Korean judge rules in favor of SCJ victim: SCJ ‘plot evangelism’ violates the Constitution - News & Joy

The court: "The 'plot evangelism' of Shincheonji violates the Constitution." The Youth Return suit... Jeon Pih-yeon: "Precious case of fraud evangelism accredited"

News & Joy, Reporter Gwak Seung-yeon

2020.01.14

The court ruled that the "plot evangelism" of Sincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji - President Lee Man-hee) ,namely, using a fake identity to approach and attract people to Sincheonji, is illegal. 

The case is known as "Youth Return Litigation”. Three defectors from Sincheonji in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, were deceived by fraudulent missionary work and sought compensation from Sincheonji for their lost years and money. 

The Seosan Support Civil Affairs Branch of the Daejeon District Court, on the 14th of January, ruled partially in favor of the plaintiffs. Fifteen people attended the ruling, including members of the National Shincheonji Victims Solidarity (representatives Jeon Pih-yeon and Hong Yeon-ho). 

A, who participated in the lawsuit as a plaintiff, and a member of the Jeon Pih-yeon's group held each other's hands tightly and listened to the verdict. When the judge admitted that the evangelism method of Shincheonji was illegal, a sigh of relief erupted here and there in the silence of the court. 

The judge explained why the plot evangelism is illegal: "The Shincheonji Seosan Church method of approaching other churches’ believers without informing them that they belong to Shincheonji, exceed the freedom of religion and is not allowed by the constitutional law, it is therefore illegal", he said. 

Examples include having the subject study the doctrine of Shincheonji under the guise of cultural experience programs or Bible studies, and having Shincheonji members who are hiding their identities stay by the subject side while he is receiving the education and until he is fully indoctrinated. 

Although the court acknowledged the illegitimacy of the method, it cited only some of the plaintiffs' demands for compensation. 

He said that two of the three plaintiffs lacked a concrete proof of the deceptive methods. In the end, only A was granted a 5 million won compensation, and the other two lawsuits were rejected. 

Jeon Pih-yeon, who led the Youth Return lawsuit, held a press conference in front of the court after the trial. The CEO Hong Yeon-ho said, "It is meaningful that the 'plot' missionary work, a representative method of propagation in Shincheonji, has become illegal. 

This will contribute to stop the increasingly zealous missionary work and the fanatical propagation. If we look at the damage that not only Shincheonji, but also pseudo-religious frauds produce, it will be a valuable precedent for legally being compensated for the damage," he said. 

He also asked other defectors to take part in a Youth Return lawsuit. During the press conference A said: "This verdict will have a huge impact on Shincheonji. Several people of Shincheonji are watching this press conference. 

It is that important," Then he added, "A person who plays an important role in the Sincheonji Seosan Church is in the process of withdrawing from Shincheonji. More similar cases will occur in the future". 

In a telephone interview with News & Joy on January the 14th, the attorney said: "The ruling is significant in that the plot evangelism that Shincheonji is conducting has been recognized as a criminal act." He added: "Now we will proceed through the appeal to ascertain the plot evangelism of the two cases that were not recognized with more accurate proofs". 

The lawyer said that, in addition to this case, he is preparing another Youth Return lawsuit. "In another district, the "fruit," the subject of the evangelism, and the guide who lured him into Shincheonji, simultaneously withdrew and are preparing to file a lawsuit against Shincheonji. In this case, we can expect better results because we can prove the specifics of the plot", he said.

I am neither a native korean speaker nor a professional translator and all the english subtitles and translations are by no means official. They are just part of my personal research on SCJ that I want to share with you. 

Original article: https://www.newsnjoy.or.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=226290

Disclaimer: I am neither a Korean native nor a professional translator,  the article is just part of my research on Shincheonji that I want to share.