An 11-year-old boy died at a church. Why did he reach his death?

On the broadcast of SBS's "Unwanteds" (hereafter "Unwanteds") aired on the 5th, the truth behind the death of a child at a Cheonan church was tracked.

On the evening of August 5, a report came in that a child was unconscious from exhaustion due to high fever at a church in Cheonan. Consequently, the child was immediately transported to a hospital but passed away.

The deceased child was 11 years old and named Mideum. However, signs of being bound were found on the child's wrists and ankles, and multiple bruises with various timings and causes were discovered all over the body, raising suspicions of abuse. Moreover, Mideum, who was even wearing an adult diaper, died from multiple organ failure.

It was also revealed that two days before his death, Mideum had gone to a nearby restaurant covered in bruises to beg for food, leading to a report of suspected abuse to the police. Even before that, the child had asked an adult at a convenience store to take him to a police box. However, the child was repeatedly sent back to the church and ultimately met a tragic end.

The police arrested the church pastor, whom the child usually called mother, and the maternal grandmother, who left the child at the church, on charges of child abuse resulting in death. However, the pastor's husband appealed for unfairness, saying, "The pastor is being witch-hunted." Some church members also sided with the pastor, stating, "We had no choice because we left a child with severe disabilities at the church."


However, there were differing opinions. Another church member stated that Mideum's disability was not severe. They also revealed that before Mideum's death, the pastor criticized him by saying he was "possessed by evil spirits." Church members, who were revealed to live communally, kept silent, saying they could not say anything even though they were at the scene.

The pastor's son-in-law said, "There is a lot of unfairness from the pastor's perspective," while the associate pastor shifted the blame, stating, "If the pastor made mistakes, she was wrong, but the 11 years and 8 months of time should not be distorted," criticizing that taking in Mideum's biological mother, who had nowhere else to go, was where it all went wrong.

At the same time, he claimed that Mideum received care from all church members. However, he argued that ever since Mideum's maternal grandmother secretly took the child home to meet his biological mother and revealed the secret of his birth, he began acting abnormally and causing trouble. As a result, he mentioned that Mideum was hospitalized in a mental hospital for over a year.

He also claimed that the reason the child was bound was because of running away rather than escaping, stating, "He ran away 20 to 30 times because he wanted to steal and eat something. Also, the maternal grandmother said multiple times that she did not want to raise the child. The maternal grandmother probably tied him up as well. The pastor is not someone who would tie him up." However, the maternal grandmother's stance was different. While she initially claimed everything was her fault, she revealed the truth as various other pieces of evidence emerged: everything was the pastor's decision.

Mideum's maternal grandmother, who had struggled while raising multiple children alone, felt deeply grateful to the pastor for taking in Mideum, moved her house near the church, and devoted herself to the church and the pastor. Working two jobs, she handed over 1 million won in monthly child-rearing expenses to the pastor and took charge of all kinds of chores at the church.

However, even during sermons, the pastor filled her talks with criticisms of Mideum, making church members corporally punish the child and forcing the child to claim that the grandmother inflicted the corporal punishment. It was suspected that the maternal grandmother's inability to say anything—even binding the child under the pastor's orders and enduring the pastor's violence—stemmed from long-term gaslighting.


Soo-jung, who had attended the church run by Pastor Kwak since the 5th grade of elementary school, came to live at the church after her parents divorced, and during that time, she suffered horrific things she never wants to remember.

Pastor Kwak's mother, who attended the seminary, was routinely assaulted by church members, and when she resisted, the assaults extended to Soo-jung and Soo-jung's younger sibling. Like Mideum, they became targets of criticism and attack during sermons. Church members tortured her mother in front of the Soo-jung sisters. They assaulted her genital area, made her drink urine, and pulled her tongue while beating her to prevent her from speaking out.

Soo-jung's mother revealed the traces of assault still remaining on her body. Soo-jung's mother worked unpaid at a restaurant run by the pastor at the time and handed over all of her basic livelihood subsidies. Unable to endure the constant surveillance by church members, her mother eventually made an escape, and with the help of relatives, the Soo-jung sisters were also able to escape.

However, there was a reason they could not report the pastor. Soo-jung's aunt, who was a church member at the time, and her children were among the perpetrators who assaulted and harassed Soo-jung's family together. A former church member said regarding Pastor Kwak's church, "There was no boundary between the perpetrator and the victim."

At the time, Pastor Kwak told some young adults that they received the mission of the 12 disciples, making them drop out of school and receive her education. This education was not to become a pastor, but to create a combat squad that catches ghosts. Many church members were reportedly in life-threatening danger due to this violence.

A former church member, stating that they could not report the pastor because they had lynched one another, said that Pastor Kwak took in children from broken homes and habitually abused them. They added that it was undoubtedly Pastor Kwak who made the maternal grandmother beat Mideum.

It was suspected that Pastor Kwak went to all lengths to have more than necessary medication prescribed for Mideum and to have him classified with a disability grade. Eventually, by obtaining a disability grade and securing a school attendance exemption approval—which exempts compulsory education for reasons such as illness—Pastor Kwak also isolated the child from school.


Experts stated that Mideum's behaviors were classic symptoms of child abuse syndrome, noting that even his obsession with food was a trace of abuse. They also pointed out that when subjected to abuse, intelligence is bound to measure lower, meaning Mideum's intelligence likely did not have major problems.

A religion expert commented, "I suspect that protecting children was used as a means to demonstrate the church's public credibility or religious nature," adding, "It seems she thought of Mideum as an accessory to receive respect and praise for herself."

A crime expert evaluated, "Mideum played the role of a black sheep and scapegoat within the church. Furthermore, the abuse inflicted upon Mideum has been used as an example to other church members," adding, "It clearly shows that the members of this church are placed in a state of psychological subordination to the pastor."

Pastor Kwak has currently been forwarded to prosecutors on charges of child abuse resulting in death. Prosecutors reportedly made this decision judging that there was no intent to commit murder.

However, a forensic medicine expert raised a voice, saying, "Ordinary people also know that tying a child up for 30 hours in such a situation can cause death. Moreover, they tried to resolve the matter internally, leading to a belated report, and this aspect also raises suspicion of murderous intent."

Additionally, a religion expert drew attention by raising their voice that crimes occurring within churches "must be subject to severe aggravated punishment."

(Reported by Editor Kim Hyo-jung)