Dear Church Family,
Some of you might have heard about Dr Yonggi Cho’s son being sentenced to three years’ jail. Dr Cho has been issued a fine and a three-year prison term which has been suspended for five years.
We understand that a suspended sentence is a sentence given after the formal conviction of a crime that the convicted person is not required to serve. We also understand Dr Cho has been issued a conditionally suspended sentence. This type of sentence withholds execution of the penalty as long as the defendant exhibits good behavior.
We are saddened by this news and our thoughts and prayers are with Dr Cho and his family as they go through this difficult time.
Dr Cho is the Senior Pastor Emeritus of Yoido Full Gospel Church. He has always been a great friend of our church and he has done innumerable good works for the Kingdom of God. We stand by him in this time of need.
The church leadership echoes the sentiments of a senior Yoido Full Gospel Church leader who says: “I have worked for Pastor Yonggi Cho for 40 years that I can say, Pastor Cho is living a very modest way in good example, and he usually gives away all the substances or personal donations that are given to him. Please consider what he has done for good, and please do not judge him by what his son did.”
Please join us in prayer for Dr Cho and his family.
In Christ,
The CHC Management Board
It was reported in the Korean press on 20 February 2014 that Dr Yonggi Cho’s son has been sentenced to three years’ jail. Dr Cho has been issued a fine and a three-year prison term which has been suspended for five years.
We understand that a suspended sentence is a sentence given after the formal conviction of a crime that the convicted person is not required to serve. We also understand Dr Cho has been issued a conditionally suspended sentence. This type of sentence withholds execution of the penalty as long as the defendant exhibits good behavior.
Dr Cho is the Senior Pastor Emeritus of Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea, which has over 800,000 members and is widely considered as the world’s largest Christian congregation. According to a report in Joong Ang Daily, during the 90-minute sentencing on 20 February, the courtroom was packed with church members, “a testament to the influence the Cho family wielded in the mega-church.”
While there has been talk of an appeal, Dr Cho has decided to accept the judgment of the court as an appeal may force him into an adversarial stance against his son, says a senior elder of the church and a close personal friend to Dr Cho.
According to News 1 Korea, a Korean internet news portal, in September 2011, 30 elders of Yoido Full Gospel Church made a formal complaint that Dr Cho and his son had misused over 20 billion won (US$18.7m) of church money to purchase shares of stock. The police began investigations in December 2012.
According to Joong Ang Daily’s report on 21 February, Dr Cho stood trial on charges that he ordered church officials in 2002 to purchase 250,000 shares of stock for I-Service, a company owned by his oldest son Cho Hee-jun, 49, at a price four times higher than market value, causing the church to lose 13.1 billion won.
Prosecutors argued that Dr Cho’s son had asked his father to purchase the shares at a much higher cost to recoup the 20 billion won he lost in stock investments two years earlier — a claim the court accepted.
News 1 Korea says that the court judge stated that the reason for the penalty was due to the specific evasion of taxes amounting to 3.5 billion won (US$3.3m). But it also stated that this had something to do with wrong advice given by the accounting firm.
The court judge read out the statement that although the crime was initiated by the son, he couldn’t have caused the church such a big loss without Dr Cho’s help, due to the latter’s position in the church.
We understand from very reliable sources that Dr Cho had no personal gain from any of the investments.
The two largest Korean newspapers The Chosun Ilbo and Joong Ang Daily have both reported that Dr Cho will not be jailed.
According to Joong Ang Daily’s report, the judge explained: “Considering how the defendant has led his life in tumultuous times, and contributions he has made to society as a religious man, the court has decided to suspend his prison term for five years.”
According to news reports, Dr Cho’s eldest son Cho Hee-jun, who has been in jail twice before, apparently lost that sum while serving as chairman of the newspaper Kookmin Ilbo, when he collected billions of won in donations from readers and church members to help cover the newspaper’s operating costs.
While delivering the three-year prison term, the judge rebuked him for attempting to shift the responsibility for his unethical business practices onto his father and other senior church members.
Joong Ang Daily reported that the judge said of Cho Hee-jun: “The defendant’s behavior is subject to and deserves criticism.”
Cho Hee-jun was taken into custody immediately upon being sentenced.
Dr Cho has been such a friend and mentor to our church. Let us pray for him and his family in this challenging time.
Updated February 24, 2014
