Hear from Mark C. about His time in Korea!

Our Brother Mark recently spent 40 days in Korea, helping with media for our movement in these difficult times, please read his testimony on his experiences below…

‘I returned to the UK at the beginning of December after spending 40 days in Korea. I originally went to help with the church’s media campaigns in support of True Mother’s case. I didn’t plan to stay for exactly 40 days, but it ended up being deeply meaningful, and I’d like to share a few reflections from that time.

The main conclusion I came away with is a firm belief that what is happening to True Mother is undeniably unjust. Being close to the situation and learning more about Korea’s current political climate, as well as Korean culture, made it very clear that our church’s case is part of a much larger political struggle taking place in the country.

During that time, I was able to be present in small ways. On the first day of Mother’s trial, I managed to get into the overflow room at the courtroom. On another occasions, I visited the detention center where she is being held and saw members coming faithfully each day to pray for her. Witnessing that devotion left a strong impression on me.

One particularly eye-opening experience was meeting the son of a pastor who has been imprisoned by the same prosecution team handling Mother’s case. His father interviewed a political candidate at his church, something that is only partially legal in Korea, where freedom of speech is far more limited than in the West. Normally, cases like this result in fines of around $1,000 to $2,000. Instead, his father has already been detained for over 100 days and may be sentenced to more than a year in prison.

For the first three weeks of his detention, his son told me that his father was treated horribly, not even being allowed to change his underwear. This has been confirmed as fact.

So when we hear about True Mother’s treatment, that she was denied a wheelchair or cane and had to crawl on her hands and knees, that she was not given enough bedding and was freezing at night, and that she is constantly monitored by a camera, these are not exaggerations.

After my trip to Korea, I strongly believe they are trying to making examples of churches and pastors to suppress anyone who seeks to bring God and His values into politics. And as we know from history and from True Parents’ teachings, when a nation turns away from God, it moves toward authoritarian ideologies. This is not just about True Mother and the unification movement, but a battle for the soul of Korea’

-Mark C.