Religious Freedom and Freedom of Expression in South Korea Under Scrutiny: International Organisations Raise Concern

SEOUL, South Korea, 7 August 2026 - Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), together with CAP Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC), which held accredited ECOSOC status at the United Nations, FOREF, CESNUR and Bitter Winter, held a press conference on August 7, 2026, at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Freedom of Expression in South Korea.

The issues addressed included concerns about the treatment of elderly religious leaders in pretrial detention, including questions of proportionality, humanitarian considerations, and due process. The organizations called on South Korean authorities to review the detention of 95-year-old Shincheonji Chairman Lee Man-hee and to ensure that the legal and administrative response to religious minorities remained neutral, proportionate, and consistent with South Korea's international human-rights obligations, including with respect to 83-year-old Mrs. Hak-ja Han Moon of the Family Federation.

The issues discussed at the conference formed part of a broader pattern of Freedom of Religion or Belief concerns in South Korea. Concerns had also persisted regarding Segero Church in Busan, which had reportedly continued to face harassment and official scrutiny even after Pastor Son Hyun-bo was released from detention.

Reporting had also raised questions about conscientious objection, public hostility toward a mosque project in Daegu, and religious accommodation in educational settings. Over the past decades, HRWF had documented the imprisonment of hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea as conscientious objectors. Although alternative civilian service was later introduced, critics maintained that it had been implemented in a punitive manner rather than as a genuine rights-respecting alternative, notably because it required 36 months of service in correctional facilities, twice the length of regular military service. Recent court decisions had also upheld key features of that system against constitutional challenge.

Opening the conference, Hans Noot, Associate Director of HRWF, said the issues at stake "lay at the heart of democratic society," warning that when religious communities were stigmatized, peaceful gatherings were restricted, and dissent was treated as a problem to be contained, the consequences "extended far beyond any single group or case." He said the conference was not about defending any one theology or movement, but about "defending a principle: that fundamental rights apply equally to all."

Thierry Valle, President of CAP Liberté de Conscience, addressed the legality of Chairman Lee's detention under international law. Referring to South Korea's ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1990 and the Convention against Torture in 1995, he questioned whether placing a 95-year-old in pretrial detention was consistent with those obligations. He stressed that the presumption of innocence had to prevail over any presumption of guilt.

Valle argued that there were alternative, more proportionate and humane measures that could respect the presumption of innocence and human dignity in democratic countries. He cited precedents including Cardinal Joseph Zen's release on bail in Hong Kong in 2022 and Vietnam's decision to place Buddhist Patriarch Thich Quang Do under house arrest rather than in prison.

Michael Langhans, Executive Director of FOREF Germany, presented a legal analysis questioning whether pretrial detention for Chairman Lee of the Shincheonji Church was necessary given that evidence was already sufficient for an indictment, and whether that evidence had been gathered neutrally rather than through a narrative framing the defendant's community as a "sect" or "cult." He argued that the case raised a broader question for lawmakers: whether measures intended to protect fair elections could be applied without nullifying the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to freedom of religion.

Márk Nemes, Deputy Director of CESNUR, shared his thoughts on the effects of ongoing persecution and its possible ramifications for minority faiths. He noted three recent scholarly investigations conducted in selected Shincheonji congregations in Europe, Argentina, and Australia, each of which had found a worrisome increase in hostility toward the otherwise peaceful and cooperative religious movement. He stressed that Shincheonji was not simply a South Korean minority church but a global religious movement with congregations worldwide. He argued that disproportionate persecution in South Korea affected the lives of congregants abroad, whose freedoms to express and practice their faith, enshrined in Articles 18 and 19 of the ICCPR, were inalienable rights that had to be considered during the process.

Massimo Introvigne, Managing Director of CESNUR and Editor-in-Chief of Bitter Winter, said South Korea "had crossed a worrying line" by arresting Chairman Lee, arguing that international standards such as the Mandela Rules would call for house arrest rather than imprisonment for a 95-year-old accused of a non-violent offence. He said the charges, tied to ordinary political participation by members of a religious minority, "appeared legally and conceptually overstretched," and warned that the case fit a broader pattern of pressure against minority faiths in the country.

The organizations called on South Korean authorities, the media, and the international community to examine these developments with close attention to due process, proportionality, and the equal protection of fundamental rights. They also made further documentation available to support continued reporting.

At the conclusion of the press conference, the scholars in attendance signed an official letter calling on the Government of the Republic of Korea to immediately release Chairman Lee from custody.

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About Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF)
Human Rights Without Frontiers International (HRWF Int'l) is a non-profit association that seeks to shape European and international policy in ways that strengthen democracy, uphold the rule of law and protect human rights globally. The organisation works with associated member organisations in Denmark, France, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Moldova, Norway, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the US.

This release was published on openPR.