Some More Photos - Part 2 Korea

We went to Korea Bethel and that was amazing - such a beautiful place! I cant remember how many people live there. The day we went, there were 2000 visiting, so it was a SUPER-quick tour! One of the main things that has stuck with me from Korea relates to Conscientious Objection to military service. Every male Jehovahs Witness in Korea who objects to military service (unless there are special circumstances) will be tried and sentanced to 1.5 years in Prison (used to be 3 years, has been reduced).


Over the years, the treatment in prison has slightly been improved. I wont go into details because it makes me cry. But, the picture above shows one of the torturing devices that were created to make the brothers compromise. It is basically an upright "coffin" - they were not allowed to lay down, were not allowed to sleep....


These are the current figures for those incarcerated. Right now, there are 527 of our brothers in prison, 100 are on Trial and 56 have been charged and await trial. This is 85% of all the witnesses worldwide who are in prison for conscientious objection. A total of over 14,000 brothers have been imprisoned over the years and 5 have died due to mistreatment.

Over the years, the media interest in the issue has increased and in 2000, the UN Court of Human Rights requested that an alternative civilian service be provided for Jehovahs Witnesses in Korea. At present, this request has not been met.

So, back to the tour of Bethel - it was really amazing!
Right at the end, we finished in the Bethel Home (i.e. where they live and eat) and we were directed towards these 'woods.' The sight was just beautiful. It was at the top of a small hill, there were about 500 there having refreshments in national dress of where they came from. There were Kingdom Songs being played by an orchestra. I closed my eyes, and the scene was exactly like the scene on page 35 of the bh book. It was just amazing.



Sorry, but none of the photos we took could quite capture the scene.


The guy in the middle is our new best friend Steve. He was so amazing! He was one of the local brothers that were assigned to our hotel purely to help us. And, help us he did! So, we thought we would try to help him by introducing and photographing him with five australian single sisters! LOL!

Then we were taken on a brief city of Seoul.

Our first stop was the folk museam. And, there was a massive group of people. As it turns out, they were all of the delegates from Indonesia who were also in town for the convention. It was all very emotional.

Nearby, there was a palace that we visited. I cant remember the name but it had alot of G's and K's in the name. Again, it was a rainy and overcast day (I LOVE PHOTOSHOP!)

We were taken to this tourist shopping strip which was VERY Korean (except for the Starbucks). And, then the heavens opened up. Fortunately, we went upstairs to a tea place and got some EXCELLENT shots of the street (I LOVE PHOTOSHOP!)

Have to go..... seeyou all soon! Did I mention that this is Day 2 of our trip???? Man, there is alot to go. Hopefully, I am able to keep you interested!