Shincheonji Church of Jesus Held Rally Against CCK (Christian Council of Korea), “Coercive Conversion Recurs, in Gangwon province: Punish Coercive Conversion Pastors!”

[Daily Cheonji=Reporter Sungwan Kim] “On the 3rd January in Chuncheon, Gangwon province, a husband kidnapped and assaulted his wife - a congregation member of Shincheonji Church of Jesus - and threatened her until she provided ‘Coercive Conversion Consent’. By manipulating victims' family members, cult 'counselors' coerce the victim into signing their consent, thereby evading legal punishment. Please establish strong countermeasures to punish them.”

Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church of Jesus, Chairman: Man Hee Lee) held a massive rally outside the CCK (Christian Council of Korea) office building in Jongno Gu, Seoul, on the 11th Jan, urging for a ban on coercive conversion and punishment for coercive conversion pastors. Shincheonji Church of Jesus held the event because two of its congregation members had died during the coercive conversion process. Moreover, kidnap and imprisonment from coercive conversion recurred in Chuncheon, Gangwon province on the 3rd.

More than 2000 congregation members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus participated in a rally. At the rally, calls for the disbandment of the CCK was made through a performance, an official statement made by Shincheonji Church, victims' cases of coercive conversion and letters of plea.

That day, Shincheonji Church of Jesus said the following, urging for immediate countermeasures to be taken against coercive conversion: “The human rights of Koreans have been severely violated by coercive conversion and the government continues to neglect the situation.”

Moreover, the church pleaded, “The government must ban the practice of coercive conversion that is tearing families apart, and must immediately establish a concrete law that prohibits and punishes people who carry out coercive conversion. Powerless victims are suffering while the government looks on with folded arms.”

The church added, “Even though people are being forced to convert their religion through kidnap, imprisonment and assault simply because they don’t belong to the established church in Korea where the freedom of religion supposedly lies, the government and religious circles are nevertheless keeping silent.”

The various phases of the coercive conversion process were shown during the rally.

Victims of coercive conversion said “Cult counselors abet family members to tape the mouth of a person who belongs to any denomination they identify as a ‘cult' with industrial tape, shackling their hands and feet, and giving them sleeping pills. Subsequently, cult counselors manipulate family members into forcing the victim to consent to the coercive conversion program.”

Moreover, “All victims suffer the same process: Ms. Sunhwa Kim and Ms. Ji-In Gu had lost their lives while being forced to convert their religion through this same process”. The victims said emphatically, “On 3rd January, the same incident happened in Chuncheon, Gangwon province. Consent was given for coercive conversion, proving that there were coercive conversion pastors who intervened in the background."

Ms. Il-hwa Kim, who was a victim of coercive conversion, was imprisoned in a resort lodge for one week by her family, and spoke about her experience during the process of coercive conversion.

Ms. Kim raised her voice, saying “I was forced to receive coercive conversion twice by my family. My family intimidated me with threats of divorce and sending my child to an orphanage unless I consented to this program given by a cult counselor. These counselors manipulate family members and evade legal punishment. They order every family member's step during the program. A law prohibiting coercive conversion, as well as countermeasures, are now desperately needed.”

On that day, members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus denounced the act of abduction and imprisonment that happened through the coercive conversion programme in Chuncheon, Gangwon province, on the 3rd. Moreover, they demanded legal punishment for coercive conversion pastors and countermeasures to prevent coercive conversion that has continued on in spite of the murders of Ms. Sunhwa Kim and Ms. Ji-In Gu who resisted coercive conversion in 2007 and 2018, respectively. (Provided by Shincheonji Church of Jesus, The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony) ⓒDaily Cheonji 11.1.2019.

A spokesperson for Shincheonji Church of Jesus said “Most coercive conversion pastors are from the CCK. CCK pastors kidnap, imprison and threaten congregation members of denominations they identify as a 'cult' and 'heretical' in an effort to convert their religion and renounce their belief. CCK is fully responsible for the prevalence of the illegal coercive conversion programme. So far, two women have been murdered through coercive conversion and hundreds of victims are suffering annually. The CCK must repent in front of God and disband immediately.”

The rally was attended by more than 2000 congregation members wearing black clothing and holding pickets with the words ‘Punish Coercive Conversion Pastors who Murder Victims by Using their Parents as a Shield!’.

One of the participants at the rally, Mr. Hyeokjoong Kwon, said “I didn’t know what coercive conversion was. Coercive conversion is an unbelievable phenomenon and something that must not happen in a country like ours which has freedom of religion enshrined within its constitutional law. The government has to establish countermeasures against it.”