South Korea's firebrand pastors flock to impeached president's cause
By Hyunsu Yim
SEOUL (Reuters) -When South Korea's Constitutional Court rules on President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, expected in coming days, few will be watching more closely - or be watched more closely for possible rabble-rousing - than the country's activist pro-Yoon churches.
Outspoken pastors and their flocks have emerged among the conservative president's most vocal supporters, demanding in mass rallies, online videos and lawmakers' speeches that he be restored to office after his impeachment over a martial law declaration in December.
Invoking their religious faith and ardent anti-communism, they have doubled down on support for Yoon and cast his impeachment not as the reining in of a rogue leader, but as an existential threat to the fight against North Korea and other enemies.
Critics from other religious and political groups, meanwhile, see the churches' strident rhetoric also as a ploy for attention and influence, amid a wider struggle with rising secularism and shrinking congregations.
"This shows they want to exercise power and demonstrate that they are still influential in South Korean society," said Sukwhan Sung, a theology professor who heads the Center for City and Community, a Seoul-based research organisation.
The rallies and agitating have helped to power a comeback by Yoon's party in the court of public opinion. Polling shows they now lag the opposition by just four percentage points, compared with a 24-point deficit in December, according to Gallup Korea.
Leading this anti-impeachment charge is Save Korea, a religious advocacy group set up in the wake of Yoon's martial law declaration. Thousands of supporters have attended its rallies, including one in the conservative stronghold of Daegu that police estimated drew more than 50,000 people.
"At first, everyone had doubts about martial law. But many have been enlightened thanks to Save Korea," said Bae Ji-hyun, who was attending her third Save Korea protest in Seoul on March 8.
Other attendees at the group's "national emergency prayer meeting" carried signs saying "Yes to Martial Law" and "Stop the Steal" - the latter echoing unsubstantiated claims by both Yoon and U.S. President Donald Trump of widespread election fraud.
Lawmakers from Yoon's ruling party have also appealed to religion in their protests. A group that gathered around the Constitutional Court last week prayed that God would move the hearts of the judges, while one told reporters that South Korea was fighting a "spiritual war against dark forces".
HEATED RHETORIC
Yoon's Dec. 3 martial law declaration sought to ban all political activities and ordered media under military control, as he vowed to root out "pro-North Korea" and "anti-state" forces in the country and to end opposition gridlock. Although the declaration was withdrawn after only six hours, it triggered large-scale anti-Yoon protests and a parliamentary vote on Dec. 14 to impeach him.
Counter-protests by Yoon supporters steadily gathered steam, especially around the time of his arrest on Jan. 15, and pro-Yoon activists stormed a court in late January after it extended his detention. He was released on March 8 and is awaiting a decision by the Constitutional Court, which will have the final word on whether he should be ousted from the presidency or restored to power.
In the meantime, heated rhetoric at gatherings of Yoon supporters has raised concerns about clashes, and police are preparing for unrest from either side when the court rules.
Evangelical preacher Jun Kwang-hoon, who heads the Sarang Jeil Church and has led pro-Yoon protests in Seoul, vowed at a rally outside the president's residence this month to finish the job - begun by Yoon's brief martial law - of "cleansing" the country.
If the judges vote to remove Yoon, he said: "We will mobilise the people's right to resist and blow them away with one stroke of the sword".
Jun is under investigation by police for suspected incitement of insurrection in connection with the January attack on the courthouse. The church said in a statement to Reuters that his rhetoric did not carry any violent messages, while a separate statement on its website said it would comply with the police investigation.
Many Protestant churches in South Korea, like conservative churches elsewhere, have been advocating for social causes for years, including to block LGBT events and laws that would prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination.
The anti-impeachment drive takes them further into political activism, as they grapple with a decline in followers.
Just four in 10 South Koreans identified as having religious faith in a 2021 Gallup Korea poll, down from 50% in 2014. Only 22% of those aged 19 to 29 said they were religious, the poll said, with 14% saying they were Protestants.
Some religious organisations have criticised the pro-Yoon activism, with a task force of the National Council of Churches calling Save Korea a "political group disguised with a Christian facade".
Save Korea said the group does not support any particular political parties.
"We are focusing on prayer movements to protect evangelical values and liberal democracy, and it is a misunderstanding to interpret them through a political frame," a spokesperson said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
The Supreme Court Could Cut Off Classroom Internet Connections
The Supreme Court has the cable cutter getty For almost thirty years, the E-Rate program has made internet connectivity available to schools and libraries across the country. Now the Supreme Court could decide to end that program. The program was authorized as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, with the FCC deciding to fund E-Rate through the pool of money collected from service providers for the Universal Service Fund. The idea was to increase internet connectivity for classrooms and libraries, particularly those serving low-income or rural populations. The USF also funds connectivity services for rural health care, remote communities, and low-income households. The effect was immediate. According to a Congressional Research Service report, the requests for E-Rate funding, amounting to $2,02 billion, outstripped the program funding immediately. The percentage of public schools with internet access, according to a U.S. Department of Education survey, went from 35% in 1994 to 95% in 1999. Over that same period, internet access in actual classrooms went from 3% to 63%. The program has allowed schools that could not have managed internet connectivity for their students, and that can be transformative (I taught at one such school). The challenge to that program comes from Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research. It's an appeal of a decision from the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that found in favor of Consumers' Research, a DC-based conservative advocacy group. The argument is laid out simply in the first paragraph of the decision: In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress delegated its taxing power to the Federal Communications Commission. FCC then subdelegated the taxing power to a private corporation. That private corporation, in turn, relied on for-profit telecommunications companies to determine how much American citizens would be forced to pay for the 'universal service' tax that appears on cell phone bills across the Nation. We hold this misbegotten tax violates Article I, § 1 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has heard the case, which brought out a host of amicus briefs. The states of Alaska and Colorado argued that loss of internet access to its very rural population would be disastrous. Many groups representing schools, communities and libraries argued to overturn the Fifth Circuit decision. The National Leaguer of Cities made their plea: The potential loss of USF program benefits posed by the decision below would severely harm the economies of local communities and decrease the overall quality of life for local governments' residents. A less connected community is a less educated, less employed, and less healthy community. Briefs from a host of right-leaning groups like Americans for Prosperity, the National Taxpayers Union, and the New Civil Liberties Alliance all argue that the USF is unconstitutional. The language in these briefs is heated. 'The rule restores the Constitution's original meaning,' writes the ADF, 'at a time when it is sorely needed.' Advancing American Freedom invokes the founders and the abuse of 'taxation without representation.' A decision is expected in the nest few weeks. The impact of ending E-Rate programs would send shockwaves through classrooms across the country. At best, it would require Congress to restructure the entire funding mechanism for the program. At worst, it would cast thousands of districts serving rural and low-income students back out of the twenty-first century. Mark Walsh at Education Week says the court has signaled it is 'unlikely to upend' the program. School districts across the country are hoping he's correct.
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
US faith leaders opposed to ICE raids counsel nonviolent resistance and lead by example
When the Rev. Edward Anderson rallied in Los Angeles this week against the Trump administration's intensifying immigration crackdown, he positioned himself between law enforcement and his fellow protesters, serving as a human buffer. Anderson, who leads McCarty Memorial Christian Church in the city's West Adams Terrace neighborhood, believes he was upholding his moral duty to stand against injustice, but in a nonviolent manner that his faith demands. 'It is imperative that people of faith speak out because silence in the face of injustice is complicity,' he said. Some U.S. religious leaders are taking a stand about President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, including ones citing Scripture to explain their support for his policies and others citing it to explain their resistance. For many of those condemning how federal agents are rounding up and deporting people who are in the country illegally, though, nonviolent resistance is the best — and only — way to effect positive change. State and local leaders have accused Trump of inflaming tensions and raising the risk of violence by deploying National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in response to the protests, which have been daily since last week. Although most have been peaceful, some have resulted in clashes between protesters and law enforcement. Elected officials, including LA Mayor Karen Bass, have called on protesters to remain peaceful, saying violence will only inflame the situation. It's a message religious leaders can get behind. 'The moral message is clear: we do not accept the world as it is. We respond to cruelty with courage, to hatred with love,' Rabbi Sharon Brous said this week at an interfaith vigil in Los Angeles, where the mayor imposed a downtown curfew. The Rev. Jacqui Lewis, senior pastor of Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, said nonviolent resistance is a core belief of her congregation, which has been feeding and helping newly arrived immigrants and demonstrating to support them. 'We're like Jesus — nonviolent,' said Lewis. But nonviolence isn't silence, she said, adding that it 'often means confronting people with the truth. ... We understand that social change has happened because people of faith and spiritual imagination guided the streets peacefully.' Her flock plans to take part in one of Saturday's 'No Kings' rallies, which are happening in cities throughout the country to protest Trump's policies and which will take place during a military parade in Washington. Nonviolence and a slow path to change Nonviolent protest has a proven track record in the U.S., having been successfully used by, among others, the Rev. Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights movement. However, Michael Nagler, co-founder of The Metta Center for Nonviolence, a California-based nonprofit involved in education and advocacy, cautioned that nonviolence and civil disobedience come with suffering and sacrifice. He pointed to the sacred Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita, which advises practicing action without getting attached to the result. 'Principled nonviolence comes from this awareness that the divine resides in each and every one of us and every life is precious,' he said. 'You believe that a solution can always be worked out where all parties have their legitimate needs met.' Nonviolence might not yield immediate results, but it eventually has a deeper impact and fewer casualties than the alternative, Nagler said. In the context of the current struggle, a positive result might mean getting the administration to deal with immigrants more humanely, he said. Faith leaders can play a crucial role in the demonstrations, said the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance. They can provide 'a sense of shield' and a 'spiritual force' for demonstrators, and inspire 'a reduction of harm and nonviolent presence ... in a space where it appears that there's only a spiraling of violence.' Partnering with local Los Angeles organizations and labor unions, Anderson said his congregation has led prayer vigils, helped migrants learn about their rights, and advised other faith leaders about what to do if ICE shows up at their houses of worship. 'As clergy and community leaders, we are not only called to preach justice but to embody it, to be present in the pain of our people, and to lift up the sacred worth of every human life,' he said in an email. Anderson said he draws strength from the Bible's calls to welcome the stranger, defend the oppressed and love thy neighbor. Views among faith leaders are hardly uniform, with others citing the Bible as a reason for supporting Trump's crackdown. There are many faith leaders, notably in the evangelical ranks, who support the immigration crackdown. 'I support 100% President Trump's goal of protecting our country from evildoers, whether from within or without,' said the Rev. Robert Jeffress, a longtime Trump supporter who is a Southern Baptist pastor at a Dallas megachurch. 'The president has authority from the Constitution and the Bible to do exactly what he's doing.' Regarding the protests, Jeffress said, 'People have a right to be wrong. But they don't have the right to be wrong in a violent manner.' Committed to interfaith action and working together The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which participated in an interfaith prayer vigil in Grand Park on Tuesday, said it plans to remain engaged. That gathering showed that people of different faiths can unite and pray for a compassionate way forward, said the Rev. Parker Sandoval, the Catholic archdiocese's vice chancellor. 'A lot of people are living in fear now, whether it's fear of violence or the fear of being separated from their families,' he said. 'God insists that we are not alone or without hope. Evil, no matter what form it takes, does not have the last word.' Seth Zuihō Segall, a Zen Buddhist priest affiliated with the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy, said he and his colleagues are appalled by images of masked, armed federal immigration agents 'whisking people off the streets and into cars.' He stressed via email that opposition to these developments should be nonviolent. 'Non-harming, non-hatred, and nonviolence are at the very core of the Buddha's message,' he wrote. 'We strive to treat all people — even those whose actions appall us — as buddhas-in-progress.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
The F-35 stealth fighter just got another noise complaint
The F-35 is a loud aircraft, and the people of Wisconsin are not happy about it. A local congressman is again calling in a noise complaint on the stealth fighter, urging Pentagon officials to visit the state and witness for themselves just how loud the Lockheed Martin fifth-generation fighter jet actually is when it is flying overhead. Rep. Mark Pocan sent a letter to the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, a DC-based agency within the Department of Defense that helps military bases work with their local communities, after the group denied funding for noise mitigation efforts for some Madison citizens, who Pocan says are plagued by the jet's deafening Pratt & Whitney engines. Truax Field Air National Guard Base, which is home to the 115th Fighter Wing and its F-35A Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters, is located in Madison, Wisconsin. The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation has funded DoD noise-mitigation efforts and even has an entire office dedicated to handling community noise issues from military fixed-wing aviation. The office offered Madison residents $50 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Pocan's letter, "to make necessary modifications to their homes to dampen the noise and improve their quality of life." A recent similar request, however, for $18 million for other Madison residents was nixed. Pocan said in his letter that "this effort would have allowed for better insulation in over 160 homes to help cushion the noise, as well as new windows or HVAC systems." A 2012 Vermont Health Department study found that F-35 jets reached a peak noise level of 115 decibels, or approximately the same noise level as a rock concert, louder than the F-16s the 115th Fighter Wing previously flew. "Since the decision to place F-35 fighter jets at Truax Field in 2020, my office has repeatedly been in touch with the Department of Defense to express my concerns about what impact the noise from these jets could have on local residents, their homes, and local businesses," Pocan said. "In the years since, residents have reported consistent and significant concerns with the noise levels to my office, along with fears that prolonged exposure could lead to property damage or negative health impacts," the letter said. The congressman requested that the office send an official out to Madison to explain its rejection to the community in person. The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on its planned response to Pocan's letter. It's not the first time that noisy jets have made headlines in Wisconsin, where residents near the Truax Field Air National Guard Base have had to contend with the aircraft regularly since their arrival in 2020. F-35s have also riled up other residents across the country where the advanced fighter jets are housed, disturbing residents in Utah, Arizona and Vermont, where some people have even reported panic attack-like symptoms in response.
