'Gov't distorted pope's abortion stance'

Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, answers a public petition to decriminalize abortion Sunday, in this photo captured from a YouTube video. Cho said the government will resume a survey next year on abortion and start discussions based on the results. Yonhap

Korean Catholic leaders condemn Blue House

By Jung Min-ho

Korean Catholic leaders have criticized the government for “distorting Pope Francis’ stance on abortion” as a reference to back its move to review the legitimacy of the country’s anti-abortion law.

Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, claimed Sunday that the pope said “we need to find a new balance” on the issue implying that the Catholic Church has changed its long-standing stance on abortion.

“Cho very skillfully glossed over the truth,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) said in a statement Monday. “We strongly condemn his false claim and urge Cheong Wa Dae to correct it.”

“The Catholic Church believes abortion is the same as killing a baby. The dignity of life must not be violated under any circumstances.”

The CBCK said that Pope Francis never made that comment and demanded the presidential office reveal the source of Cho’s claim.

The CBCK will also start a campaign against abortion after the Constitutional Court decided to deliberate the issue once again. In 2012, it upheld the anti-abortion law.

At that time, the court said fetuses were “independent lives” that, just like every other person, have the right to live. It also said the woman’s right to self-determination was not more critical than the fetus’ right to life and that it was in the public interest to protect the fetus instead.

Abortion has been illegal in Korea since 1953, except in cases of rape, severe defects in the fetus and serious danger to the woman’s health. The current law carries a sentence of up to one year in prison or a maximum fine of 2 million won ($1,850) for a woman who has an abortion.

After more than 230,000 people signed a petition against the law over the past two months, Cheong Wa Dae said it will collect more facts about abortion through research next year as part of its effort to review the law’s legitimacy.

After the issue came to the fore, the CBCK issued a statement last week to express concern, saying “one human’s right to live must not be violated by another human’s selfishness.”

The Catholic Church has opposed all forms of abortion procedures as it holds the belief that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person ― among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”