Rising Religious Persecution in SKorea, Japan

A wake-up call to the free world: International solidarity needed against rising use of authoritarian tactics in democratic states against vulnerable minority faiths

A Dangerous Precedent: Japan’s Assault on Religious Freedom and Its Global Fallout – 2

Part 2 of an address by Peter Zoehrer, journalist and Executive Director, FOREF Europe (Forum for Religious Freedom Europe), given at the plenary session on day one, 18^th November 2025, of the CESNUR 25 Conference at the CTICC-1 (Cape Town International Convention Center 1) in Cape Town, South Africa. CESNUR is short for Center for Studies on New Religions, an international network of associations of scholars working in the field of new religious movements. The conference was co-organized by CESNUR, African Hidden Voices, African Forum for Religious and Spirituality Liberty (AFRSL), and International Society for the Study of New Religions.

See part 1: Warning Signal from Japan: Dangerous Precedent

See part 3: Regulation as Faith Repression: A Global Trend

See also Lobbying Probe Risks Becoming a Witch Hunt

See also Dissolution, System of Faith-Breaking, Lawsuits

See also: A Dissolution Built on Fabrications, Speculation

See also: Selective Justice: Special Law Against One Faith

Silencing the World: Deaf Ears to Global Appeals
This is not simply a Japanese domestic issue. A broad coalition of academics, constitutional scholars, FoRB experts, former UN officials and civil-society networks have formally and publicly appealed to Japan to pause and reconsider its path. These appeals have taken the form of open letters, legal analyses, human-rights briefs and international pressure. Yet Tokyo has largely remained unmoved.

Through the UN Special Rapporteur [See editor’s note below] on freedom of religion or belief at the Human Rights Council, Nazila Ghanea, the UN should be able to lead dialogue with Japan.

On 1^st October 2025, four United Nations Special Rapporteurs [See editor’s note 1 below] issued a joint statement from Geneva expressing “serious concern over Japan’s continued stigmatization of religious minorities.” The experts are: Nazila Ghanea – Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; Nicolas Levrat – Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Gina Romero – Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association; and Farida Shaheed – Special Rapporteur on the right to education. (OHCHR)

Their concerns included discriminatory school-materials that portray religion as potential child-abuse, the misuse of the “public welfare” doctrine to justify broad restrictions, and the risk that religious minorities are penalised under vague legal standards. Japan was urged to revise its Q&A Guidelines, to cooperate fully with UN mechanisms, and to restore institutional equality for religious organisations under the law. (Jehovah’s Witnesses in Japan)

See also Japan Sued Over “Religious Abuse” Guidelines

When a democracy ignores international counsel, suppresses domestic dissent, and moves to dissolve a faith-organisation under administrative pretexts, we must ask: which model of democracy is in play?

Real-World Consequences: The Human Cost
Law and policy matter – but they are not just abstract; they affect real people. In Japan, following the dissolution request and the campaign against the Unification Church [See editor’s note 2 below], members report:

• Bullying, exclusion and stigma in schools and universities due to religious affiliation.
• Frozen bank accounts, denial of rental services (cars, apartments, event-spaces) once affiliation is disclosed.
• Job interviews cancelled, job offers rescinded when the affiliation became known.
• Social ostracism, exclusion from inter-faith networks or public-forum engagement.
• In some cases, depression and even suicide among individuals feeling isolated, stigmatised and abandoned. (bitterwinter.org)

Now let us widen the lens to include South Korea. On 22^nd September 2025, the leader of the global Unification Movement, Dr Hak Ja Han – age 82 – was reportedly detained by South-Korean investigators in a case involving alleged bribery tied to the wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and senior lawmakers.

What is striking is that the detention came while she was medically vulnerable: she had recently undergone heart surgery in early September 2025 and is reported to suffer from impaired eyesight and diabetes. Her detention in the context of fragile health is not a mere legal act – it is a warning. It signals that leadership of a minority faith can be targeted, not just membership. When affiliation or leadership becomes a liability, freedom is at risk.

CCP Endorsement: A Chilling Signal
The situation becomes even more worrying when authoritarian regimes applaud these democratic actions. The Chinese-Communist-Party-linked tabloid Global Times hailed Japan’s dissolution of the Unification Church [See editor’s note 2 below] as a “positive example” and called on other nations to follow suit.

The irony is profound. The same regime is actively engaged in the mass internment of Uyghur Muslims, suppression of underground churches, banning the Falun Gong movement and controlling religious life in Tibet and elsewhere. That a dictatorship would cheer a democratic country’s suppression of a religious organisation should send alarm throughout all free societies. If authoritarian regimes applaud such moves, then we must recognize we may be sliding not into overt repression, but into a new form of state-approved religion or state-controlled belief.

Continued in part 3.

See part 1: Warning Signal from Japan: Dangerous Precedent

See part 3: Regulation as Faith Repression: A Global Trend

See also Lobbying Probe Risks Becoming a Witch Hunt

See also Dissolution, System of Faith-Breaking, Lawsuits

See also: A Dissolution Built on Fabrications, Speculation

See also Expert: “Is Dissolution Framework Constitutional?”

See also: Selective Justice: Special Law Against One Faith

See also: Peaceful Worship Treated as Crime in China

See also Media’s Role: Frenzy, Silence, and Consequences

Featured image above: Peter Zoehrer, journalist and Executive Director, FOREF Europe (Forum for Religious Freedom Europe), speaking, here 4th July 2025 in Vienna, Austria. Photo: Tony Cook 

[Editor’s note 1: A Special Rapporteur (or Independent Expert) is an independent human rights expert appointed by the United Nations (UN) to provide reports or advice on human rights issues from either a thematic or country-specific perspective. These experts are selected by the UN Human Rights Council and operate independently of any government, playing a crucial role in monitoring the actions of sovereign nations and democratically elected governments.

Special Rapporteurs do not receive financial compensation from the United Nations for their work. However, they receive support from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and are often funded by charities and corporations. Annually, they convene in Geneva to discuss common issues, coordinate their efforts, and engage with various stakeholders, including states and civil society organizations.

These experts frequently conduct fact-finding missions to investigate human rights violation allegations in different countries. In addition to these missions, they regularly review complaints from alleged victims of human rights abuses. If a complaint is verified, they send an urgent letter or appeal to the concerned government. Even without a specific complaint, Special Rapporteurs can intervene on behalf of individuals or groups at their discretion.]

[Editor’s note 2: Although Peter Zoehrer uses the name “Unification Church” and also the word “church”, please be aware that the Unification Church in Japan in 2015 changed its name to Family Federation for World peace and Unification.]

Related to rising religious persecution: Lawfare: State Uses Legal System in War on Faith

Also related to rising religious persecution: MEXT’s Legal Spin and “Dissolution at All Costs”

Also related to rising religious persecution: UN Report: Japan’s Lawfare Against Faith Minority

And also related to rising religious persecution: Protesting No Transparency in Closed-Door Trial

More, related to rising religious persecution: Dangerous Flaws in Dissolution Order Decried

Also related to rising religious persecution: “Lawyers Lying and Shaming Japan” for 50 Years

And also related to rising religious persecution: Japan Following the Way of China

And also related to rising religious persecution: Japan’s Dissolution Case Echoes China’s Playbook

More, related to rising religious persecution: Media/Legal Expert: Communism Behind Persecution

And more, related to rising religious persecution: Militant Lawyers Dictate Government Policy

More, related to rising religious persecution: Collusion to Rob Minority of Its Rights

And more, related to rising religious persecution: State and Media Creating “Today’s Non-Citizens”

Still more, related to rising religious persecution: Japan Copying China: State Seizure of Churches

And still more, related to rising religious persecution: 12 Religious Freedom NGOs Denouncing Japan

More, related to rising religious persecution: 4300 Abductions and Forcible Detentions

And more, related to rising religious persecution: Japan: Families Fear for Graves of Loved Ones

Yet more, related to rising religious persecution: Lawyers Manipulating, Coercing, Lying

Also related to rising religious persecution: Kishida Follows Anti-Family Federation Minister

Also related to rising religious persecution: Militant Lawyers Dictate Government Policy

Still more, related to rising religious persecution: Malicious One-Sided Government Source Selection

Yet more, related to rising religious persecution: Kishida’s Self-Defeating Populist Decisions

And still more, related to rising religious persecution: Japan Urged to Make U-Turn

And yet more, related to rising religious persecution: Dangerous Precedent to Crush Religions

Even more, related to rising religious persecution: Japan Following the Way of China

Yet more, related to rising religious persecution: Japanese Communists’ Final War

Still more, related to rising religious persecution: Political and Social Activism behind Oppression