SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (4/10)- South Korea's 21st legislative election will be held on 15 April 2020. All 300 members of the National Assembly will be elected with 253 from first-past-the-post constituencies and 47 from proportional party lists. The elections are the first to be held under the new electoral system voted in 2020 due to the electoral reforms proposed by incumbent president Moon Jae-in. But with the elections in Russia, Hungary and the Philippines, there are many who are questioning the validity of the elections as grab for power.

President Moon Jae-in’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is hoping to maintain its majority by capitalizing on widespread public approval of the country’s extensive Covid-19 measures. His approval ratings have risen during the pandemic, and the DPK has adopted “winning the Covid-19 war” as its main campaign slogan. The DPK and the main opposition United Future Party have also both promised cash relief to households to help cushion the blow from the pandemic. While countries such as Great Britain and Ethiopia have postponed polls due to coronavirus, Korea is able to go ahead with its election in part because the country is not under any sort of strict lockdown measures.

Policy journal, National Interest noted that, "Perceptions about the economy have trended increasingly negative throughout his term in office. While 17 percent say that the economy will improve over the next year, 57 percent say it will worsen for a net score of negative 40. In September of 2017, that score was negative 8. Furthermore, just 12 percent expect their personal economic situations to improve versus 40 percent who think it will worsen—a net score of negative 28..."

Reverend Billy Min, God's Love Church of San Jose, California expressed more than a little suspicion about the motivations of South Korean President Moon Jae-In stating, "Moon Jae-In has definitely shown through his Administration that he is a fan of the"Juche" policies of Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un, and by extension is a supporter of North Korean communism. He has tried to steal credit for the polices of the medical health workers and experts. I feel that he is currently trying to expand his leftist agenda and powers with this election..."

Citing the continued quarantine, many political opponents, including Reverend Min argue that, "There is clearly an agenda at work here. Conservative political leaders were arrested before the pandemic, and more were arrested despite the fact that they were practicing social distancing. They are ignoring Constitutional rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in the name of public health. The arrests are going on despite hundreds of people being allowed into night clubs and bars, as well as left-leaning churches that are continuing to practice, despite clearly not practicing safe social distancing guidelines or rules..."

Noting the recent attacks by U.S. President Donald J.Trump on reports by Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean President Kim Jong Un, over reports that they had gotten the coronavirus under control, many like Reverend Min expressed serious doubt stating, "They can't be trusted. We are calling upon patriotic and Christian people across the country to note that they can't trust Moon Jae-In and his allies. We can't trust the numbers that are being given by the Chinese government. They may have contained the virus in Wuhan, but we can't be as certain regarding the rest of the country. According to sources within China, there are still many people dying and that are not being reported by Chinese officials. And yet, even with this, we are being called to accept Chinese travelers. This is just another communist strategy of deception and lies through the media by the Communist leaders... Moon Jae-In can't be trusted!"

When Mr. Jae-Choon Lee, former ambassador to Russia and the European Union (EU), asked about whether or not the South Korean elections could be seen as a power grab, much in the same way as those in Russia, Hungary and the Philippines, Lee replied, "Definitely yes."

Lee stated, “The Moon government and pro-Moon factions are doing their utmost to cover up the serious charges against them, such as the Druking opinion manipulation incident, violation of election laws in the Ulsan city's mayoral election, Cho Kuk scandal. They aim to deceive the citizens by controlling the media. The Moon regime controls the media to praise Moon, and there is no freedom of the press in South Korea. The people are duped into believing that Moon is doing a great job with the coronavirus crisis.

KBS and MBC, the government media outlets, are cooperating with the Blue House to produce distorted news about the coronavirus crisis, and even fake news, and the foreign presses like Washington Post and Wall Street Journal often quote KBS and MBC, all of which lead to formulating wrong public views and opinions.

But take a look at Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. They restricted travels from China right away from the beginning and fought off the virus. They are the model for preventing the spread of the virus. However, South Korea kowtowed to China and refused to close the border, causing tremendous harm for the people. Thanks to the people of South Korea, they worked hard to maintain calm and order dutifully wore masks and practiced isolation. Thanks also to the well-established medical insurance system and hospital infrastructure and dedicated medical professionals, South Korea was able to manage the spread of the virus.

In truth, Moon Jae-in only made things worse for the country by refusing to stop the inflow of the virus from China. Worse yet, he claimed victory over the virus prematurely only to see a major outbreak after his statement. Nevertheless, he mobilized the media to spread the lies that he had done an excellent job with the virus. We must not fall prey to the propaganda by the Moon government.

The coming election is mired in corruption. The unceasing distortions and exaggerations about the Moon government and they will stop at nothing to win the election. It is necessary to monitor the electoral process.

Also, the Moon government is repressing the church, as well as the opposing media. There was a massive rally with millions of demonstrators demanding Moon's resignation last October. Centered around Reverend Chun Kwang-hoon, 80% of the participants were Christians. The Moon government arrested Reverend Chun before the election season. The Moon government has mobilized 500 police officers to stop the Christian congregation at Seoul Sarang First Presbyterian Church from holding services even though the congregation observed the social distancing and wore masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the pro-Moon press and media outlets got busy vilifying Christians for being unruly and extreme.

I am anxious about this unjust election being orchestrated by Moon Jae-in. The international community, including President Trump, must be aware of what's going on. They must not brush off the electoral violations as domestic politics. I am worried that the Moon's party is trying to hijack the people of South Korea who share the values of free democracy, open market system, and strong alliance with the US. I ask for President Trump's support in our fight for the freedom of religion and free democracy…”

Mr. Seong Sang-hoon, CEO of Global Defense, is concerned that—"Moon's party would revise the constitution and delete the word 'Free' from 'Free Democracy.' The Moon government is attempting to keep the elderly voters at home on the election day. The Moon government is ordering the elderly population in the Daegu region to self-isolation on account of the coronavirus, thereby reducing the votes by the conservative population. The Moon government has been bragging how great a job it did to control the virus. It is lying to the public that the international community is praising Moon's success in dealing with the coronavirus. Pro-Moon polling companies are producing false polling data. They are manipulating public opinion polls by deliberately selecting pro-Moon respondents for the polls. The polling data falsely show a 50%-plus favorable rating for Moon, deceiving the voters.

"Also, pro-Moon media are spreading anti-Christian propaganda. American missionaries came to Korea 136 years ago and spread God's gospel. Christian churches helped Koreans in their struggle for independence against the Japanese rule. Christians helped found the government of free democracy. Christians led the formation of the alliance between the US and South Korea. However, the current government is engaging in anti-church policies, using oppressive tactics against Christians. The government is ordering tax audits and disrupting church services. The pro-Moon media is spreading the idea that the churches are deliberately causing the coronavirus outbreak. Why are they repressing the Christians only?

"I think the Moon party is targeting the Christians because they want a stronger alliance with the US. Christians do not want the US to withdraw from Korea. If the US withdraws from Korea, we will lose our spiritual alliance and free democracy."

Reverend Kim Jae-dong of Heaven Presbyterian Church in Seoul is concerned that the current government led by Moon Jae-in is using the coronavirus crisis to reinforce their political agenda in moving toward the haphazard union with North Korea.

"Moon Jae-in argued in 2012 that South Korea and North Korea must form a federal system, but nobody paid attention. In 2017, he visited Germany and made statements that violated the Korean constitution. He said that he would not pursue arbitrary unification of Koreas, which goes against Article 4 and Article 66 of the constitution. By refusing to abide by the constitution, he is subject to impeachment."

Ahn Cheol- Soo, former presidential candidate and medical doctor said, “We pleaded with the Moon government to restrict travels from outside, but he allowed the Chinese travel and left the door wide open for coronavirus. How could the Moon government and the ruling party praise themselves for successfully blocking the covid19? Worse yet, they are using their “success” for their electoral strategy in the upcoming parliamentary election on April 15. The Moon government is praising itself, but the people and the medical professionals deserve the credit. The Moon government is stealing the thunder from the people.”

What do you think of the Moon govt that claims success for dealing with covid19?

“There are two big parts in dealing with the epidemic. The first part is to stop the major spread, and the second, managing the patients. The Moon government totally failed in the first part, seeing as that we were the first country to experience the wide spread since the outbreak in China. We are now in the second phase, dealing with the crisis with the cooperation of our citizens and dedicated medical professionals. And the government is taking credit for the good the people and the medical professionals are doing. That’s ridiculous. People did not actually experience and come to the understanding that the government had the ability to deal with the crisis.”

What do you think of the performance of the Moon government past 3 years?

“Throughout history, all the presidents have had one or two reformative programs, but not Moon. They are proposing reform of the Prosecution Department, but that is not reform. It’s a means for them to take over and dominate the Prosecution Department. They should utilize balanced manpower, but they only employ those in their circle or those who listen to them. They oppress anyone with different thoughts. They practice totalitarianism. So, the national problems go unsolved. Therefore, the citizens suffer.”

What do you think of the congress that passed the law prohibiting Tada taxi service?

“The Moon government severed the growth of future industry in pursuit of votes in the election. The opposing party relented in the end. That’s because the Korean politics is dominated by populism. They should be more concerned about why they are in politics, that they are in politics for the good of the future of the country.”

What do you think of Moon’s economic policy, mainly the “growth by increasing minimum wages,” and his abandonment of nuclear electric power?

“They have to stop both of these policies. The current crisis situation could be an opportunity for him to change the direction of his economic policies. Originally, I was against nuclear electric power, but I changed my mind while I was studying in Europe. More people die of micro dust than smoking. The micro dust problem could get worse if we use more coal-fired power generation instead of nuclear power generation. We must try to develop a safer power source with less environmental impact.”

Rev. Dr. Kevin Waldrop ,senior pastor of San Lorenzo, California Village Baptist Church stated that We, America Evangelical churches must stand up against the encroachment of a socialistic system to save South Korea for the Gospel. Socialism will seek to harm the Gospel in South Korea and persecute believers. Let’s pray that South Korea will be shielded from all socialistic propaganda and for the freedom of North Korea through the Gospel. Do not be deceived by the false “peaceful reunification” of the Korean peninsula. This will result in socialism overtaking South Korea and the deaths of millions believers.

South Korea, Juche followers worship Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il as idols. They deny God and Christian values of truth and freedom. In recent years in South Korea,

the Moon regime and Juche followers have oppressed the church and are trying to destroy the Christian faith.

They want to install a totalitarian dictatorship permanently based on communism and socialism like North Korea. Thus, South Korean churches are very concerned

about freedom of faith and human rights. Pastors and Christians in Korea pray to revitalize truth and freedom, to resist injustice, and to preserve faith and freedom for South Koreans.