SOUTH KOREA: Japanese women of Unification Church in South Korea hold anti-Japanese rally

Record ID: 212641

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: Japanese women of Unification Church in South Korea hold anti-Japanese rally
  • Date: 24th March 2010
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SINGING RELIGIOUS SONG (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 8th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAC2IMUK3BJSARAR62K6DJW3AS1
  • Story Text: Female members of the Unification Church hold a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, delivering a petition to protect them against alleged abduction and confinement.
    A group of Japanese female members of the Unification Church held a rally in Seoul on Tuesday (March 23), delivering a petition to their embassy concerning alleged abduction and confinement of church members in Japan.
    About 50 Japanese women, living in South Korea with their Korean husbands, picketed in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Many of them were dressed in kimonos, the Japanese traditional attire.
    The protestors said many of the church members have been unable to visit their families in Japan for fear of being abducted for the purpose of converting them away from their chosen faith. They said previous instances of abduction and confinement were reported from Japan.
    Their petition asked the Japanese government to create an environment of religious tolerance so that their constitutional rights are protected.
    "We are here to ask the embassy to protect us from being treated unfairly," 41-year-old Shikako Tanaka said in Korean.
    The women said the alleged instances were recently reported to the U. N. Human Rights commission.
    "Many sisters, as well as I, harbour dark experiences. We would like them to help us become released from the darkness and live a happy life," Tanaka added.
    Forty-four year-old Hiroko Tomizawa said she was kidnapped from her church.
    "When I was inside our church, they entered by breaking the windows. Around 20 men invaded and kidnapped me," Tomizawa said.
    The protest organiser said some 7,000 Japanese women who married Korean men in the Unification Church are now living in South Korea with their families. More than 1,000 of them signed the petition, the organiser added.
    Sun Myung Moon founded the Unification Church in 1954 in Seoul and he declared in 1992 that he and his wife were messiahs.
    One of Moon's sons, Hyung Jin, has taken over the day-to-day operations of the church with an estimated 5 to 7 million followers around the world.
    The Unification Church considers the Korean peninsula sacred.
    Its website (http://www.unification.org/index.html) said Jesus Christ appeared to its founder and overall leader Sun Myung Moon as he was praying and asked him "to complete the task of establishing God's kingdom on Earth".
    Critics have vilified the group as a dangerous cult, questioning its murky finances and how it indoctrinates followers.
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