hankyoreh

By Jang Bong-kun　

Standing amid the destruction in Japan that has followed the earthquake and tsunami that struck last week, Yoido Full Gospel Church senior pastor David Yonggi Cho stands next to a man representing powerful conservative media conglomerates like nuclear reactors and belch out waste.

Cho calls the place a hell for non-believers that is “God’s warning,” while the man representing conservative media outlets says, “Japan's Sinking.”

Cho came under fire for his controversial remarks during an interview that included the statement, “Because the Japanese people shun God in terms of their faith and follow idol worship, atheism, and materialism, it makes me wonder if this was not God’s warning to them.”

While international dailies came out in support of Japan, including the U.K.’s Independent with a front page saying, “Don’t give up, Japan,” South Korea's newspaper Seoul Sinmun and JoongAng Ilbo ran front pages focusing on the destruction with headlines reading, “Japan's Sinking.”