Korea’s Christian Soldiers

By Andy Jackson

The ongoing hostage crisis in Afghanistan has sparked interesting reactions in some quarters. While many South Koreans have offered condolences and hope for the safe return of the remaining hostages, others have used the occasion to heap derision on them.

Some Korean Internet users have been attacking the volunteers, their church and the aid organization that sent them. A few have gone as far as encourage the Taliban to kill them. Police officials may bring defamation or other charges against some of the Internet users involved.

Some of the Christian volunteers’ apparent disregard for their own personal safety, as well as of the contempt being heaped on them, can be traced to Christians’ work with North Korean refugees over the past several years.

While some non-religious groups have been working to help the refugees, the effort has been disproportionately Christian. They have been working to shelter North Koreans in China, help them escape and aid them in resettling in South Korea.

They have also been sharing their faith with them. It is telling that the Korean Foundation for World Aid, the organization that sent the 23 volunteers to Afghanistan, began as a means to provide humanitarian assistance to North Koreans.

The work in North Korea, China and elsewhere has not been without risk.

South Koreans in China have faced arrest or worse for helping North Korean refugees flee to South Korea. Choi Yong-hun, a lay Presbyterian, was released from a Chinese prison last December after spending nearly four years there.

He was captured while trying to help North Koreans escape to South Korea. Many other South Korean Christians have been arrested by Chinese authorities for their work with North Koreans.

They also face danger from North Korean agents operating in China. Pastor Kim Dong-shik was kidnapped in China in 2000 and is believed to have died while in North Korean custody.

Korean-American pastor Park Joon-jae (Jeffry Bahk) helped six North Korean refugees escaped from China into Myanmar in January of 2005. His plan was to help them get to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand where they would petition to be allowed to defect to South Korea.

The 62-year-old was swept away while trying to get them across a river into Laos and drowned. The six refugees were arrested by Myanmar officials but were eventually allowed to defect to South Korea.

Son Jung-nam defected from North Korea in 1998. He later became a Christian after meeting with South Korean missionaries in China. In 2001 he was arrested by Chinese police, deported to North Korea and imprisoned.

After his release, he defected to South Korea in 2004. Last year he returned to North Korea to share his faith. He was arrested by North Korean authorities and sentenced to death. He is now awaiting his execution. Other defectors have also returned to North Korea to share their faith and face a similar fate if caught.

The activities of Christian groups on behalf of North Koreans have also run into opposition from President Roh Moo-hyun and his administration, which views the defectors and the North Korean human rights issue in general as impediments to his policy of reconciliation with Kim Jong-il’s government.

In a December 2004 interview with OhmyNews, then Minister of Unification (and current presidential contender) Chung Dong-young made the Roh administration’s view of efforts to help North Koreans escape to the South perfectly clear: ``[T]he government clearly opposes organized defections. For the people in the North to live their lives in the North with their families is necessary both for individuals and for co-existence and co-prosperity ... [I]t is not desirable for anyone to organize defections, intentionally bringing people out of North Korea.”

Roh administration policy towards North Korean defectors has not changed since Chung made that statement.

The Roh administration has also cut financial aid to North Koreans who make it here. Many North Koreans use their resettlement money to pay the costs of getting relatives out of North Korea and the cuts have made it more difficult for them to do so.

North Korean human rights is not the only issue bitterly dividing Christian activists from the Roh administration and its progressive supporters.

Christian groups like the Presbyterian Church of Korea and the Christian Council of Korea are vigorously opposing government revisions to the private school law which would force religious schools to accept up to 25 percent of its board members from ``outside groups.”

There is also increasing calls in some quarters for taxing Christian and Buddhist organizations and their clergy.

These ongoing tensions could very well have an impact on the presidential race in December and National Assembly elections in the spring of 2008 as Christian activists and their detractors head to the polls.

As the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger observed, constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them. Korean Christians serving North Korean refugees have been facing danger for years.

In that light, the activities of missionaries and Christian aid workers in dangerous places like Afghanistan is simply a brand extension. Unfortunately, the hostages in Afghanistan are paying the price for their contempt of the danger they faced. This tragedy should be a wakeup call for churches and aid groups to be more cautious in preparing for their oversea missions.

andyinrok@lycos.com

Andy Jackson teaches American government in the Lakeland College bridge program at Ansan College in Ansan City, Gyeonggi Province.