'Forced Meal Portions Allegation' Bitgwa Jinri Church "Police Search and Seizure, Unprecedented Even During Military Dictatorship Era"

Published 18 May.2020 16:13(KST)

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Bitgwa Jinri Church in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, which is under police investigation on suspicion of mistreating its believers, criticized the police raid.

Bitgwa Jinri Church stated in a press release on the 18th, "During the police raid, inappropriate items such as Bibles were taken as seized goods, and the investigation seemed to be conducted based on some biased testimonies or unilateral claims from a few defectors."

According to Bitgwa Jinri Church, the raid took place on the 12th from 8:30 a.m. for about four hours across 10 related facilities including the church office and dormitories. The church said, "During the search of the pastor’s residence, the police even searched the study of the pastor’s wife, who is a first-degree disabled person, causing her to endure a very difficult situation in the living room." They criticized, "Such an all-out raid in a traditional Presbyterian church is an unprecedented event that did not even occur during the military dictatorship era."

The church added, "The Bibles taken only had a few church bulletins inserted," and claimed, "It is hard to understand whether the Bibles were taken as evidence of organized sadistic acts."

This incident began when 24 former members of Bitgwa Jinri Church held a press conference on the 5th, stating, "Bitgwa Jinri Church controlled and exploited believers through irrational and sadistic training," and demanded, "Senior Pastor Kim Myung-jin be legally punished and the church forcibly disbanded." They alleged that the church forced acts such as eating their own feces, being beaten in a cemetery, being confined in a car trunk, and enduring heat in a jjimjilbang’s fire room under the guise of leadership training.

Earlier, former church member A filed a complaint with the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office on the 30th of last month regarding these matters, which was transferred to the Dongdaemun Police Station for investigation. On the 12th, the Dongdaemun Police Station conducted a raid on the Bitgwa Jinri Church office and dormitories to verify whether there were any cruel acts such as forcing believers to eat feces.