The third of seven methods used by the CCP to harass CAG asylum seekers: compelling their relatives in China to go abroad and call for the refugees’ return.
Article 3 of 5. Read article 1 and article 2.
Since 2016, the CCP has conducted over a dozen so-called “family reunification” operations in South Korea, pressuring relatives of CAG members who fled there to travel for “family reunification.” A South Korean woman, O Myung-Ok, coordinates these efforts, organizing travel plans and managing on-site demonstrations to generate negative publicity. These actions falsely depict CAG members as “fake refugees” and spread falsehoods to smear The Church of Almighty God, hindering the refugees’ asylum applications.
The operation involves: intimidating and enticing relatives to consent to overseas “family reunification”; funding and organizing travel arrangements through official channels; assigning escorts to strictly monitor the relatives’ words and actions and prohibit private contact with CAG members; and staging media-covered protests in public places—such as in front of church properties or courthouses—to create the illusion of “fake refugees,” misleading the public and pressuring the South Korean government to deport CAG members.
On June 14, 2024, a court in Rome, Italy, determined that O Myung-Ok is a “Chinese agent,” confirming her extensive involvement in espionage and political propaganda for the CCP government internationally.
In 2018, China’s Ministry of State Security, collaborating with local police and government officials, hired idle individuals to harass families of CAG members who had fled abroad. Across several regions in Hebei and Hunan Provinces, these operatives coerced relatives into filming “family reunification” videos and signing joint letters to the South Korean government, demanding the return of CAG asylum seekers.
In late July 2018, several unwelcome individuals— including a captain from the Domestic Security Division and a man claiming to be a “volunteer”— arrived at the home of a CAG member’s parents, who had fled to South Korea. This was the “volunteer’s” second visit. The group tried to pressure the elderly couple into filming a video and signing a letter urging their son to return to China. The couple refused. Later, it was revealed that the ‘volunteer” had been unemployed but was recruited as an auxiliary police officer by a township police station in Tangshan City. According to the “volunteer,” the CCP intended to force all CAG asylum seekers in South Korea to return and claimed that some relatives of CAG members had already been “persuaded” to sign joint letters requesting the Chinese government to bring their “children” home. However, “Bitter Winter” uncovered that these joint letters were staged to give the false impression of “voluntary family appeals” to pressure the South Korean government and media into deporting CAG asylum seekers.
In 2019, security officials in a northern Chinese city contacted the father of a CAG member who had fled to Germany. They asked for his help traveling to Germany to bring his daughter back. The officer explained that Germany is sympathetic to religion-based asylum claims and that the CCP cannot directly arrest people there, so they rely on “family persuasion.” The government would pay all travel costs. The officer also revealed that the state security bureau has agents in Germany who are fully aware of the activities of CAG members there.
Local authorities called a relative of another CAG member and asked them to travel abroad to convince their son to return. The officials also promised to pay all costs and highlighted that the CAG was a primary target of the CCP suppression, stating that the son would be brought back to China for “transformation.”
The Case of Jia Zhigang: Controlled Family Actions, “Reunification” Without Reunion
Jia Zhigang, once a notable actor in China, was targeted by police in 2012 for his CAG evangelistic activities. 2014 Jia, his wife, and their young son fled to South Korea. By March 2018, Chinese security agents brought Jia’s sister to South Korea, demanding his return, which he refused. In September 2018, Jia’s father-in-law, brother-in-law, and other CAG members’ relatives traveled on the same flight to South Korea for “family reunification.” Jia and his wife met them at the airport, but the relatives refused to meet them and left with O Myung-Ok. Over the following days, under O’s guidance, they participated in demonstrations with a “reunification group” at several locations.
Jia condemned the CCP’s orchestrated “fake reunification” in an interview, saying: “In China, the CCP tried every means to arrest us for our faith, implicating even our non-believing family members. Now that we’ve escaped overseas, the CCP still won’t let us go. They harass our relatives, coercing them to spread lies to deceive the international community and to deport all CAG members. If they refuse, they risk imprisonment. No other government that is persecuting CAG members today does so as relentlessly as the CCP. It is truly evil!”
The Case of Zhao Hui: Mother Manipulated into “Family Reunification” Demonstrations
In late August 2018, Zhao Hui (pseudonym) found out her mother was going to South Korea and proactively reached out to arrange a meeting. However, when her mother arrived in South Korea on September 2, she did not inform Zhao. Instead, she appeared with O Myung-Ok at a “reunification” press event, falsely claiming Zhao’s father had suffered a mental breakdown from “missing his daughter” and died in a car accident. She later protested outside the CAG premises, crying and demanding to see Zhao. Zhao explained that her father died of a cerebral hemorrhage on his way to the hospital, fully conscious and without mental illness, and was confused by her mother’s false stories. Zhao contacted her mother through the police. During their meeting, her mother urged Zhao to return to Beijing for ideological “education,” which Zhao refused. After twenty minutes, her mother left abruptly to join the “reunification” protests with O Myung-Ok. Zhao observed that her mother, in her 70s, lived in a rural area with limited education and likely lacked the means to travel to South Korea independently. Her speech and behavior were highly unusual, clearly showing coercion and manipulation by the CCP.
The Case of Xing Yan: Nearly Coerced by “Family Reunification” Action
Persecuted on account of her faith, Xing Ya (pseudonym) fled to South Korea in 2014. In early April 2017, law enforcement authorities detained his wife and, although she was released after one month, she remained under prolonged surveillance. On May 15, 2017, the political commissar of the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department mandated that Xing’s wife “cooperate” by traveling to South Korea to act “following instructions” at the CAG. She was compelled to visit the Mudanjiang Public Security Bureau’s Exit-Entry Administration to apply for a passport. Citing a serious heart condition, Xing’s wife refused to comply and subsequently fled with her parents, living in concealment thereafter.
The Case of Dan Chun: Relatives Reveal Truth After “Reunification” Demonstration
Dan Chun (pseudonym) was detained and subjected to torture in China due to her religious beliefs, and she continues to be under surveillance following her release. The local county chief official issued threats to her brother, warning that if Dan Chun persisted in her faith, she would be subjected to severe sentencing, and her brother’s children would be restricted from educational and civil service examinations. Faced with no alternative, Dan Chun sought asylum in South Korea.
In 2018, O Myung-Ok led her brother in a “family reunification” group. Dan Chun repeatedly sought permission to meet with him; however, such meetings were only granted with the approval of O Myung-Ok. When inquired about the purpose of the “family reunification,” her brother was evasive but ultimately stated: “I don’t ask you to return to China. I want you to live well here.”
CCP-Funded and Controlled “Family Reunification” Operations
In 2018, a CAG member received a call from his mother in China, informing him that his sister and brother-in-law had arrived in South Korea to “find” him, with all government expenses paid. She repeatedly warned that not returning with his sister would lead to serious CCP repercussions.
Source: Bitter Winter
