The crackdown on conservatives and Christians in South Korea is escalating as news broke Wednesday that the country’s former prime minister and intelligence chief were arrested over alleged law violations in connection with the controversial martial law declaration by former President Yoon Suk-yeol in December 2024. Experts say the arrests are further indications that the once thriving democracy is slipping into a communist authoritarian state.

Former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was taken into custody on Wednesday for “allegedly endorsing Yoon’s martial law plot and supporting the arrest of lawmakers,” according to the South China Morning Post. (Sources have informed The Washington Stand that Hwang has since been released.) On the same day, Yoon’s former National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Cho Tae-yong was also arrested “on charges of concealing evidence.” Yoon himself was imprisoned in July on charges of “insurrection,” and Yoon’s wife Kim Keon Hee is also currently in custody on corruption charges, including “stock manipulation.” In addition, at least 29 conservative members of South Korea’s parliament have been the victims of political targeting campaigns under the current administration of President Lee Jae-myung.

The apprehensions come on the heels of a series of arrests of Christian leaders conducted by the Lee administration in recent months, including Pastor Son Hyun-bo of Segero Presbyterian Church, Hak Ja Han Moon of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Pastor Lee Younghoon of Yoido Full Gospel Church, and Pastor Jang Hwan “Billy” Kim, a former translator for Billy Graham and chairman of the Far East Broadcasting Co.

Chance Son, the son of Segero Church Pastor Son Hyun-bo, shared last month on “Washington Watch” that his father was targeted due to being outspoken about his conservative Christian views in the public square, and the fact that he leads an influential and growing church of 10,000 weekly attendees. “He’s facing 16 lawsuits right now for simply holding worship during COVID restrictions [and] opposing anti-biblical homosexuality laws, the comprehensive anti-discrimination law, and also opposing the tyranny that the Democrats are doing in Korea right now,” he remarked.

Gordon Chang, an author and Asia expert who serves as a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, also contends that the current leftist administration is seeking to prosecute members of the opposition party along with Christians on trumped-up charges.

“About 100 police officers swarmed the house of former Prime Minister Hwang,” he reported during “Washington Watch” Wednesday. “And they were charging him essentially with what they charged President Yoon before, and that is aiding an insurrection. Now that’s ridiculous. This is a bogus charge. But what they’re going to do to the prime minister is essentially the same as the previous president — they’re going to hold him indefinitely on charges. … [T]his is just a part of a broader crackdown on freedom and on religion in South Korea and society. President Lee Jae-myung is a ruthless leftist, and many of his senior advisers are essentially communists.”

On Tuesday, Lee vowed during a Cabinet meeting to implement a zero-tolerance policy against “hate speech and disinformation,” saying that they are “crimes that clearly go beyond the limits of free expression.”

Chang noted that Lee was likely referring to political protests against communism. “[H]e’s probably much more of a communist” than previous leftist presidents of South Korea, he argued. “[W]hat he was referring to there is essentially speech against China. People on the streets say ‘CCP out,’ and they consider that to be hate speech. … [D]emonstrations against the United States are permitted, [but] demonstrations against China are not.”

Chang went on to observe that in addition to seeking to partner with the communist regime in North Korea, Lee is actively seeking a close relationship with communist China, which is a new development for South Korean leaders. “Previous leftists have had relationships with the Chinese, but Lee has gone much further. And that means [the U.S.] could end up with a military alliance with a country that is allied, in effect, with China.”

Chang further detailed the high level of irregularities that have happened in recent elections in South Korea.

“[W]hat we have seen in national elections throughout this decade is severe cases of irregularities [and] widespread cheating, and because the leftists control the National Election Commission, there have been no investigations of this,” he explained. “[W]hat happened in the special presidential election was a lot of fraud. Lee Jae-myung was elected president. He is now using the levers of government to turn South Korea from a democracy into at least an authoritarian state. … [There] is a possibility that South Korea will become a totalitarian state. We just don’t know where this ends.”

“[W]e’ve seen the same thing in the United States with people who have been elected,” Chang added. “Fortunately, we have more checks and balances in our country. We’ll be able, I think, to restrain [socialist New York City Mayor-elect Zohran] Mamdani. But in South Korea, there’s no restraining Lee Jae-myung and the communists that were elected along with him.”