Chun Ki-won: Hero pastor jailed for sexually abusing North Korea teenage escapees - BBC News

Hailed as "Asia's Schindler" for helping North Koreans flee, he has been jailed for sexual abuse.

8 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Chun Ki-won, seen here in 2004, at a film festival promoting his mission's rescuesBy Frances MaoBBC NewsA South Korean pastor once hailed as a hero for smuggling out hundreds of North Koreans has been jailed for sexually abusing teenage defectors.

Chun Ki-won, 67, has been sentenced to five years for molesting minors at his boarding school in Seoul.

The pastor had been viewed as a saviour figure for decades with people calling him an "Asian Schindler" and his operations an "Underground Railroad" for those fleeing the North's regime.

He was arrested in Seoul in September.

Police accused him of molesting six North Korean teenagers, including defectors sleeping in the dormitories of the alternative school he had founded at his Durihana mission.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68313792

---