Ewha Women's University Scandal & Sex Cult Origins

[Peter Daley]

Ewha Scandal as Told in 1955 Newspapers (The Tragedy of the Six Marys Blog - Operated by Former Members)

Fun Factoid: Related to the above link - At the request of one of the former members who operates the above site, I obtained scans of some of the articles from the 1950s from I think it was the Donga Ilbo's HQ. It was a while ago.

Mention of this in a long Washington Post piece from 1974

[Peter Daley]

This scandal is explored through the eyes of Sun-myung Moon

2009: As A Peace-Loving Global Citizen (Attributed to Sun-myung Moon)

Two Universities Expel Students and Professors

Yonsei University and Ehwa Womans University were embroiled in crisis and finally chose a measure that had never
been used before and has never been used since. Ewha fired five professors, including Professor Young Oon Kim, and expelled fourteen students. The expelled students included five in the graduating class. Yonsei also fired one professor and expelled two students. The school chaplain of Ewha tried advising the students, "You can attend that church after you graduate. That way, no harm will come to the school." But it was of no use. It had the opposite effect.

The expelled students protested vehemently. "There are many atheists in our school," they said. "And we even have the children of traditional shamans attending our school. How can the school justify expelling us and following the hypocrisy of this double standard?" The school, however, stood fast. It simply repeated its position: "We are a private school and a Christian school. We have the right to expel any student we choose."

When the media got word of the incident, one newspaper carried an editorial titled, "Expulsion Is Wrong in a Country with Religious Freedom." This situation soon became a topic for debate among the general public.

Ewha, since it was supported by a Christian foundation in Canada, was concerned that its support would be cut if it became known that large numbers of its students attended a church declared to be heretical. In those days, Ewha held chapel three times a week, took attendance, and submitted these attendance records to mission headquarters.

After the students were expelled and the professors fired, public opinion began to turn in our favor. Ewha, in an effort to counter this trend, began a campaign of false rumors too vile to repeat. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, the more vile the rumor, the more people revel in believing and repeating it as true. These false rumors began to feed on themselves, and soon they took on a life of their own. Our church suffered from this for more than a year.

I did not want the problem to grow out of control like this. I did not want to cause problems. I tried to convince the students and professors to lead simple, quiet lives of faith. I explained that there was no need for them to leave the dormitories and cause such public trouble. But they were adamant. "Why do you tell us not to come here?" they asked. "We wish to receive the same grace as everyone else." In the end, they were forced to leave their schools. I was not comfortable with this.

After being forced from their schools, the students went as a group to a prayer hall on Mount Samgak on the outskirts of Seoul. They went to seek comfort for their wounded hearts. They had been kicked out of their schools, their families were angry with them, and their friends no longer wished to meet them. They had no place to go. They fasted
and spent their entire time praying with such emotion that their eyes cried and noses ran. Soon, some began to speak in tongues.

It is true that God appears when we are on the edge of despair and desperation. The students who were expelled from their schools and cast out by their families and society found God in the prayer hall on Mount Samgak. I went to Mount Samgak and gave food and comfort to the students who had become emaciated from fasting. "It is bad enough that you've been unjustly expelled," I explained. "Please do not fast also. If your conscience is clear over what you have
done, then being insulted for it is not dishonorable. Do not be discouraged, but wait for your time."

Five of those students who were seniors later transferred into Sookmyung Women's University. But the damage was already done.

Interesting tidbit: I work at Sookmyung Women's Univeristy.