Posted on 10/29/2025 2:27:09 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
On September 24, 2025, a South Korean court confirmed Pastor Son Hyun-bo’s detention, rejecting his appeal for review. To most Western readers, this name may mean little. But in Korea, Son is no fringe figure. He leads Segero Church in Busan, one of the country’s largest congregations, baptizing over 1,000 new believers annually. His arrest marks a chilling escalation in what many now call a war on religious liberty.
Son’s story reads like a Korean epic. In 1993, he took over Noksan Jeil, a dying Presbyterian church in Busan with twenty members. He renamed it “Segero”—“To the World”—and built it into a megachurch with over 4,000 weekly attendees. Before theology, Son served in the Special Forces, earning an Exemplary Soldier Award. He was beaten for his Christian faith but ultimately evangelized his entire platoon. A Buddhist monk funded his seminary education—a providential twist and a beautiful interfaith story.
His son, Chance Son, an American-educated and soft-spoken advocate, told me: “My father’s sermons were never about personalities. They were about values.” Between March and June 2025, Pastor Son allegedly endorsed candidates in his sermons. But Chance insists these mentions lasted no more than two minutes in 30–40 minute sermons and focused on electing leaders who uphold Christian values. “This is religious liberty,” Chance said. “Or should be.”
South Korea’s Public Official Election Act, Article 85, prohibits campaigning within religious organizations. It was upheld as constitutional in 2024, but traditionally interpreted with restraint…
However, with Pastor Son’s arrest on September 8 and the court’s confirmation on September 24, the tone has changed. Now, pastors don’t get fined—they get jailed. The grounds? Risk of flight and destruction of evidence. Chance scoffs: “My father’s sermons are online. He’s lived in Segero Church for thirty years. Escape? Ludicrous.”
(Excerpt) Read more at bitterwinter.org ...
“prohibits campaigning within religious organizations”
Our laws prohibit campaigning for Republicans within religious organizations.
But not Democrats. LBJ did this to protect his socialist agenda.
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