Hi people, I’d just like to share some human rights and religious freedom issues that have been happening in Korea. Before I start to talk about these issue I’d like to ask that…
Does everyone agree that everyone should have the freedom to believe in whatever religion they want to believe in, unless it damages any individual or group? And that religious freedom forms part of one’s basic human rights that must be protected?
No matter whether you agree or not, I’m going to talk about what I want (lol)
Have you ever heard of coercive conversion? Now, you might be wondering ‘What the heck is coercive conversion?’ This is a program designed by protestant pastors of the CCK (Christian Council of Korea) designed to forcibly change one’s religion and religious beliefs against their will. If you are asking yourself ‘how can this happen in the 21st century?’ Fine, let me tell you a story about what happened in S.Korea (You would think it would have happened in N.Korea if I hadn’t said anything, lol)
A young 25-year-old, Ms. Ji-In Gu, was kidnapped by her parents with the intention of converting her beliefs in January 2018. Her parents imprisoned her at a Catholic monastery in South Jeonra province and took her to a coercive conversion program run by pastors of Christian Cult Counselling of Korea. However, Ms. Gu was suffocated to death while she was struggling to escape from her family.
Well, the point is that this case is not the first death resulting from coercive conversion. The coercive conversion program is a compulsory program of indoctrination that is designed to convert one’s religion to another. This is carried out mainly by protestant pastors of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) against new or smaller denominations in Korea. Pastors aggravate parents’ anxiety by telling them their child has fallen into a cult, and ask them to 'donate' (pay money) if they want to save their child from this cult. In reality, pastors manipulate parents into forcibly bringing their child to the coercive conversion program as a way to evade legal punishment when the process fails.
According to Human Rights Association for Victims of Coercive Conversion Programs (HRAVCCP), more than 1000 cases of coercive conversion have been carried out from 2003-2017, causing two deaths, including that of Ms. Ji-In Gu. Moreover, victims have suffered from imprisonment, threats, indoctrination, kidnap, violence and even enforced hospitalization in psychiatric wards.
What’s your perspective now? Do you see what is happening in S.Korea? I don’t understand why legal experts and the government are still not doing anything to stop it. So many Koreans have been spreading this news internationally since January 2018
(It even appeared on-air on NBC)
because the Korean government and press have remained silent on it and ignored the voice of victims. Recently, people in the U.S. who want to advertise it internationally have put an ad in the paper (ex. NY Times)
If you really think all human rights including religious freedom must be protected, please join us.
Join the protest against the Christian Council of Korea and Coercive Conversion, Support religious freedom! Help Protect victims like Ji-In Gu, Get informed, Get involved. Please visit the below pages
established.co.za/16-days-of-activism-and-the-call-to-ban-coercive-conversion-remembered/www.theenquirer.co.uk/coercive-conversion-programmes/Remember Gu Facebook
www.facebook.com/rememberguyoutube.com/c/endcoerciveconversion
religiousfreedomforall@gmail.com
