Conversion Education Pastor Jin Yong-Sik as Heresy Expert

Pastor Jin Yong-Sik, a senior pastor of Sang Rok church in the City of Ansan, Gyeong-Gi Province, South Korea, is a vice-chairman of the Heresy and Cult Prevention Committee in the Christian Council of Korea(CCK). The CCK was speechless when the court judged Pastor Jin a guilty regarding the conversion education programs. Therefore, people started to argue whether Pastor Jin was well qualified for working at the CCK.

Pastor Jin Yong-Sik, List of people received the conversion programs by Pastor Jin

When visitors requested to meet Pastor Jin, one of the Sang Rok church family members asked, "Who believes in heresy? Is your mom or your sister?" There were some people as well as a journalist to meet Pastor Jin on Sunday. They were escorted to the second floor of the church. There was a lecture going on about 'heresy' by Pastor Jin. After the lecture finished, the visitors could meet him. When they explained anxiously how their family members believed in heresy, Pastor Jin said, "You don't have to worry about your mom or sister who believes in heresy, which is classified as cults by the CCK. We have the conversion education programs to save your family members from the heresy." Pastor Jin, however, became silent when he was asked about the judgement regarding a case of Mrs. Jeong Baek-Hyang by the journalist.

There was a list of people who took forceful religious counselling with Pastor Jin in the Sang Rok church. They were victims brought by their family members for the counselling against their wills. The list included victims' personal information. Hundreds of people from all over the nation, especially from Seoul, Incheon, Daegu, Jeonnam Province, and so on, had been forced to receive the conversion programs in this small church. In more than 50% cases, husbands brought their wives to this church and forced their wives to convert to Presbyterian Church. Some other cases, parents and siblings brought victims to the Sang Rok church.

Therefore, the Sang Rok church was well known as a 'cult clinic' through Pastor Jin's conversion education programs in Christianity in Korea. Also, Pastor Jin worked as an editor of 'Church and Faith' and wrote several books about cults classified by the CCK, such as Shinchonji(SCJ)'s evangelism strategy and the deification doctrine about SCJ chairman Lee. When people asked the CCK about heresy, the CCK introduced Pastor Jin to its clients. Pastor Jin convinced the clients to bring their family members who believed in heresy. He described his experiences and said confidently, "I can convert your family members to Presbyterian Church if you bring them over here." Actually, more than the half people in the list were converted. Only 10% of the people in the list did not change their minds and went back to their previous denominations.

It was very curious about the conversion programs' high rate of success. Pastor Jin locked victims out in an attic of the Sang Rok church and forced them to recite his own doctrines under their families' permissions. One of the victims on wheelchair with broken arms and legs testified that she was forced to attend the conversion education by her husband. Her husband assaulted her when she refused the education. She was very terrified and reluctantly decided to be converted to Presbyterian Church.

Pastor Jin even sent victims, who refused to be converted to Presbyterian Church, to Chouk Ryong Evangelism Hospital(CREH), which is a mental hospital in the City of Namyangju, Gyeong-Gi province. The hospital admitted them diagnosed as 'delusion related to religion.' A 43 year-old female victim, Mrs. Jeong Baek-Hyang was admitted in the CREH against her will in January 2001. The Initial nursing report said that Mrs. Jeong was admitted with her husband and a pastor. This pastor meant Pastor Jin! Mrs. Jeong testified that she could not understand how easy to be admitted in a mental hospital without her will. During the hospitalization, she was not allowed to contact with outside of the hospital, such as taking a walk, going out, and so on. The only way to get out of the Sang Rok church and the mental hospital was to get a confirm by Pastor Jin that he/she was finally converted to Presbyterian Church. Another 27 year-old female victim, Ms. Jin had to memorize a book given by Pastor Jin to get out of the mental hospital.

Furthermore, the last step after the conversion programs was being a church member in the Sang Rok church for at least 2 years. There was not any exception that even a victim's home town was far from the City of Ansan. A 41 year-old deacon, Mr. Jeong was in charge of maintenance department in the Sang Rok church. Since he visited the Sang Rok church with his wife who received the conversion education, he started to serve the church. In 2001, the Sang Rok church had only one floor and an attic in a business building. In 2008, however, the Sang Rok church extended to a medium-sized private building. Most of victims insisted that the main reason of the development of the Sang Rok church was fee for conversion education programs. According to Mrs. Jeong Baek-Hyang, her husband handed a white envelop including money to Pastor Jin when he took her to Pastor Jin. Later on, Mrs. Jeong heard that her husband gave 20,000,000 won to Pastor Jin.

Sang Rok church in 2001 , Sang Rok church in 2008

Pastor Jin was sentenced to 8 months in jail with a stay of execution for 2 years in October 23, 2008. The Supreme Court ruled that Pastor Jin was guilty for illegal confinement. Also, Dr. Shin, a psychiatrist in the Chouk Ryong Evangelism Hospital and Mr. Pak were fined 7,000,000 won each for illegal confinement at the second trial. Mrs. Jeong Baek-Hyang, who accused Pastor Jin, Dr. Shin, and Mr. Pak, was forced to attend the conversion education in order to converting from the Church of God of An Sang Hong. The Church of God of An Sang Hong believes the heavenly mother, and it has been classified as cult by the CCK. According to the judgement by the court on Pastor Jin, the CCK avoided their responsibility for the judgement and said, "You should ask Pastor Jin. We have nothing to say about the judgement." This kind of attitude was very much different than the first time when the CCK introduced Pastor Jin to clients who had family members believing in heresy.

Some people questioned the title of vice-chairman of the Heresy and Cult Prevention Committee on Pastor Jin. He was not considered to study of the Christianity with great depth. He said that he graduated from Christian theological University and Seminary in Canada. However, there was any records that he visited in Canada during the semesters. Furthermore, he was ordained as a pastor in a seminary which is not accepted by the orthodox Christian association in Korea. Officially, Pastor Jin had no formal schooling after dropout in the second grade of elementary school. He used to be a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which is considered one of the cults by the CCK. Also, the Sang Rok church acknowledged that Pastor Jin used to be a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. However, the Sang Rok church is now belonging to the Presbyterian Church of Korea.

Victims, who had been confined in mental hospitals, held a press conference to appeal that their personal rights were violated by Pastor Jin

Pastor Jin tried to force his own doctrine to victims and made them to convert to the Presbyterian Church with the authority of a professor in an university. According to the conversation with a pressman over the phone, Pastor Jin said that he gave a lecture in Chongshin University and Seminary(CUS) until 2002 and recently has stopped a lecture in Myongji University. However, there was not a professor given a lecture by the name of Jin Yong-Sik according to the educational affairs department in the CUS. Also, the lecture given by Pastor Jin in Myongji University was not a formal lecture as he insisted but just a course of social education for people in the community. According to Mr. Lim Jong-Kwon, a managing editor, in the Christian Press, the Christian Council of Korea and Pastor Jin Yong-Sik have committed a new type of religious crime in the name of orthodoxy for money. When Pastor Jin was asked about the judgement, he made an excuse that he could not talk long enough over the phone because he was in abroad, and then he said he would talk about that later in Korea.

http://www.sisain.co.kr/news/articlePrint.html?idxno=3373