[Exclusive] Sohn Hyun-bo: "Imprisoned in solitary confinement for criticizing the government" in the US... Is it true?

Last year, Pastor Sung-Hyun Bo, a member of a World Church in Busan, South Korea, was found guilty of illegal election campaigning during the presidential election and the Busan Metropolitan City Education Office re-election. He claimed that he was imprisoned for stating that the government criticized worship. Recently, Sung-Hyun Bo visited the United States and appeared on a conservative Christian podcast with fellow pastors Rob Macoy and his son, Sun Chang-sung.

During the podcast, Sung-Hyun Bo criticized the government's rapid rightward shift after the left-wing government came into power and said that he was imprisoned for five months because he criticized the government during worship time. He also mentioned the lack of ballots in the June 3 local elections and said that 70% of young people, aged 20 to 30, were opposing the government and protesting.

While Sung-Hyun Bo claimed that his detention was due to criticizing the government, this is far from the truth. In September last year, he was detained on charges of violating the election and local government election laws, but was released on probation after serving six months in jail in January. The election law prohibits using organizational activities for election campaigning, and the public assembly law prohibits the use of megaphones except during organized speeches or debates.

However, Sung-Hyun Bo posted a video of himself campaigning with a conservative education office candidate during the Busan education office re-election, which was not related to election campaigning. In May last year, he used megaphones and held a campaign during worship services to gain support for Kim Moon-su of the Citizens' Power party.

All of these occurred before the inauguration of the current government, and Sung-Hyun Bo was also charged with illegal election campaigning by the Busan Election Management Board. He has a history of being charged with illegal election campaigning and given a fine of 80 million won. Other pastors who were charged with illegal election campaigning have also filed constitutional challenges, but the Constitutional Court ruled in January that the election law provisions were constitutional.

Sung-Hyun Bo argued that the public interest in preventing political-religious conflicts outweighed the constitutionality of the election law provisions. Recently, Sung-Hyun Bo met with President Donald Trump at the White House, where he shared his thoughts on the free exercise of religion and the value of faith in South Korea.