Yoon Seok-youl Goes to Church with a Bible and Sings Hymns, Why?

[경향신문]

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a presidential candidate of the People Power Party, gets out of the car holding a Bible to attend a religious service at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul on October 10. National Assembly press photographers

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a candidate in the People Power Party primary, attended church services holding a Bible on October 10. He clapped as he sang hymns and prayed. Previously, Yoon was at the center of controversy for shamanism when he attended a debate with the Chinese character for king written on his palm. The latest action appears to be intended to silence the controversy and attract the votes of Christians.

Yoon Seok-youl chose the church as the destination of his first public action after he entered the People Power Party presidential primaries. On Sunday, he visited the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul. He got out of the car holding a Bible and during the service he bowed and prayed. He also clapped along the hymns and after the service, met with Lee Young-hoon, the senior pastor of the Full Gospel Church.

Reverend Lee said, “I wish people who become leaders of our country would not argue over trivial matters,” and added, “I hope they will give the people dreams and hope.” He then prayed for Yoon and said, “May the Lord make him useful in bringing the nation together and prevent him from repeating the mistake of returning to the past.” Yoon Seok-youl responded by saying, “Thank you for the service. I will heed the words of the pastor.”

This day, Yoon posted a picture from his childhood taken at church on his social media account. He added the words, “Summer Bible School days when Seok-youl used to eat three bowls of rice a meal.”

Such actions seem to be an effort to escape the attacks of shamanism. Earlier, Yoon appeared in three TV debates of the party primary candidates with the Chinese character, wang (王), which means king, written on his palm. This led to suspicions of a shamanic spell. Afterwards, he came under fire for alleged shamanism due to his meeting with Master Cheon Gong, who gives Jungbub (the principles for a person to live properly) lectures, and acupuncture sessions on a particular body part. The latest actions by Yoon seem to have been motivated by concerns that religious voters including Christian voters might turn away due to the allegations of shamanism.