Pastor jailed for abusing North Korean defectors

A pastor once known as a “hero” for smuggling escapees out of North Korea has been imprisoned on horrendous charges.

South Korean pastor Chun Ki-won jailed for sexually abusing minors. Picture: Getty Images

A pastor who made a name for himself helping young defectors escape North Korea has been jailed for sexually abusing some in his care.

Once known as a hero for smuggling teenagers out of the hermit nation, Chun Ki-won, 67, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for molesting minors at his boarding school in Seoul.

He was arrested in September with police accusing him of sexually abusing six North Korean teenagers.

South Korean pastor Chun Ki-won has been jailed for sexually abusing minors. Picture: Getty Images

He denied the charges, however a court on Wednesday ruled the victims evidence “irrefutable”.

“The victims are making consistent statements and it includes content that cannot be stated without first-hand experience of the circumstances,” Seoul Central District Court judge Seung-jeong Kim said.

According to the BBC, the judge added Chun had committed the crimes from “a position where he had absolute influence”.

Chun is the founder of the Christian Durihana mission, a non-governmental organisation that helps North Korean defectors leave the state and China.

Chun Ki-won, pictured here in 2004, has been jailed. Picture: Getty Images

Over his career he had been likened to Oskar Schindler, the German who saved more than 1000 Jews during the holocaust.

“For the children that are rescued, we provide food, housing, and quality schooling according to God’s provision,” the Christian Durihana website reads.

“We help assimilate the children and adults into society in South Korea, or the United States, wherever they choose to live.”

For decades, his operation was hailed as an “underground railroad” for those fleeing North Korea.

Over the past 25 years Chun was the subject of documentaries and media attention for his life work- which included the establishment of an alternative school and dormitories for children of North Korean defectors- a place which victims allege they were molested in.

Chun was found guilty of five of the six charges against a minor.

The BBC reported a high level of interest in the arrest and conviction, and said TV reports showed a grey-haired Chun being brought to court in handcuffs.