As U.S. President Donald Trump visits Korea ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the possibility has been raised that Han Hak-ja, the imprisoned Unification Church leader, could be released. Han was detained in September on charges including violations of the Political Funds Act, and afterward President Trump expressed concern, saying, "Severe religious persecution is taking place in Korea."
On the 28th (local time), Newt Gingrich, an elder statesman of the U.S. conservative camp and former speaker of the House, presented this outlook in a column for the Washington Times titled "Trump may save Dr. Hak Ja Han's life and religious liberty in South Korea." Gingrich has previously contributed several columns to the same outlet saying that the "arrogant Lee Jae-myung administration is threatening the U.S.-Korea alliance."
In the column, the former speaker introduced Han Hak-ja as the wife of the late Unification Church founder Moon Sun-myung and a female peace activist. He said that since the founding of the Unification Church in 1954, she established the Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP) in 1992, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in 1994, and the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), a United Nations-registered nongovernmental organization, in 2005, leading interfaith harmony and world peace.
Gingrich also said that President Trump and his administration have recently recognized the seriousness of religious persecution in Korea and are reviewing related measures. In particular, it is interpreted that a decisive influence came from the suggestion of Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA leader and political activist who died in a shooting in September. The claim is that when Kirk told Minister Marco Rubio before his death that he wanted "to talk about the grave political situation in Korea," the White House moved into a full response posture.
Earlier, the special counsel team investigating allegations of insurrection related to the Dec. 3 martial law emergency conducted searches and seizures of several figures during its probe, including Han, Pastor Son Hyun-bo of Busan's World to the Nations Church, Pastor Lee Young-hun of Yoido Full Gospel Church, and Pastor Kim Jang-hwan, chair of Far East Broadcasting. In August, before President Trump met with President Lee at the White House, he said on social media (SNS) that "it looks like a purge or a revolution is happening in Korea," which is also interpreted as targeting this.
Gingrich went on to say that as the Korean government took note of President Trump's moves and shifted its stance, a change in the atmosphere is being detected. In particular, he said President Lee's recent remarks at a Cabinet meeting—"Prosecutors are inflicting pain on the public by repeatedly filing baseless indictments," and "Prosecutors indict people they dislike to cause pain, while turning a blind eye to even clear crimes by their own side. The standards have collapsed"—were comments addressing the detention of religious leaders.
He also said that in Washington's diplomatic circles, there is a strong view that the Trump administration may put the agenda of "religious freedom" at the forefront of U.S.-Korea relations in light of this incident. Recently, President Trump has pursued an active diplomatic posture, leading a peace accord involving 25 Middle Eastern countries and fully engaging in mediation over the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said that "Charlie Kirk conveyed to me various concerns about Korean churches" that day. Appearing on Pastor Greg Laurie's conservative podcast "The Greg Laurie Show," Rubio said, "Five days before he left this world, Kirk texted me from abroad," adding, "I had planned to discuss it when I saw him again, but sadly, I was not able to."