Deprogramming in Korea: Testimony of Ms Bae Gyun Hee

A comment on the interview of Raffaella Di Marzio to Ms. Bae Gyun Hee, a follower of the Church of Shincheonji, regarding the double deprogramming she was subjected to in 2015 and 2018. 

Raffaella Di Marzio

Managing Director of Center for Studies on Freedom of  Religion, Belief and Conscience (LIREC)

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Deep thank to Mauro Bombieri, LIREC Scientific Committee member, for his active collaboration with this initiative.

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Introduction

The practice of deprogramming is a crime against young victims guilty of belonging to religious groups or churches of various origins considered “cults” by the majority churches in the countries where it is practiced.

Deprogramming, aside from being immoral, is also illegal and condemnable by law even if those who submit  these youths to deprogrammings are usually their parents.

In brief, these are some of the effects of this practice, taken from the responses of a young follower of the Church of Shincheonji in my interview with her.

First effect: Destruction of family ties

The young Ms. Bae Gyun Hee was subject to two failed attempts at deprogramming, the first lasting 3 days, the second 15 days, under the pastor and his wife of the Church of Sae Hak Jang. The young woman was liberated by the armed forces and the Church of Shincheonji.

In the interview the victim remembers the moments of the deprogramming with precision and punctuality because, she sustains, that the memory of the trauma even after several years has remained vivid, accompanied by strong emotions that she still relives, as is common with any trauma.

In the specific cases of deprogramming my studies, as well as interviews with young victims of deprogramming from diverse religious groups, have revealed that the singularity resides in the fact that the victim’s family members are the very ones to provoke the trauma, in this case a couple of pastors from a corean protestant church, the Sae Has Jang Church.

As Bae Gyun Hee explains with clarity and deep consternation, that her greatest suffering is the loss of honesty that used to be the foundation of her relationship with her family and was destroyed by the deprogramming. Her parents tricked her, which is usually what happens in these situations. They lied to convince  her to come home and then take her against her will to a Motel and successively to the deprogrammers. Even her refusal to eat, in order to escape the deprogramming was not successful.

The young victim sustains that the first deprogramming “left indelible scars in the hearts of my family members” and has “destroyed their happiness”. After many years she still feels full of anxiety  and frustration when she remembers the violent experience. Before the deprogramming Bae Gyun Hee loved and respected her father and considered him to be her best friend with whom she spent a lot of her time. She now has no trust in him.

As I have verified in other cases, the conviction of having been betrayed by one’s own parents is a motive of enormous suffering and sense of loss: for the young victims parents suddenly cease to represent a reference point capable of satisfying the need for protection nurtured in a parent-child relationship, especially the parents in this and many cases, who utilise violence and force together with lies in order to submit their children to the deprogramming.

Second effect: attack on personal integrity and fundamental rights

The two pastors involved in this case, like other cases I know of, consider the young follower of Shincheonji to be a person without capacity for discernment, with a mind clouded by brainwashing techniques supposedly performed by the Church of their choice and incapable of making responsible choices. For these reasons the privation of personal freedom and inviolable human rights were justified by the contingent situation and finalised for the “good” of the person, according to the victim’s parents and the Church of Sae Hak Jang, which took care of conducting the procedure to its end. In this case, as in all deprogramming cases, the violation of the most intimate personal convictions, inclinations and sentiments, provokes such intense suffering that it remains in the memories and nightmares for the rest of their lives. In Bae Gyun Hee’s case the first to violate her rights was her father, who forged, in her name, an accord to submit herself to the deprogramming. The young woman remembers her pain in hearing the followers of her Church accused as “a group of crazy people” and the attempts to convince her that she no longer possessed the capacity to decide for herself because she had been “brainwashed” by the leader.

Third effect: the emotions tied to the trauma are long lasting

Bae Gyun Hee affirms, after several years, that she still feels “anxious and frustrated” when she thinks of the deprogramming, above all she feels anger towards the deprogrammers who instigated her parents to kidnap her and bring her to them. Other victims I have met describe the same emotions: first confusion, then terror, humiliation, a sense of betrayal, a sense of being abandoned  by their parents. Bae Gyun Hee remembers the “fear of not being able to escape” and the need to “protect herself”, the frustration and sadness as a result of her parent’s behaviour  who, instead of listening to their daughter, followed the instructions of the deprogrammers.

In Bae Gyun Hee’s case, as in other similar cases, the young victim tried in every way to escape from the deprogramming, finally able to call the police and free herself. The harsh accusations towards the Church of Shincheonji, defined by the deprogrammers as a “cult” where “all members are tricked and manipulated” and whose “leader is crazy” provoke in the victim an extreme defence of her intimate self and faith. The attempt of the pastors to convince the victim to abandon her religion clashes with an unilateral defence, not only of her faith but also of her own identity and individuality because religious conversion represents a fundamental and unifying aspect of the individual. Proof is in the millions of people who have sacrificed their lives not to betray their faith

Fourth effect: Deprogramming obtains the opposite effect of that desired

The deprogramming had no success, the young victim claims that there was “no change in her relationship with the Church of Shincheonji”. She affirms, on the contrary: “the deprogramming convinced me that the Church of Shincheonji acts in accord with biblical principles. The Church invited me to love my parents and forgive them.” Living according to the principles of her church, Bae Gyun Hee can face the situation with greater serenity. 

Regardless of the trauma and injustice that the young Bae Gyun Hee underwent, thanks to the teachings that she received from her church, she does not harbour hate or rancour towards her deprogrammers or her parents. This is made very clear in the message she relays at the end of her interview to the deprogrammers, two pastors from the Christian Church of Sae Hak Jang: “My family has been suffering since 2015. Do you think you have demonstrated your love for God? Look at the results: my family is in pain and divided. For the past five years my family has not regained reciprocal trust in each other. Instigating families to deprogram their children for money is wrong, it is against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.

The conclusion of the interviewer is an affirmation that Bae Gyun Hee makes after personally experiencing what it means to be denied  your freedom of thought, belief and conscience: “No one can take away another’s freedom”.

Conclusion

The practice of deprogramming is a crime, a serious form of instigation to hate and to crimes like kidnapping and violence even if they are commissioned by the victim’s parents. In this specific case, this crime was committed by two pastors of a Christian Church (Church of Sae Hak Jang) who are not only violating human law but also the basic principles of the Christian faith.

This interview was released to pay homage to the courage of many young victims of this crime, in the Church of Shincheonji and in other churches, to solicit society and all those who believe in the fundamental freedom of religious creed and conscience so that they will act in order to condemn and abolish this abomination.

The Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion, Belief and Conscience is actively promoting these values and defending the victims.