By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Newsunplug KenyaNewsunplug KenyaNewsunplug Kenya
  • News
    • Metro
    • Politics
    • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Spotify
Reading: South Korea Jails Former Hero Pastor For Sexually Abusing North Korean Teenage Defectors
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Newsunplug KenyaNewsunplug Kenya
Font ResizerAa
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Spotify
  • News
    • Metro
    • Politics
    • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Spotify
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
Newsunplug Kenya > Blog > News > South Korea Jails Former Hero Pastor For Sexually Abusing North Korean Teenage Defectors
News

South Korea Jails Former Hero Pastor For Sexually Abusing North Korean Teenage Defectors

hallanaija
Last updated: February 20, 2024 9:54 am
hallanaija
1 year ago
Share
SHARE
A South Korean pastor once hailed as a hero for helping North Korean defectors escape to safety has been jailed for sexually abusing minors.

Chun Ki-won was sentenced to five years in prison last week for abusing six teenage victims between 2016 and 2023, all of whom are either North Korean refugees or children of refugees, according to the Seoul Central District Court.

“The nature of the crime was bad considering the circumstances, method, content, period, and number of crimes,” the judge said, according to the court. The judge added that Chun had molested the teenagers while “in a position where he has absolute influence over the victims as a school principal.”

“Chun’s crime appears to have had a negative impact on the victims’ formation of sound sexual values, and the victims also wanted him punished,” the court said.

Chun was head of Christian aid organization Durihana, which he claimed had helped more than 1,000 defectors reach Seoul since 1999. According to the organization’s website, it runs a boarding school for North Korean children to be “taught the Christian faith.”

READ MORE  DCI deepens probe on City Hall payments saga

CNN interviewed Chun and described Durihana’s work in 2019.

Chun was arrested and indicted last September for violating the Act on Sexual Protection of Children and Adolescents, according to the Seoul Central District Court.

The judge also ordered Chun to complete an 80-hour sexual violence-related treatment program. He will also be restricted from employment for five years at organizations related to children and youth with disabilities.

Refugees fleeing North Korea often make the perilous journey across the border into China, before attempting to reach South Korea.

China, a close ally of Pyongyang, doesn’t consider North Korean defectors refugees, instead seeing them as illegal economic migrants. Under a border agreement with North Korea, it forcibly deports them.

Once returned to North Korea, defectors face possible torture, sexual violence, hard labor, imprisonment in political or re-education camps, or even execution by the state, according to activists.

Many defectors rely on a network of secret routes and safe houses, set up by Korean pastors inspired by the Underground Railroad, the secret passages enslaved African Americans used to escape to free states from the late 1700s until the American Civil War.

READ MORE  Kenya's Public Debt Surges Past $76bn On Weak Shilling

Chun and Durihana were part of this network, helping refugees and victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. Thousands of North Korean refugees have been abducted or trafficked to work in China’s multimillion-dollar sex trade, according to a 2019 report by the London-based non-profit organization Korea Future Initiative (KFI).

The secret network and the pastors who run it offers a vital lifeline to sex trafficking victims looking for a way to escape, CNN reported in 2019, speaking to refugees who had escaped to South Korea with help from Durihana.

High Court now halts Sh22 billion Kenya Power meter supply tender
Cartels or circus? Inside DP Gachagua’s shaky fight for coffee reforms
Embu County To Partner With KenGen In Implementing Development Projects
Eyes on CBK’s second deputy governor as President Ruto picks chair
Former Twitter staff in Africa accuse social media giant of reneging on promise of paying them a severance package after laying them off
Share This Article
Facebook Email Print
Previous Article Support For Raila’s AU Bid Confirms Our Political Maturity – Eugene Wamalwa
Next Article Primary School Teacher Found Dead In A Quarry, His Motorbike Lying On Him
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

about us

We influence 20 million users and is the number one business and technology news network on the planet.

Recent Posts

  • Michelle Obama playfully pokes fun at Barack Obama’s presidential ambitions that brought her fame and fortune
  • Djibouti opens market for Kenyan miraa
  • Stephen Munyakho expected to return to Kenya today – CS Mudavadi
  • Two land officials testify in Ksh.1.6 billion fraud case
  • SHE MEANS BUSINESS | From Chef to Trailblazing Fashion Entrepreneur – Carole Kinoti

Recent Comments

No comments to show.
Newsunplug KenyaNewsunplug Kenya
© Newsunplug Kenya. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?