SEOUL – Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church has been fined ₩20 million (approximately $15,000 USD) for illegally soliciting donations amounting to ₩1.5 billion (approximately $1.1 million USD) during anti-government rallies. The Seoul Central District Court, under Judge Lee Young-rim, handed down the verdict after the prosecution had originally sought a 10-month prison sentence.

Pastor Jeon, who served as the general representative for the "Pan-National Struggle Headquarters to Bring Down Moon Jae-in," held rallies and religious services at Gwanghwamun Square and in front of the Blue House every weekend in 2019. During these events, he collected donations in the form of offerings. In 2021, prosecutors indicted him without detention, alleging that he had illegally raised funds from an unspecified number of individuals without registering as a fundraising organization with the appropriate authorities.

Under the Act on the Regulation of Fundraising and Donations, any entity that collects more than ₩10 million must register a fundraising and usage plan with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety or a local government. While religious organizations are exempt from this regulation, they are required to use the collected funds exclusively for religious activities.

Court Rules Fundraising Was for "Political" Not "Religious" Activities 

During the trial, Pastor Jeon argued that the money collected was "offerings," not donations, and therefore not subject to the fundraising regulations. However, the court rejected this claim, stating that the rallies in October 2019 were "closer to activities where people, regardless of their religion, expressed common political views on the current administration." The court added that since the participants could not be considered to have united based on Christian doctrine, the fundraising could not be seen as a "unique activity of a religious organization."

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