Allen Jackson NOW

Allen Jackson: This is not an episode like all others. I have a friend who is not new to our Culture and Christianity audience, Pastor Rob McCoy. Welcome back.

Rob McCoy: Thanks, Pastor Allen.

Allen Jackson: But you have some friends with you today that are from a whole different part of the South.

Rob McCoy: That's right. South Korea. They are definitely from a different part of the South. I have Pastor Son and his son Chance. Pastor Son is the pastor of the largest church in Busan, South Korea, which is in the south. He is a precious brother and you are going to learn a lot about him today.

Allen Jackson: That is awesome. I think you've brought a video that will give us context and help us understand. Most of us are not experts on South Korean culture.

Rob McCoy: Four years ago, I knew very little. I knew my father had served over there in the Korean War as a Lieutenant JG. I knew of the Korean War, but I had never been there. I got a crash course in it and I've been drinking from a firehose, but I know a little bit more now.

Allen Jackson: We need to know because we need to know how to pray and how to respond. Is there any background they need for the video?

Rob McCoy: I'll talk about how Pastor Son and I met and why this became so important to me. It was also a promise to Charlie Kirk. Charlie had been with me in Korea four days before he was murdered. I had invited Charlie to come out because there was a movement called Build Up Korea, which would be the equivalent of Turning Point USA. It is a large conservative youth movement happening in Korea with believers, young believers.

I told Charlie I had been there four years in a row, and I said, "Charlie, you have got to come see this." I didn't think he would say yes, and he did. When he came out, I had become very close friends with Pastor Son. I introduced him to Pastor Son, and you are going to see from the video why they were threatening the arrest. I told Charlie that Pastor Son is likely going to be arrested by this new administration, this new president. They are socialist and left-leaning and very anti-religious.

Charlie turned to Pastor Son and said, "I am not going to make promises on behalf of my government, but I am going to do everything in my power that if you are arrested, I am going to get eyes on it." He did. We got back and then that Monday we got word that Pastor Son had been arrested. I got the arrest order and all the information to Charlie and he was going to feature it on his podcast on Thursday. Of course, we know he was murdered September 10th, that Wednesday.

So I was keeping a promise to a friend. I went out and visited Pastor Son in prison, protested in front of the Supreme Court building, and gathered pastors. This has been a process. The reason why Pastor Son was arrested, why I am standing with him, and why Charlie made a promise to him is going to be evident in the video. Secondly, just to let your audience know, they want to rearrest him. He is a threat to this regime. He is a problem because he stands for religious liberty and Christian values and principles. That is it. So here is the video and then I will share more about him.

Allen Jackson: Okay, the video gives us all context.

Narrator: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government ordered all churches to shut down. A sanctuary built for 5,000 was told to hold only five people. Pastor Son Hyun-bo declared, "We will not live like circus bears obeying every command. We will stand for freedom of worship." His voice echoed across the nation.

Eventually, Segero Church was charged and its doors were forced to close. Yet the congregation gathered on the lawn to worship God. He cried out, "Even if this place is shut, we will worship in the parks, on the beaches, and even on the streets." That day, every major news outlet reported on this scene.

The government threatened to permanently close the church, but nationwide, church outrage and solidarity rose up. Within just three days, the government reversed its decision and worship was once again allowed across the nation. Later came another threat: the Anti-Discrimination Bill, seeking to legalize homosexuality, was about to pass the National Assembly. Pastor Son Hyun-bo and Segero Church made a tearful appeal to churches across the nation.

The appeal spread swiftly across the nation, and most denominations and churches stood together in response. On October 27th, 2024, 1 million Christians filled 20 kilometers of downtown Seoul, praising and worshipping, and another million joined online. Together, they surrounded the National Assembly in prayer. From that day forward, no political force in Korea has dared to revive the bill.

And then came the Save Korea Movement. The Democratic Party, led by pro-North leftists who still control the Assembly, attempted impeachment more than 30 times and in the end, even removed the president. In response, Pastor Son and others formed a nationwide movement to defend freedom and democracy in Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Seoul.

Week after week, hundreds of thousands gathered in each city, crying out for freedom and praying for God to protect the nation and the church. 70 percent were conservative Christians and 30 percent were ordinary conservative citizens. But when the president was impeached, the government began open persecution.

On the first day of the presidential election at dawn, authorities raided Segero Church, seizing Pastor Son's office, study, and even his cell phone. To this day, left-wing media ceaselessly attack Segero Church and Pastor Son, making distortion their daily work. From the days of COVID to the impeachment crisis, Pastor Son and the church faced over 20 indictments, appearing before police, prosecutors, and courts almost every week. Yet Segero Church is not stopping. Freedom of worship, the order of the family, and the defense of liberty and democracy—for these results, they continue to stand, to this day and always.

Rob McCoy: Pastor Son is a unicorn. He was a special forces soldier, 701st Special Warfare Unit. He was born in abject, crushing poverty. His testimony is unbelievable. When I met him, I just thought you guys are two peas in a pod. I say that sincerely because Segero means "World Outreach" in Korean. Both of the churches started with 20 people. It is not about flash. It is just discipling people and changing the world.

When I called you and told you Pastor Son is coming because they want to rearrest him, they had put him in prison and they put him in a three-by-seven cell, solitary confinement for five months. When we met with him, they put us behind five inches of plexiglass and it was awful what this man endured, and his family. But he has looked at it as, "I am on a mission," and he has never been discouraged by that. His life was designed for this purpose. He is a great threat to this South Korean administration, and they want to put him back in prison at the end of September or beginning of October. So I just said, "Come on over. Let's get eyes on this and let the world hear what is happening to the largest Christian nation in Asia."

I will close with this. I preached in his pulpit when he was imprisoned to encourage the congregation. On the day that I preached in his pulpit at Segero Church in Busan, UN forces 80 years earlier had delivered Seoul from communist Chinese. Now this administration is allowing Chinese to come in without a visa. If they are there for four months, they get to vote. The cultural center of South Korea is called Jeju Island. That is predominantly owned by Chinese.

Allen Jackson: I want you to say that again. They are allowing the Chinese to come into South Korea with no visa, open borders, and after four months they can vote as if they were South Korean citizens?

Rob McCoy: And it has changed the culture rapidly. It is rapidly changing. In addition, they also have packed the Supreme Court, which Allen Dershowitz says is a death blow to any democracy. We are going to lose South Korea to communism without a shot being fired. The greatest threat that stands in the way of that is this man's faith and those Christians that are brave enough to stand. They are realizing they are losing their country and they want to take the man who is leading these folks to awaken and stand in opposition to it. They want to put him in prison.

Allen Jackson: It feels like we are looking through a window at our future if there is not a dramatic change here.

Rob McCoy: Amen. One other thing Pastor Son said: he is grateful to have the backing of the pastors in the United States and even this administration, as the Vice President was instrumental in his release the first time. But we were both talking last night saying if America falls, where are we going to go for help? South Korea can come to America, but if America doesn't continue to stand and stand in defiance as we are watching a socialist communist takeover—the Democratic Party is basically Democrat Socialist. This is a bloodless civil war in the United States currently. I believe Pastor Son is a harbinger to allow us to see what awaits us if we don't do the right thing.

Allen Jackson: I agree. If the American church fails, God's purposes will go forward, but there will be suffering for the body of Christ. So it is an important time. What a privilege to have you visit with us. I want to start with: what would you say to the American church?

Pastor Son Hyun-bo (translated by Chance): Freedom can be taken away suddenly. South Korea used to be a free country. However, after the Democratic Party took power in Korea and the government changed, it was so sudden. Even before people realized it, there was a big shift. It was a very pro-North Korean and also pro-China, anti-US government.

They even went so far as to violate religious freedom and created a law called the Church Closure Act. In my case, I was imprisoned for five months without conviction or bail just because of the words from the pulpit. Also, an associate pastor at Segero Church has also been indicted because of the words that he prayed for during the prayer meeting at Segero Church.

Once a free country like the US, it has become a socialist communist country basically right now. It does not only apply to South Korea, but also it might come to your country as well if we are not awakened or if we don't speak out. We have to speak out and we have to fight for freedom and also to protect biblical and Christian values and principles. We can succeed and we can win the freedom if we decide to fight and also speak out before the freedom gets taken away. It might be easy for people to be complacent and be really peaceful because it seems like nothing is happening. However, we have to wake up while we have freedom. We have to fight.

Allen Jackson: I am curious because South Korea is prosperous, much more so than North Korea. Did they promise the people something, or was it anti-American sentiment that helped them gain political power?

Pastor Son Hyun-bo (translated by Chance): They have been controlling media and also education. They have been basically brainwashing through public education for a long time.

Rob McCoy: If I can chime in on this. The founding president, Syngman Rhee, was educated by American missionaries and came to the United States to study our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence. Half of the founders of South Korea were in the exact same educational stream. They came to the United States and studied deeply. When they came back and established the Korean Constitution, it is so similar to the American Constitution. They understand that, as John Adams said, only a moral and religious people can govern a republic.

But what transpired is the apathy of the church to engage in the public square and to contend for ideas. Christians have this misunderstanding; they think that peace is the absence of conflict. But it is not. It is the presence of Christ in the midst of the conflict. He said, "I didn't come to bring peace but a sword," the sword of scripture to contend for truth in the public square. That is what Pastor Son has done and he has become a great threat. When he says fight, he is not talking about weapons. He is talking about contending with ideologies, and he is well-versed in that.

I would also say that the youth in South Korea are ready for this. They want to stand for truth. They were so moved by Charlie. They were chanting in the streets. But this current administration is terrible.

Allen Jackson: Do you have democratic elections?

Pastor Son Hyun-bo (translated by Chance): South Korea right now is basically a mess because of election fraud. Everyone thought there were some mistakes, if anything. However, on the local election which happened June 3rd, there was something really nefarious. There were many people in the whole country who weren't able to vote because of the shortage of the ballots.

Youth, especially young adults in their 20s and 30s, have been heavily criticizing the current administration and also the election committee as well. They have been protesting 24/7 ever since then with the Korean flag on their left hand and also an American flag on their right hand because America is the one who liberated South Korea and has helped tremendously for freedom. The current government, of course, was forced to investigate the election committee before they weren't able to, and there are so many other things that are happening and also being revealed.

Allen Jackson: I think what the American church has to wake up to is this isn't something that is going to happen in the future, it is happening today. I don't think we can imagine what they are facing in South Korea is a long way away from us. Dr. Fauci, "Dr. Science," testifies before Congress and all he will do is take the Fifth. If he were a scientist—scientists can withstand inspection and questioning. It doesn't have to hide in the shadows. I don't know what he was doing, but it wasn't science or he would have gladly answered questions.

Rob McCoy: It wasn't science, it was scientism. They just make it up as they go. But to have the courage to tell the truth about biblical views on family and marriage and human sexuality, it doesn't violate Jesus's commandment to love our neighbor. It is the absence of love when you fail to tell the truth. Embracing sin is not love.

Allen Jackson: Is it loving to tell a child they can become the opposite sex? No, it's a lie. They mutate their body and you call that loving? It's biologically—it'll never happen. You're lying to them, but you think it's compassion. It's not, it's convenience. Instead of dealing with the rampant drug addiction in San Francisco, you give them needles. That's not compassion, that's convenience. As Christians, we have to do the hard thing and we're being called to do that right now. This man is a clarion call for us to wake up.

Rob McCoy: I think we have to tell the rest of the story on the American Dream. The American Dream isn't just owning your own home. The American Dream is about the freedom to worship Jesus without interference from the government. That's what brought this place into existence and it's what has brought the blessing of God to us for 250 years. If our young people want a home and they don't want to worship God, they're going to get neither the home nor the freedom. We have to come back and teach them the value of why Jesus at the center of your world and your worldview is important.

I always used to call Charlie the most misunderstood missionary in America because he'd go on these campuses where these youth were enslaved in indoctrination, because they weren't educated. He would free them—they'll know the truth, the truth will set them free—he would free them to see a Christian worldview by contending with them and debating with them.

He's like a Moses. He gets them out of Egypt. But then when Moses dies, he's dead 30 days and God says to Joshua, "Moses my servant's dead. He's not coming back." These people have been enslaved for 400 years. This man in 40 years had taught them about marital law, civil law, due process. Everything went through that one man. He's gone. They're rudderless, like when Charlie died. But he says to Joshua, "Get the priests and the ark of the covenant, and you're going to lead them into the promised land when the Jordan parts."

The promised land wasn't heaven. This is what you just said, Pastor Allen. The promised land is a place, yes, they can own property. They can plant vineyards. They can have gainful employment. They can raise a family. But the greatest thing is the freedom to worship God.

Allen Jackson: It's such an important time and I'm so grateful for your willingness to come. Your nation is at a tipping point and you care enough about the purposes of God to come to America and to ask us to pay attention. Americans may have taken the Gospel to South Korea, but now the South Koreans are reminding the Americans of the Gospel. How are you praying for your country? What are you asking God to do?

Pastor Son Hyun-bo (translated by Chance): We are praying so hardly with sweat for South Korea to protect and preserve God's truth and God's word and also the Christian values. I am also praying that the Christian values affect culture, tradition, society, and politics all over the country in every aspect.

Allen Jackson: God doesn't require a majority, He just requires us to be faithful. It seems to me that the adversary isn't communism or China; the adversary is the spirit of Antichrist. Pastor Son, thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord and His kingdom.