyeonggi Provincial website titled, “We request a public apology and compensation for the damages caused by Governor Dong-yeon Kim’s unfair decision to cancel the venue” has surpassed the 10,000 signatures required for a response, and as of that day, garnered nearly 50,000 signatures.
Shincheonji Church of Jesus plans to continue holding protest rallies until the following demands are met: an official apology from Gyeonggi authorities, accountability through appropriate disciplinary action, fair policies to ensure unbiased venue management, and preventive measures to stop future discrimination.
Sources: vo.la/VdDjjM vo.la/BwJYWu
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