Release the Mother of Peace: Korea’s Democracy on Trial

“Shouldn’t we serve Heaven to achieve world peace? As the Mother of Peace, I have lived my entire life for the sake of peace in the world; but now I feel utterly devastated. I am ashamed of Korea’s democracy, which treats me as a criminal.”

 

These are the words of Dr. Hak Ja Han, revered worldwide as the Mother of Peace, who today sits in detention at 82 years old. Frail with health issues, nearly blind, and recovering from a recent heart procedure, she has been forced into confinement by the South Korean court.

It is an image that should shock the conscience: an elderly woman of faith, a great-grandmother, sitting behind bars in Seoul.

She has no passport. She cannot flee. She cannot tamper with evidence already seized. She has already answered every question. This investigation is no longer about facts. It’s about something else.

A Lifetime for Peace, Now Behind Bars

For decades, Dr. Han has been known globally as the Mother of Peace — a leader who has convened presidents and prime ministers, rabbis and imams, pastors and priests. She has championed women’s leadership, strengthened families, spoken against communism and totalitarianism, fought poverty, and called humanity to recognize one another as children of God.

To treat her as a criminal is itself the gravest crime.

Her defense has explained the serious difficulties she faces due to advanced age and illness. Yet every appeal for truth and compassion has been systematically denied. No amount of interrogation will change the facts. She is exhausted. This is not justice. It is persecution.

The Broader Crisis

Dr. Han’s case is not isolated. In recent months, pastors have been arrested, churches raided, homes invaded. South Korea calls itself a democracy. Democracies do not behave this way.

This is not due process. This is political theatre dressed up as procedure: secret no-fly orders, raids on churches, shifting charges, marathon interrogations, and now detention without bail. These are not the reflexes of a confident legal system.

Meanwhile, the media — posturing as neutral arbiters — have circled like vultures, snatching their pound of flesh while serving at the feet of the prosecutors. What should have been reporting has become ritual humiliation.

What are they defending? What is the nature of their fear? Fear of a woman? Fear of a movement? Or simply fear of faith itself?

History’s Warning

History is merciless to governments that lash out at prophets, preachers, and peacemakers. The Apostle Paul was jailed, and his voice only grew stronger. Gandhi was jailed. Mandela was jailed. Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed over 30 times. In every case, the state thought confinement would crush its target. In every case, it amplified the cause. The cell meant to silence became a megaphone; the prisoner became the moral conscience of the nation.

South Korea risks writing itself into that same story. By jailing the Mother of Peace it is not diminishing her; it is diminishing itself. It is staining a reputation painstakingly built since the fall of dictatorship. It is signaling to the world that fear, not freedom, is guiding its course.

This case is not about one woman. It is about whether South Korea can still claim to be a democracy worthy of the name. Democracies are measured not by how they treat the powerful but by how they treat the most vulnerable. Right now, Korea is failing that test.

The World Is Watching

As someone who has lived in and loved Korea for years, I hardly recognize the country I once knew. I have always known Koreans to be among the most deep-hearted people I have ever met, and this government–prosecutorial–media complex does not represent the Korea I know.

By disregarding compassion, international human rights standards, and the voices of millions who look to her for moral leadership, prosecutors and the court have betrayed the very values Korea claims to uphold. But this decision will not silence us. It will only deepen the resolve of people of faith, freedom-loving citizens, and the international community to stand against this abuse of power.

The world is watching. Allies are watching. History is recording.

Where I Stand

As for me, I will continue to stand where God calls me — on the side of truth, of justice, and of His people. And I will not stand alone. I stand shoulder to shoulder with all who are persecuted for their faith, silenced for their freedom, or denied their right to live in peace. Our struggle is shared, and our cause is universal — faith, freedom, and peace.

The demand is clear: Release the Mother of Peace.

Her dignity, her health, and her legacy must be protected. But this case is bigger than one woman. It is the test of whether Korea still honors the principles of freedom and democracy — and whether the world still has the courage to defend them.

Rev. Demian Dunkley is President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification in North America. He writes regularly about faith, freedom, and peace on X @DemianDunkley.