{"id":59080,"date":"2026-05-19T09:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=59080"},"modified":"2026-05-19T10:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T01:41:21","slug":"vomk-report-398","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2026\/05\/19\/vomk-report-398\/","title":{"rendered":"LETTERS OF ENCOURAGEMENT REQUESTED FOR KOREAN MISSIONARY DETAINED IN RUSSIA"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59082″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the persecution watchdog ministry which has been advocating for Korean missionary Park Tae-Yeon since her arrest in Russia in January, is asking Christians in Korea and around the world to send letters of encouragement to the missionary at the detention center where she has now been held for four months. The ministry has set up a web page containing instructions on how to write and send the letter at” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text css=””]https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/prisoners\/prisoner-profile-missionary-park-tae-yeon\/.<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cMissionary Park continues to be held in a temporary detention center for foreigners in Khabarovsk,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Hyun Sook Foley. \u201cShe\u00a0<\/span>remains<\/span>\u00a0in good spirits and is\u00a0<\/span>continuing to\u00a0<\/span>read her Bible daily, but she\u00a0<\/span>really just<\/span>\u00a0wants to come home.<\/span>\u00a0While we continue to work on that goal, the main thing that can be done by Christians in Korea and around the world\u00a0<\/span>today\u00a0<\/span>is the simple task of sending her a letter of encouragement.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says letters should be in Russian due to the requirements of the detention center. \u201cWe\u2019ve put Russian phrases on the webpage which Christians can easily cut and paste to make a letter,\u201d she says, noting that Missionary Park is fluent in Russian. Representative Foley emphasizes that only letters should be sent, since local believers have been working with family and friends to make sure the missionary receives needed personal care items that meet the detention center\u2019s requirements.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cThe detention center has strict rules about everything from the kind of vegetables she is permitted to eat to the kind of tubes that\u00a0<\/span>must be used for skin creams,<\/span>\u00a0so local believers are making sure she receives everything that the detention center permits,<\/span>\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>The one thing that she doesn\u2019t have is what we believe she needs the most: letters of encouragement from fellow believers letting her know that she is not forgotten and that people are praying for her.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59086″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that no trial date has yet been set for\u00a0<\/span>Missionary Park\u00a0<\/span>on the three\u00a0<\/span>immigration-related\u00a0<\/span>charges against her, though expectations\u00a0<\/span>remain<\/span>\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>n initial<\/span>\u00a0court appearance in<\/span>\u00a0May is likely.\u00a0<\/span>The missionary faces a possible total 17 years in prison.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The\u00a0<\/span>court<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>dismissed a complaint\u00a0<\/span>filed\u00a0<\/span>by\u00a0<\/span>Missionary Park\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>attorney\u00a0<\/span>last month\u00a0<\/span>regarding<\/span>\u00a0the seizure of<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>her\u00a0<\/span>home by authorities as part of an investigation<\/span><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Representative Foley says that Missionary Park\u2019s attorney plans to appeal the dismissal.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Hyun Sook Foley and CEO Pastor Eric Foley\u00a0<\/span>deliver<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0a<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>5,000<\/span>+<\/span>\u00a0signature petition to the Russian Embassy in Seoul\u00a0<\/span>last month<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>calling for the\u00a0<\/span>missionary\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>immediate release.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Copies of the petition were also sent to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Representative Foley says her organization also received a request for information from the\u00a0<\/span>United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which noted that it is\u00a0<\/span>monitoring<\/span>\u00a0the case.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59084″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Ms. Park Tae-Yeon has been living with a sincere love for the country of Russia and its people since she arrived there in 1993.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13|text_align:center|color:%23111111″ css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Park Tae<\/span><\/span>–<\/span><\/span>Yeon is a Korean missionary who was arrested in Khabarovsk, Russia\u00a0<\/span>on\u00a0<\/span>January 15, one week before she was scheduled to return home to Korea to retire at age 70. Authorities seized Missionary Park\u2019s house in Russia and fined the missionary for overstaying her visa, despite the overstay being due to her detainment by Russian authorities.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]An online petition posted by Voice of the Martyrs Korea from February to April garnered more than 4,000 signatures from Korea, along with<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>more than\u00a0<\/span>1,000<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>signatures from\u00a0<\/span>Russia, Ukraine,\u00a0<\/span>the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Africa, Finland<\/span>, Zimbabwe, Poland, Hungary, Indonesia, Romania, Nigeria, Scotland, Hong Kong, and the Philippines<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”59082″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the persecution watchdog ministry which has been advocating for Korean missionary Park Tae-Yeon since her arrest in Russia in January, …","protected":false},"author":1959,"featured_media":59083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59080"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59136,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59080\/revisions\/59136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}