A South Korean pastor who has been hailed as a hero for helping hundreds of people to escape North Korea, including acting as the basis for documentaries by the BBC and CNN, has been convicted on charges of sexually abusing teenage defectors.
67-year-old Chun Ki-won was sentenced to five years in prison for child abuse at the boarding school he ran in Seoul. Until his arrest last September, Chun was regarded as a savior figure in South Korea and was often referred to as the “Schindler of Asia” for his work in helping people flee the North Korean regime.
He founded an organization through which he claims to have helped more than 1,000 North Koreans escape the totalitarian rule of the Kim family. One of his methods included operating an “underground railroad” through routes in China. But he was arrested last year and charged with sexually abusing six North Korean teenagers, some of whom had fled their country alone and others with their families.
Despite denying the allegations, alleging that they are the result of a “conspiracy”, a court found the victims’ testimonies consistent and irrefutable. The judge noted that Chun had committed his crimes from “a position of absolute influence” and ruled him guilty in five of the six cases of child abuse.
The conviction has shocked South Korea, where Chun’s trial garnered widespread media coverage. Television bulletins showed him with gray hair and in white attire, being paraded to the stand in handcuffs and flanked by guards.