"South Korea’s Presidential New Year’s message should have brought people together. Instead, President Lee Jae-myung used his January 21 press conference to issue a sweeping condemnation of religious involvement in public life. He warned that “religious interference in politics” leads to “national downfall,” likening it to armed rebellion, and promised stricter laws to eliminate it. “The current level of punishment seems far too weak,” he said, alluding to law proposals allowing for the swift dissolution of religious organizations that violate the electoral law. He urged the use of the current investigation into the Unification Church and Shincheonji, two groups against which he called on all political parties to rally, as an “opportunity” to “root out” religious involvement in politics entirely. … Before Lee became president, Pastor Son [Hyun-bo] declared, “Lee Jae-myung must die; I mean his greediness, his hostility, and his selfishness must die.” This was typical hyperbolic language from fire and brimstone preaching, not a call for violence. To interpret metaphor as a threat is to criminalize religious expression itself."