The Action Committee against Abduction and Confinement
Apr. 21, 2010

300 Japanese Unification Church members who live in Korea Held a Press Conference


Mrs. Erikawa, chairwoman of the committee, explained the situation of the victims and the purpose of the press conference.


Many journalists gathered at the Korean press center on the19th floor.


Mr. Goto explained his experience with maps and pictures of the confinement site.

The Committee for victims of kidnapping and confinement in Korea (chair woman: Yasue Erikawa) held a press conference at a press center in Seoul Korea on April 21. Their claim is that there are many cases of illegal kidnapping and confinement conducted against Unification Church members in Japan. Their request is for the Japanese and Korean Governments to intervene in this situation and solve this problem.

Mr. Goto participated as one of these victims from Japan. He was confined for 12 years and 5 months. He explained with pictures and maps of the confinement site about how the deprogrammers tried to persuade him. Also, he highlighted that around 4300 cases of confinement have been reported in the last 44 years and that this issue must be solved quickly. There was also a report from two Japanese victims who currently live in Korea with their Korean husbands having been married in the church marriage blessing. One victim shared, “My family members in Japan, relatives, members of Christian churches and their supporters broke a glass part of my front door, charged into my house with their shoes on, stunned me with a stun gun and kidnapped me. At the confinement site, all of the windows and the front door of the confinement site was sealed and locked with a special key. It was impossible to open from the inside. There was no telephone, TV, or newspaper, anything which would allow me to contact outside of the site was prohibited. Four of my family members watched me all the time. There was no freedom. Every 4 or 5 days, a Christian minister came and accused Rev. Moon. That’s how they tried to persuade me to renounce my faith. By the anti-Unification-Church activist, my family was destroyed. My children are not even able to go to my hometown in Japan.” She went on to explain the devastating situation at the confinement site and claimed her situation was such that she was not even able to go back to her home.

At last, the representative of the group for Japanese victims of kidnapping and confinement in Korea, Shikako Tanaka, read their written petition, and pleaded for the protection of the human rights of these members.

Covered by Reuters, Korean TV broadcasts KBS, SBS and the daily paper Seigei Ilbo


Japan Victims' Association against Religious Kidnapping & Forced Conversion