Jubilee Campaign
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JUBILEE August 28, 2020 Hon. Lee Soo Hyuck Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the United States 2450 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20008 Re: Letter to President Moon Jae In Regarding Religious Persecution in South Korea Dear Sir: Jubilee Campaign is a non-profit organization that advocates for international religious freedom and human rights by collaborating with other faith-based organizations, engaging in various United Nations mechanisms, drafting reports on persecution and right violations around the world, and holding events to raise the voice of disenfranchised communities who face discrimination and persecution on account of their ethnicity, religious affiliation, and gender. Our organization has worked with your government for decades to combat human rights violations suffered by North Koreans. However, it has come to our attention — and it concerns us greatly — that in recent months during the pandemic, your government has taken steps to curb the religious freedom and worship practices of Protestant communities, while simultaneously releasing public statements harshly censuring these specific communities for their political activities as well. In contrast, your government has directed no similar rebuke towards secular events and public locations that have drawn the presence of thousands of religiously unaffiliated individuals. This obvious double standard suggests that your government unreasonably places full blame on Protestant communities for the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea without scientific evidence to prove these claims, and in spite of the fact that outbreaks of the novel coronavirus have been linked to various other secular activities throughout Korea. In light of this observable increase in religious persecution and scapegoating by your government, which has also been propagated via traditional new and social media outlets, we have written the following letter outlining our concerns and the implications of such persecution and blame on social cohesion and religious liberty in South Korea. This letter has garnered the support of 14,832 individuals and 266 organizations, secular and religious alike, from 57 countries around the world. An electronic version of this letter is available at JubileeCampaign.org. We ask that you please disseminate this letter and our concerns to your president. Respectfully,...., Ann Buwalda, Esq. Executive Director A Vital Voice for Those Suffering in Silence 9689-C Main Street • Fairfax, VA 22031-3746 TEL: (703) 503-2260 FAX: (703) 503-0792 EMAIL: [email protected] JUBILEE CAMPAIGN IS A NON-PROFIT, TAX EXEMPT, CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES SEPARATELY REGISTERED CHARITIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM & IN THE NETHERLANDS August 28, 2020 His Excellency Moon Jae-In President of the Republic of Korea c/o Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the United States 2450 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20008 Re: Religious Persecution in South Korea Your Excellency: We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, work to promote inalienable human rights and religious freedoms in various nations across the world. We are deeply troubled to see that the spread of the novel coronavirus has led to your government infringing on religious freedom in the Republic of Korea. This unjust treatment and persecution occurs even though many religious organizations have temporarily halted in-person worship services and complied with national health regulations. Specific religious communities have also come under fire by your government. In early July, it was announced that Protestant churches are prohibited from holding bible studies, choir practice, and other activities. They are also banned from singing and praying loudly and are required to keep digital records of active church participants. While these regulations appear to address health concerns regarding large gatherings, they fail to mention new coronavirus cases in secular contexts and have discriminatorily presented churches as responsible for the pandemic. In a statement by the United Christian Churches of Korea (UCCK), they explained that what matters is not public gatherings, per se, but compliance with quarantine guidelines.1 They also pointed out that government efforts are contrary to the preventative efforts of many churches. The UCCK itself has taken steps to limit and prevent the spread of the virus by cancelling and postponing religious events and asking its churches to close or decrease the capacity of services. Nevertheless, South Korean citizens report having received text messages pleading with them to not attend religious services. The municipal government in Guri even offered a cash reward to anyone who reports religious congregations holding events or 'disobeying' preventative measures. There have been reports that restrictions on public gatherings primarily target religious activities and worship and have not been similarly implemented for other non-religious gatherings, such as political party gatherings, entertainment venues, and public transportation, locations where person- to-person contact is extremely common, promoting the spread of the virus. Former Gyeonggi Provincial Governor Kim Moon-soo observed: "If we're talking about infectious disease spread, how about the subway? It is so crowded. Then they must halt the subway operations. 3.5 million people use the subway daily. When we go to church, we check our temperatures, we sanitize our hands, we write our contact information, of course we check to make sure we wear masks, and we sit apart a good distance. The service is short and then we go home. We cannot not take the subway. I use the subway multiple times a day. So everyone can carry on as usual. Only church services are prevented. Isn't this clearly an oppression of the right to worship?"2 1 Protestant community protests government's ban on church gatherings, The Korea Herald, 9 July 2020. 2 A Young Energetic IT attorney, Will Fraud in South Korea's 2020 Election be Uncovered?, Kim Moon-soo TV, Translation by East Asia Research Center, 2 June 2020. In June, the Seoul government dispatched some 50 to 100 private individuals, not believed to be government officials, to demolish a local church and punish individuals gathered there to protest the government’s attempts to dismantle religious freedom.3 In a separate incident, worship at a Seoul Church was interrupted when the Prime Minister sent over 500 officials, including clinic workers, police officers, and local district authorities, to dissolve the gathering. In his YouTube video, former governor Moon-soo inquires, "We sat apart, but these officials stood right next to each other, not even social distancing. Is this really happening in [South Korea]?" The month of August has ushered in a new wave of targeted blame towards South Korea’s churches for increasing coronavirus cases, despite surges in the disease also being traced back to various other events and locations: one fast food company location’s staff meeting,4 schools that had been holding in-person instruction and dormitory living,5 traditional shopping and tourist locations Dongdaemun Market and Namdaemun Market, 6 and more. Your government has made few reproofs towards increasing sports crowd capacities, 7 the outbreak at a Lotteria franchise at Jonggak subway station in Seoul,8 the 680,000 people that visited Busan’s beaches on August 15,9 or the numerous other examples of community spread in South Korea. Instead, your government has opted to place impersonal restrictions without severe condemnations on secular activities, dissimilar to your government’s strategy of explicit and harsh rebukes towards churches. In addition, you have personally released statements targeting the political activities of members of Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul and their leader, a known critic of you and your administration. Under the guise of promoting health and safety during the epidemic, you have condemned Sarang Jeil Church members for their attendance at anti-government protests and demonstrations, which you deemed “a clear challenge to the national disease control and prevention system, and an unforgiveable act that threatens the lives of the people.”10 However, you have made no critical statements towards the other individuals and organizations that participated in the approximately 20,000-person protest. This seems to indicate that your actions are aimed at stifling this particular church’s political activism, rather than promoting public health and safety. At the same time, national media outlets have also publicly scapegoated religious communities – in particular the Sarang Jeil Church congregation – in various news articles.11 These articles are heavily based on public statements by you and your administration. This focused attention and attributing of the outbreak to religious institutions and activities, which is only one way in which 3 Mr. Mayor, don't cross the line, The Korea Times, 6 June 2020. 4 Lotteria hit by coronavirus infections among employees, The Korea Times, 13 August 2020. 5 Schools under rising COVID-19 threat as more students catch virus, The Korea Times, 13 August 2020. 6 Two Dongdaemun market merchants diagnosed with coronavirus, Seoul city says, Yonhap, 14 August 2020. 7 Cap on football crowds set to increase to 25 percent Friday, The Korea Times, 13 August 2020. 8 Lotteria under fire for negligent response to coronavirus infections, The Korea Times, 13 August 2020. 9 240,000 people in Haeundae alone... 680,000 people