Moon Il-seok Publisher, original Korean news article written on August 20, 2023
During President Park Chung-hee’s regime, the South Korean military participated in the Vietnam War at the request of the U.S. government. Later, scholars theorized that the South Korean military’s participation in the Vietnam War was as a mercenary force. Because South Korea was a poor country, more than 5,000 young men were sacrificed (killed) on the battlefields of Vietnam. South Korea’s military participation in Vietnam lasted from 1964 to 1973. During this period, the total number of South Korean soldiers sent to the war was 300,000.
Pastor Jeong Myung-seok praying ©Breaking News
However, Vietnam veterans appealed for a fair trial and asked to stop the unfair trial of their former comrades-in-arms. The trial of Pastor Jeong Myung-seok of the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS), who was arrested in October 2022, is currently suspended due to a motion to recuse the judge. In the meantime, the church members have been holding weekly rallies since mid-July in response to the damages they suffered as a result of the unprecedented strong public reaction against JMS and in order to publicize the truth about Pastor Jeong’s case, which has been obscured by biased reporting. This is a drastic change from regular JMS practices, which has been to quietly expand its influence without any publicity. However, Vietnam War veterans are calling for a fair trial of their former comrade-in-arms, Pastor Jeong Myung-seok.
In a press release dated August 20, the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members Council said, “On August 20, at 4 p.m., more than 50,000 (organizers claim) JMS members held a rally on City Hall Boulevard in Seoul. The ‘Christian Gospel Mission Church Members Council,’ which organized the event, is a voluntary council formed by JMS church members for the rally,” and “At the event, JMS members as well as a Protestant pastor took the stage to condemn the distorted and biased reports of some media outlets about Pastor Jeong Myung-seok and to call for a fair trial.”
Vietnam War veterans joined the meeting to vent about the unfair treatment of their former comrade-in-arms. On Aug. 13, the Vietnam War Research Institute’s director, Jeon Yong-ju, attended the rally in front of the Seoul City Hall, which was led by the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council. In his speech, he said, “Pastor Jeong Myung-seok (JMS) participated in the Vietnam War twice as a young man, and the second time he volunteered to participate for the sake of the country and his comrades-in-arms,” and testified that “he is a national meritorious person who was awarded the Medal of Honor and the Meritorious Service Medal six times for his outstanding contributions to the Vietnam War, including capturing enemy soldiers and obtaining information on their arsenals, while saving both enemy soldiers and allies.”
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
In regards to the August 20th rally, the JMS Church Members’ Council issued an appeal for a fair trial, criticizing the suspicious behavior of the accusers and the unfairness of the court and prosecutors. According to the appeal, the complainant, Ms. A, claims to have suffered sexual harm due to brainwashing by Pastor Jeong Myung-seok, but there is abundant conclusive evidence that proves this to be false. Professor Kim Kook-hyun, who read the appeal at the scene, said, “Complainant A claimed that she intentionally recorded the sexual victimization at the suggestion of her boyfriend, but this is impossible while in a state of incapacitation.” “Moreover, in her diary during the period she claims to have been victimized, she wrote that she imagined hugging and kissing Pastor Jeong every day before he was released from prison and was disappointed that this did not happen. This statement confirms that there was no sexual victimization from Pastor Jeong.” Another accuser, Ms. B, from Australia, also testified. The witness, who requested anonymity, said on stage at the event, “The accuser, Ms. B, was once a person who heard Pastor Jeong’s words and decided to change her life anew with Jesus.” “Unfortunately, out of a sense of inferiority, dissatisfaction, and bitterness, she spread false slander against the JMS leaders and Pastor Jeong, irreparably defaming him,” the witness said.
“What the complainants have in common is that they did not sue Pastor Jeong until many years after the alleged period of sexual abuse,” said a representative of the JMS Church Members’ Council. “If there was indeed sexual abuse, it would have been common sense to report it immediately, but they did not, and they did not even tell the JMS members at the time that they had been sexually abused.”
In an appeal for a fair trial, the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council raised suspicions of police manipulation during Pastor Jeong Myung-seok’s trial. At the meeting, Professor Kim Kook-hyun said, “The accuser, Ms. A, said that she had sold her cell phone, which was a crucial piece of evidence, but the prosecutor said that the recording file stored on the cell phone was stored on iCloud, so even if she did not have a cell phone, there was no problem with using it as original evidence. However, on April 3, during the eighth trial, the prosecution announced that the iCloud file was accidentally deleted when the investigator pressed the wrong button while operating the cloud for a courtroom demonstration. At the ninth trial on May 16, the investigator reversed the seizure report, stating that he had “checked the file on the complainant’s iCloud account,” and stated that he had not checked the file on iCloud. It was a mistake, he said. Furthermore, the prosecution announced that the evidence CD from which the recording was copied was damaged during storage. What are the chances of all these mistakes happening by chance,” he said.
Religious leaders, part of a Protestant church that considers JMS as heretical, also spoke out in defense of Pastor Jeong Myung-seok. JMS church members with active social lives testified about their experiences with Pastor Jeong at the risk of their identities being exposed. They shared their experiences of “the damage caused by the media’s indiscriminate attacks on the JMS church” and called for “stopping the framing and intolerance of JMS instilled by the media.” “Under the pretext of protecting a few weak people, the witnesses and evidence proving the innocence of Pastor Jeong Myung-seok are being ignored and an unfair trial is being conducted,” said JMS 2nd generation member, Joo Chan-ran, at the gathering. “Indeed Pastor Jeong Myung-seok and we have become powerless weak people and victims in front of the huge public eye.”
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
On August 20, at 4 p.m., the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council held a rally of more than 50,000 people (organizers claim) in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul. ©Breaking News
“We held this rally to claim the innocence of Pastor Jeong Myung-seok, who is facing another Inquisition and public opinion trial following the one in 2008,” the JMS Church Members’ Council explained, adding, “We hope that it will be a fair and just trial based on the principle of evidence first and the presumption of innocence.”
The founder of JMS, Pastor Jeong Myung-Seok, is a Vietnam War veteran who was sent to the death zone by his country. Being a two-time Vietnam War veteran means being a patriot. At a gathering of 50,000 people in front of the Seoul City Hall on August 20, Pastor Jeong’s Vietnam War service was also raised as an issue. “Pastor Jeong Myung-seok has lived the path of patriotism as a Vietnam War veteran, and is a religious leader who has promoted the national cause domestically and internationally by building a Natural Temple in Wolmyeongdong, Geumsan,” said Pastor Lee Ki-chul, a representative of the Free Association of Seoul and the Seoul Special Committee for Religious Affairs, and president of the International Council of Christian Missions. “The temple in Wolmyeongdong, Geumsan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, was praised by everyone when I visited it several times with many other Christian pastors and heads of many religious churches, and it is regrettable that the trial was held without on-site verification, even though there is no secret place where the events alleged by the complainants took place.” On this day, President Lee called on the tribunal to conduct a “wise trial of Solomon and a loving trial of Jesus.”
At the meeting, the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Church Members’ Council showed a video of Pastor Jeong Myung-seok, a national hero who had served twice in the Vietnam War, sharing his experiences during the Vietnam War and the biblical truths he realized during his long monastic life.
Former President George Herbert Walker (H.W.) Bush, the 41st President of the United States, was a military veteran of World War II. At the age of 18, he was the youngest fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy. Former President George Herbert Walker (H.W.) Bush narrowly escaped death by parachute when the plane he was piloting was shot down by Japanese air defense guns in the Pacific in 1944, making him a World War II hero. Former President George Herbert Walker (H.W.) Bush served in World War II.
Like former President George Herbert Walker (H.W.) Bush, Pastor Jeong Myung-seok was a Korean War veteran of the Vietnam War. He came back from the death zone. He was a hero, and the noose of injustice should be lifted from him. The U.S. even makes war veterans into presidents; however, does it make sense to imprison war veterans? moonilsuk@naver.com
