The protest rallies of Shincheonji Church of Jesus towards Gyeonggi Provincial Governor Dong-yeon Kim and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization shows no signs of abating.

On Monday, 2nd December, around 1000 members of the Philip Tribe of Shincheonji Church of Jesus gathered outside the Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Suwon, Republic of Korea, to rally in protest at religious persecution. Participants of various genders and ages, from university students to office workers, gathered wearing black tops and bottoms, and red and blue headbands that read, “Denounce biased religious oppression.”

Previously, Shincheonji Church of Jesus had planned to rent out the Imjingak Peace Nuri Park in Paju on the 29th and 30th of October to hold the international event 'Religious Leaders' Forum and Graduation Ceremony for Peace, Freedom, and Unification'. However, on the day of the rental, Gyeonggi Provincial Governor Dong-yeon Kim and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization 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.

On the day of the 8th rally, the leader of the Philip Tribe, who gave the main speech, raised his voice saying, “The whole world and hundreds of thousands of Shincheonji family members know about the atrocity committed by the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization on October 29th when they cancelled the same-day rental of the venue,” and added, “We will continue to shout until justice is served, come rain or shine.”

On that day, a neighbouring religious figure also appeared on stage. Pastor Choi (74), who introduced himself as a former Full Gospel Church member and currently a non-denominational pastor, said:-

Venerable Munsu, the chief priest of Gwaneumsa Temple in Wonju, Gangwon Province, who was scheduled to attend the religious leaders forum, also took the microphone.

Venerable Munsu said, “I have attended Shincheonji events several times and have witnessed the changes in which many people have come to desire peace and are working to achieve peace. It is an abuse of power and religious oppression to cancel an event at the governor’s discretion just by listening to some Christian groups,” and urged, “If they truly love the people and love peace, they should apologise to Shincheonji and compensate them now.”

A few kilometres away, at the same time, about 500 local believers from the John Tribe gathered in front of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization and held a rally to condemn the cancellation of the Shincheonji venue.

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 over 50,000 signatures.

Meanwhile, 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.