DALLAS, TX — On August 13, seven religious organizations, including the Council for Christian Mutual Growth, the Korea Christian Leaders Training Institute, the Pastors Alliance for Life and Human Rights, the Russian Evangelical Alliance, and the Thai Evangelical Alliance Association, convened the “1st Joint Assembly of World Pastors.” The event drew approximately 3,000 pastors from major countries worldwide, both online and offline, to sharply criticize the violations of religious freedom and the undermining of the separation of church and state in the Republic of Korea.
The assembly featured speakers from Korea and abroad, including pastors from Russia and Zambia, who examined the situation from an international perspective. The consensus was clear: “What is happening in the Republic of Korea today is not the problem of one denomination or one country.”
Rev. Im Young-woong, senior pastor of Saehimang Church of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, raised the dangers of dissolving religious corporations, citing the recent Japanese court decisions against the former Unification Church. He warned, “If the state can dissolve a single religious organization, exactly how far should that standard reach — and who can guarantee that the standard created today will not be applied to another church tomorrow?” He referenced Article 38 of Korea’s Civil Act, which allows revocation of a corporation’s establishment permit for “acts that harm the public interest,” and questioned who decides what harms the public interest and by what standard. He noted the 2020 case where the Seoul Metropolitan Government revoked the permit of a Shincheonji-linked association, and the December 2025 presidential order to review dissolution of domestic religious organizations. “Our concerns are becoming reality,” he said.
Rev. Im stressed that investigating individual criminal allegations is different from making an entire religious community a target for dissolution. “The most dangerous thing is that it is not objective criminal facts but ‘social unpopularity’ that operates as grounds for dissolution,” he said, invoking Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Rev. Vitaly Kirillovich Vlasenko, General Secretary of the Russian Evangelical Alliance, spoke on “Public opinion cannot be a verdict.” He questioned the justice of legal standards changing based on social hatred and noted that “hundreds of thousands condemn someone” and media reports cannot justify declaring guilt before a court judgment. He recalled the 2020 situation when a national petition demanding the forced dissolution of Shincheonji surpassed 500,000 signatures in two days, creating an atmosphere where society had already handed down its verdict. He pointed out that the Supreme Court ultimately acquitted Lee Man-hee of infectious disease law violations, highlighting the difference between public opinion and judicial judgment. Now, with Lee detained again on charges of violating the Political Parties Act, Vlasenko urged equal application of legal standards.
Bishop Elias Elijah Changa, founder of Missionary Ambassadors for Global Evangelism in Zambia, raised due process and human dignity based on his prison ministry experience. He acknowledged that Lee’s peace-building work does not grant innocence, but insisted that judgment must be based on law and evidence alone. He emphasized the harsh impact of detention on the elderly and asked authorities to consider lawful alternatives like bail or medical accommodation. “We are not demanding that Chairman Lee Man-hee receive special treatment because he is a religious leader; we are asking that the fairness, dignity, and universal rights owed to everyone be extended equally to him,” he said.
The assembly closed with the adoption of a “Joint Statement” signed by Christian leaders worldwide, demanding that the government cease using specific religions as political tools, that the judiciary uphold the presumption of innocence for the elderly leader, and that the court grant bail and release Lee immediately. The organizers stated, “The cases presented here are not the problem of one denomination alone but a grave warning signal spanning religious freedom in the Republic of Korea as a whole. Until the government and judicial authorities return to fair justice and the principle of separation of church and state, we will continue our response in solidarity with international human-rights organizations and the churches of the world.”
