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South Korea –
A South Korean preacher who smuggled hundreds of North Koreans out of the totalitarian dictatorship has been sentenced to five years in prison. He abused underage ‘turncoats’ at his boarding school in Seoul.
Chun Ki-Won, a South Korean preacher, spent 25 years helping people escape North Korea’s dictatorial regime. He was seen as a savior because of his operations in which he allowed people to flee North Korea via an “underground railway”.
In Seoul he even founded his own boarding school for the refugees. A beautiful act, but unfortunately things that were not allowed to see the light of day also happened there. According to police, Chun allegedly abused six North Korean teenagers in the dormitories of the boarding school. The judge said the pastor carried out his crimes from “a position of absolute influence.”
Five years in prison
The South Korean initially denied everything, but was eventually convicted because the statements made by the victims were “too consistent” and contained content that “cannot be said without personal experiences with the circumstances”. He was found guilty of five of the six charges.
The South Korean initially denied everything, but was eventually convicted because the statements made by the victims were “too consistent”
The court had initially demanded a sentence of thirteen years, but that was only five. In addition to his prison sentence, he was also sentenced to 80 hours of appropriate treatment for perpetrators of sexual assault. In addition to the prison sentence, Chun is not allowed to work with children, young people or people with disabilities for five years.
World famous
The South Korean preacher made world news with his boarding school. It has been the subject of documentaries and articles more than once by the BBC, CNN and National Geographic, among others. Chun was also often compared to Oskar Schindler, a businessman who saved more than 1,100 Jews during World War II. The conviction of “the Asian Schindler” came as a real shock in South Korea.