Russia (VOMK) — A Korean missionary being held in Khabarovsk, Russia now faces a maximum of 17 years in prison on a total of three immigration-related charges. Last week, investigators filed two new charges against Missionary Park Tae-Yeon and were granted a one-month extension to continue their investigation, which has so far lasted two months. The initial court hearing is now likely to occur in late April.
That’s the update from persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea, which has been advocating for the release of Missionary Park since her arrest on January 15, one week before she was scheduled to return home to Korea to retire at age 70. The missionary continues to be held at an immigration detention center.
According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley, authorities have also seized Missionary Park’s house in Russia and fined the missionary for overstaying her visa, despite the overstay being due to her detainment by Russian authorities. Pastor Foley calls these actions “serious violations of the law that demand remedy by the court and the action of Christians around the world on Missionary Park’s behalf.”
(Photo courtesy VOMK)
Voice of the Martyrs Korea has posted a petition online at https://vomkorea.com/en/petition-2026 calling for Missionary Park’s immediate release.
Pastor Foley says that so far more than 3,700 people in Korea have added their names to the petition, along with 750 people from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Africa, and Finland. Pastor Foley says he and Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley will deliver the petition to the Russian Embassy in Seoul once 5,000 signatures are secured.
“We need to let Russian authorities know that the world is watching to see how they will treat this 70-year old single woman who for more than 30 years said she was ‘married to Russia’, serving Russian people—especially children—with her whole heart, with not even a single complaint against her during that time,” says Pastor Foley. He says that more than a dozen people in Russia and Korea have stepped forward to provide official character references to submit to the court on Missionary Park’s behalf.
Pastor Foley says that the three charges against Missionary Park are all immigration-related and deal with assistance Missionary Park allegedly provided to Koreans to enter Russia. Two of the charges carry maximum 5-year sentences, and the third carries a maximum 7-year sentence, leading to a possible maximum 17-year sentence between the three charges.
He says that although the charges are explicitly immigration-related, Voice of the Martyrs Korea remains concerned that the motivation for the charges is religious.
“Voice of the Martyrs Korea obtained copies of a notification sent out in January by the Khabarovsk Department of Education to educational and other child care institutions in the area. The notification says in part, ‘In the capital of the region, a citizen of South Korea, an agent of an American organization Park Tae-yong’s Child Evangelism Fellowship set up a brainwashing machine for children, instilling values alien to our society and drawing them into the practice of the Korean-American form of Protestantism.’ The statement continues: ‘Russian children were set against the family and the state, and Park Tae-yong herself was presented to them as the main life guide. The camp was carefully conspiratorial.’ The notification concludes: ‘Park Tae-yong intended to take Russian children to South Korea for final zombification, but did not have time. Now Park Tae-yong has been detained, a criminal case has been opened for organizing illegal migration.’”
Park Tae-yong
(Photo courtesy VOMK)
Pastor Foley says that similar reports appeared in state-affiliated Russian media in late January.
“The criminal charges and media campaign against Missionary Park reflect the continued decline in religious freedom across the Russian Federation, particularly as it relates to Protestant Evangelicals,” says Pastor Foley. “The 2025 US Commission on International Religious Freedom report on Russia says, ‘Russia criminalizes the activities of several peaceful religious groups by designating them as “terrorist,” “extremist,” or “undesirable,” despite no evidence of their promotion of or participation in violence.’ That’s exactly what we see in the case of Missionary Park. Her activity hasn’t changed for more than 30 years. The only thing that has changed is that now Russian authorities calls people like her ‘extremists’, ‘brainwashers’, and ‘conspirators against Russia’, despite all common-sense evidence to the contrary.”
Since 2021, the United States has designated Russia as one of 12 ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ for religious freedom violations, along with countries including China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Cuba.
Individuals interested in signing the petition on behalf of Missionary Park can visit https://vomkorea.com/en/petition-2026.
Header image is a screenshot from a video of missionary Park’s arrest posted on the Биржа политиков – Хабаровский край (Political Marketplace – Khabarovsk Krai Telegram Channel)
