SEOUL, South Korea — Japan and South Korea are both prosperous, successful democracies and core American allies, but both Asian powerhouses have recently cracked down on religious freedom.
The Japanese Supreme Court on June 23 dismissed a final appeal by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, ending a legal battle that began with the government’s initial dissolution order in March 2025. The court found that the church had coerced believers into donating.
Although the federation in Japan, formerly known as the Unification Church, has not been found guilty of breaking any law, its dissolution is now legally irreversible.
“Religious liberty is critical to the functioning of a free society,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “This is a sad day for religious freedom in Japan, a country whose record as a champion of freedom in Asia will, I fear, be damaged by this decision.”
Similar storms are brewing in South Korea, where President Lee Jae-myung’s liberal administration has targeted several church leaders with various charges. A bill pending in the National Assembly would grant Seoul the right to dissolve churches.
On June 24, Lee Man-hee, 95, founder of Shincheonji, a conservative Christian-based religion, was arrested on charges of violating the Political Parties Act by coercing followers into political activities. Late last year, the Rev. Son Hyung-bo, pastor of Busan Segeyro Church, was imprisoned for leading rallies against Mr. Lee’s candidacy in violation of election laws.
The federation’s spiritual head in South Korea, Han Hak-ja, 83, is hospitalized after being detained since September on charges of attempting to bribe the former first lady with two Chanel bags, a Graff diamond necklace and ginseng tea extract. She has denied the allegations but faces a return to jail if she recovers from health issues, which include a heart condition, glaucoma and trauma from falls.
Prosecutors on Friday demanded a 13-year sentence for Dr. Han.
The cases have triggered a public debate on where the firewall between religion and politics should lie. The Shincheonji case also sparked global attention: Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk had met the Rev. Son just days before being assassinated by a shooter in Utah.
In Japan, the federation’s woes escalated after the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by Tetsuya Yamagami, who said he was infuriated by his mother’s donations to the church when he was growing up. Abe was targeted because politicians in his party had been supported by the federation, which says it promotes conservative family values and the peaceful downfall of communism.
During Yamagami’s sentencing, the Japanese court essentially dismissed the killer’s motive, saying “there is no substantial room to give weight to the motive for and circumstances leading to the offenses.”
Aside from religious activities, the federation’s organization in the United States operates various businesses, including The Washington Times.
High-profile Americans have excoriated the decision in Japan, and U.S. officials have visited South Korea to investigate legal attacks on religious figures.
“Free societies, at their core, must maintain religious freedom: It is the human right of the soul,” said former Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican.
Mr. Brownback, former ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, a State Department post housed in the Office of International Religious Freedom, said the forced dissolution of a legitimate church by the government undermines a “cornerstone right.”
Seoul is watching Tokyo’s precedent.
“It’s very dangerous because South Korea is looking at Japan and trying to pass a new law for dissolution of religious organizations,” said Patricia Duval, a lawyer who specializes in international human rights law.
Tokyo bulldozes a church
Members of the federation in Japan were accused of coercing followers into making donations and buying overpriced religious trinkets. The federation says donations were voluntary, some were returned and “spiritual sales” — the marketing of religious artifacts at prices critics say far exceed their value — ended decades ago.
Norishige Kondo, a former head of the FFWPU Japan’s legal department, recently told reporters at the Brussels Press Club that no laws had been broken — case legalities were civil torts, not criminal charges — but the Supreme Court decision renders dissolution irreversible.
“Imagine for a moment your own place of worship, and imagine [government liquidators] arriving 15 minutes after the ruling, ordering you to leave immediately,” said the Rev. Kimihiro Okamitsu, former pastor of Shinjuku Family Church.
At the time, he pleaded with liquidators to allow a scheduled funeral to take place. They said the funeral could proceed, but the condition imposed was “deeply humiliating.” The Rev. Okamitsu was not allowed to conduct services as a pastor.
“The deceased had attended the church for 25 years,” the reverend said. “Why could that person not have a final farewell in the church he had loved?”
Some 300 federation churches across Japan are in liquidation, dissolving a religious community established since 1959.
Since its founding in 1987, an organization of Japanese lawyers known as the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales has pursued the Unification Church over its sales practices.
Hiroshi Yamaguchi, who helped found the network, had a history with the federation’s churches that predated the network’s founding. He represented the Socialist Party in a defamation lawsuit brought by the International Federation for Victory Over Communism, a case the party lost in 1994. The network went on to file thousands of compensation claims against the church over more than four decades but did not formally petition for its dissolution until October 2022, months after Abe’s assassination.
Mr. Kondo said 60% of the claims made by the network are from former followers who have been psychologically “deprogrammed.”
Ax looms over Korean churches
Cho Hyuk-jin, a liberal, independent lawmaker, filed a “Partial Amendment to the Civic Act” in Seoul on Jan. 9. It has earned a nickname in Korean media for its contents: “The Church Dissolution Act.”
The bill’s background is the downfall of the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which imploded after Mr. Yoon declared martial law in December 2024. Backlash was immediate: Martial law was overturned, and the ensuing uproar fueled Mr. Lee’s bid for the presidency.
After Mr. Lee’s administration took office in June 2025, multiple investigations were aimed at those alleged to have engaged in corrupt relationships with the prior administration.
There is also a broader background. Conservative preachers in some Protestant churches have a tradition of rallying against liberal administrations.
Mr. Lee of Shincheonji is accused of ordering believers to join Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party, or PPP, to gain political influence.
Dr. Han, the widow of church founder Sun Myung Moon, is accused of bribing former first lady Kim Keon-hee, now serving an 11-year term for corruption, in return for political favors.
The federation insists the bribery was the work of a rogue executive acting independently.
South Korea’s proposed legislation, if passed, would grant the government the right to dissolve religious groups, seize their assets and otherwise control religious activities.
Mr. Lee reportedly agreed during a January meeting with mainstream religious leaders that it would be desirable for both the federation and Shincheonji to be dismantled.
Yet the South Korean Constitution throws up barriers.
Article 19 states, “All citizens shall enjoy freedom of conscience.” Article 20 reads “All citizens shall enjoy freedom of religion” and “Religion and state shall be separated.” Article 21 states, “All citizens shall enjoy freedom of speech … and freedom of assembly and association.”
Opponents of the legislation are sounding the alarm in South Korea and appealing for help worldwide.
“The PPP maintains that freedom of religion is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution and states that it will make every effort to prevent the passage of the ’Church Dissolution Act,’” the conservative party said in a written response to The Washington Times.
“Like any democratic country around the world, Korea acknowledges freedom of religion for all citizens,” party leader Jang Dong-hyeok told foreign reporters. “But with the Lee Jae-myung government, this important value has been significantly infringed.”
However, if Mr. Lee’s ruling party secures enough momentum, the PPP’s ability to oppose the legislation could crumble. It lost not only the presidency after Mr. Yoon’s epic blunder but also the National Assembly — the Democratic Party of Korea’s control of the house was a major frustration behind the martial law declaration — and, most recently, the June local elections.
Washington is watching
On June 7, a U.S. delegation, including Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Riley Barnes, acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for DRL Julie Turner, White House Faith Liaison Belsis Romero, and embassy officials, visited Busan Segeyro Church and met Rev. Son.
Their findings are expected to be featured in reports later this year.
The Rev. Son’s son, Chance, said the bill’s momentum has been “effectively stalled,” but it remains before the Assembly’s Legislation and Judicial Committee.
If it is revived, “We are ready to respond promptly and biblically,” Mr. Son said.
Still, he prays for assistance.
“At this point, we have no information about what specific positions the U.S. government may adopt or what action, if any, it may take,” he said. “We continue to pray and hope that the U.S., as an ally that values religious liberty, will stand firmly for freedom of faith in Korea.”
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