Faith Under Fire in Korea: How Fear Became Policy

## Faith Under Fire in Korea – How Fear Became Policy

In this in-depth feature, Faith Under Fire in Korea explores how fear became policy—and what it means for religious freedom today.

“The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA has expressed deep concern over the indictment and detention of Dr. Hak Ja Han, known as the ‘Mother of Peace,’ calling it a troubling signal for democracy and freedom of faith in South Korea.”

“In the latest editorial titled ‘Faith Under Fire in Korea,’ global voices are calling for fairness and freedom following Dr. Hak Ja Han’s indictment.”

There is a cold hand gripping Korea today. It is not the hand of law; it is the hand of fear. Fear lowers the eyes, tightens the throat, and convinces otherwise brave souls that silence is safety. But silence is never safe when truth is on trial.

On October 10, Dr. Hak Ja Han, respected worldwide as the Mother of Peace, was formally indicted by Korean prosecutors after months of investigation that began with massive July 18 raids involving nearly a thousand officers. At eighty-two, she now faces months of confinement before trial—without conviction and without bail. Under Korea’s system, indictment alone can mean prolonged detention, and with a conviction rate reported between 95 and 97 percent, acquittal is almost impossible. Legal scholars and watchdogs warn that such figures signal not perfection but pressure—a system that prizes victories more than fairness.

That system has already claimed a life. Days after a thirteen-hour interrogation by the same special prosecutor’s team that is holding Dr. Hak Ja Han, a civil servant named Jeong Hee-cheol, reportedly humiliated during questioning, took his own life. In a note he wrote, “I want to turn my back on the world.” His lawyer has called for the release of the full interrogation record, which remains undisclosed. The tragedy, first detailed in Bitter Winter’s report “A Death Foretold,” should alarm anyone who cares about due process.

As sociologist Massimo Introvigne observed in Bitter Winter, “The goal is not truth; it is submission.” His words describe a reality now exposed: interrogation as psychological warfare, justice replaced by spectacle.

The world is beginning to take notice. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, writing in The Washington Times, called the raids and detentions “a shocking assault on religious leaders, involving over a thousand officers storming homes and places of worship.”

He warned that South Korea risks becoming a democracy in name only if fear replaces fairness. Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was tragically assassinated shortly thereafter, told a crowd in Seoul, “There are some terrible things happening in South Korea right now.”

President Donald Trump likewise asked, “What is going on in South Korea? Seems like a purge or revolution.” Human-rights observers and political leaders across the spectrum have echoed those concerns: faith is not a crime, and a just society does not criminalize conscience.

### Faith Under Fire in Korea: Why Global Voices Are Watching

 

Dr. Hak Ja Han is not a politician. She is a faith leader, a mother, and a widow who has spent her life promoting peace, family, and interreligious cooperation. She has spoken at the United Nations, led humanitarian missions on every continent, and prayed for reconciliation between North and South Korea. To treat such a woman as a criminal is unjust. It also betrays Korea’s best democratic instincts.

Korea’s proud democratic journey was not given; it was earned—by students, clergy, and grandmothers who decided their children deserved freedom. That courage is needed again. When faith leaders are handcuffed, when elderly women of peace are paraded before cameras, when investigations look more like theater than truth, fear wants to do what it always does: make people small.

Fear recasts prayer as provocation, love as threat, and unity as conspiracy. But fear also reveals something about those who wield it: a lack of confidence in truth.
If the case is strong, why the spectacle?
If justice is fair, why the intimidation?
If the system is righteous, why the obsession with optics over evidence?

South Korea is one of the most creative and principled nations on earth. Its people are not weak—only weary. And they are being asked to carry a burden no free society should impose: the burden of silence.

Faith Under Fire in Korea - Dr. Hak Ja Han speaks on freedom of religion

Courage is not recklessness, but light over shadow, truth over rumor, and community over isolation. Courage means obeying the law while demanding that the law be worthy of obedience. Courage looks like pastors preaching that freedom of faith is sacred, congregations gathering peacefully, journalists asking fair questions, and neighbors standing together so that no one stands alone.

Across Asia, faith itself is under pressure. As Fox News Digital reported, Pastor Ezra Jin of Beijing’s Zion Church was detained with dozens of ministers in what advocates called the harshest religious sweep in forty years. The World Tribune described the crackdown as part of a “spiritual war,” concluding that “faith without fear undermines the authority and power of the state.” The same lesson echoes across borders: systems built on fear will always fear faith—because faith cannot be coerced.

A man is dead. An old woman sits in prison. And a nation’s conscience is on trial.

Faith is not a crime, but weaponizing fear is. Now is the time for every voice of conscience to speak—before fear becomes policy.

By Rev. Demian Dunkley
President, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA
October 13, 2025

Read more on Faith and Freedom in South Korea.

## Faith Under Fire in Korea: A Call for Courage and Clarity

Sources

Massimo Introvigne, “South Korea Indicts Mother Han,” Bitter Winter, Oct 10 2025. 🔗

Massimo Introvigne, “A Death Foretold: South Korea’s Prosecutorial Pressure Claims Its First Victim,” Bitter Winter, Oct 11 2025. 🔗

Newt Gingrich, “South Korea’s Assault on Religious Liberty,” The Washington Times, Aug 2025. 🔗

“Chinese Underground Church Pastor Detained by Authorities,” Fox News Digital, Oct 11 2025. 🔗

“Xi Jinping’s Real Nightmare Is Underground Christianity,” World Tribune, Oct 12 2025. 🔗

Public remarks by President Donald Trump and Charlie Kirk, July–Sept 2025. 🔗