Second trial against Shincheonji method of evangelism - Yonhap
The trial on the appeal case will be a fierce battle against the “Shincheonji methods of evangelism”
2020-09-25
Yonhap News, reporter Lee Jae-rim
The first hearing of the second trial for damages...In the first trial, some of the ex-believers won.
Shincheonji's lawyer, "cannot be held responsible for single churches' practices of evangelism."
The second trial to determine whether the Shincheonji Church of Jesus recruitment methods are legal and whether the process caused emotional distress on the believers began at the Daejeon District Court on the 25th.
The Daejeon District Court's Civil Affairs Appeal Department 3 pointed out that "it is necessary to clarify what the defendant's illegal act is" to the plaintiff in the first hearing of an appeal for damages filed by three plaintiffs (the plaintiff) who withdrew from the shrine while working as a Shincheonji believer.
The Daejeon District Court's Civil Affairs Office 3 (Senior Judge Shin Hye-young) pointed out to the plaintiff that "it is necessary to clarify what the violation is" in the first hearing of the appeal for damages filed by three people (plaintiff) who withdrew from Shincheonji (defendant).
The Shincheonji Church previously suggested to the court that "the General Assembly can not be held responsible for the methods of evangelism of an individual Shincheonji church, which is just a sub-organization of the headquarters," and the intention is to clarify the plaintiff's position.
The court said, "We need to check whether individual churches have their own protocols, how the organization is organized, and what the decisional process and budget work," adding, "The defendant also needs to submit a written opinion on this."
There was also great disagreement on whether the claim for damages is statute barred (three years).
While the ex-members said that it has been less than three years since they recognized the deception and left (it was September/October 2018), the Shincheonji Church countered that the claim should be regarded as expired, considering the time they first joined the church (2012-2014)."
The next hearing will be held on November 6.
Three former believers of Shincheonji, the plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit against the Shincheonji Church in December 2018 claiming that they suffered emotional distress during the recruitment process.
In January, the first trial court ruled partially in favor of the plaintiffs, saying, "The method of evangelism in this case is similar to fraud or intimidation."
At the time, the court said, "At the first approach, (the defendant) hid the affiliation to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, and gave him kindness, and then cut off his relationship with those around him who told him objective facts," adding, "In fact, it is a violation of constitutional freedom as he was deprived of his free will until he was made part of the church."
He also ordered that one plaintiff received 5 million won as compensation for mental distress.
As for the claims of two other plaintiffs, he refused to accept them for reasons such as "lack of proof of the recruitment process."
Original article (Korean): https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200925115500063?input=1195m
Translated article about the first trial of this case: https://shincheonji360.blogspot.com/2020/06/korean-judge-rules-in-favor-of-scj.html
Disclaimer! I am neither a native Korean speaker nor a professional translator and all the English translations are by no means official. They are just part of my personal research on SCJ that I want to share with you.
