hankyoreh

calling last December’s presidential election unfair because of the interference of state institutions and calling on President Park to step down

By Cho Yeon-hyun, religion correspondent

As some Protestant organizations join calls for the President Park Geun-hye to step down, it appears that religious organizations are shifting from efforts to investigate the unfair presidential election toward putting pressure on the president to step down. This reflects a sense of hopelessness about reasonable calls for an investigation to be carried out into state institutions’ interference in the election and for those responsible to be punished being repeatedly blocked by the state powers.

That is to say, the underlying motivation for the change in direction is the sense that, if democracy is being impeded by the power of the state, the religious organizations that led the fight for democratization in the past have no choice but to take action. Another factor behind religious organizations intensifying their struggle against the government could be the ruling party and Park administration’s decision to use recent remarks by Catholic priest Park Chang-shin from the Jeonju diocese as an excuse to portray the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice (CPAJ) as pro-North Korea.

The Christian Joint Measures Committee for the National Intelligence Service’s Election Interference, which is composed of 29 Protestant organizations, including the National Clergy Conference for Justice and Peace, held a press conference on Nov. 27 at the Korean Christian Building in Seoul’s Jongno district. At the press conference, they declared that last December’s presidential election was unfair because of the interference of state institutions and called on President Park to step down.

“Instead of revealing the truth about state institutions’ interference in the presidential election and prosecuting those responsible, the current administration tried to cover it up by forcing out the prosecutor-general and the prosecutors involved in the investigation and repressing critics by accusing them of being pro-North Korea,” the committee said in a clear expression of its sentiments.

The joint committee criticized the ruling Saenuri Party’s concerted attack on Catholic priest Park Chang-shin, saying that the party was trying to portray remarks from a sermon based on faith and conscience as pro-North Korea. “Behavior of this sort is reminiscent of the government repression during the Yushin dictatorship 30 years ago,” they said.

It appears that one factor affecting the decision by progressive religious organizations to take direct action is the sense that the current political situation could bring the country back into dictatorship. These are the groups that led the democratic movement, standing up to government oppression under the dictatorships of former presidents Park Chung-hee and of Chun Doo-hwan.

“When the justice of God disappears, the clergy must work until justice is restored,” said Jeong Tae-hyo, head of the National Clergy Conference for Justice and Peace. “In fact, there were quite a few regions where the activities of the conference had effectively stopped because they believed that democracy had been more or less achieved. But due to the behavior of the current administration, our regional organizations will be acting again, and we will start holding regional prayer meetings once more.”

While calls from the clergy for President Park to resign are increasing as Park Chang-shin faces an attack from the government, there are still differences of opinion among the clergy and religious organizations about the demands for the president’s resignation. The Korean YMCA, one of the 30 organizations that are participating in the joint committee declined to take part in the press conference, explaining that its board of directors had not yet discussed the matter.

The National Council of Churches in Korea removed itself from the list of participating organizations because its Committee for Finding the Truth about the National Intelligence Service’s Interference in the Presidential Election had not yet completed its fact-finding mission.

Lotus World issued a manifesto on Nov. 28 signed by 1,012 Buddhist monks of the Jogye Order who want the Park administration to repent and want democracy to be defended. Lotus World also called for the appointment of a special prosecutor and for the end of efforts to foment ideological discord.

With the news that the prosecutors will investigate Park Chang-shin, there is also an increasing sense among Catholics that they cannot just abandon him to his fate.

Sources at the CPAJ indicate that when the preparatory committee for the association’s general assembly convenes on Dec. 2, it will decide on the association’s official position on the Jeonju diocese’s special mass.

“By disregarding the thrust of Park Chang-shin’s remarks and blowing one small part out of proportion, they have thrown fuel on the fire,” said one priest with the association who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They are trying to make it look like only a small portion of priests are critical of the election interference, but in reality 70-80% of priests are critical of the illegal acts of state institutions.”

Meanwhile, three conservative Protestant organizations including the Presbyterian Church of Korea held a meeting at Yeongdong Church, which is located in the vicinity of the location of the press conference where the joint committee demanded Park’s resignation.

“The special masses officiated by some priests and the remarks by Park Chang-shin are rash actions that are opposed to the government and that support North Korea,” the organizations said. “Religion aside, as citizens we feel intense anger and strongly condemn these actions.”

Nov. 27.

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