Fiji’s Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Pio Tikoduadua has ordered an inquiry into the “possible unauthorised issuance of passports” by immigration staff and “offered to step aside temporarily from role”.

In a statement on Thursday night, Tikoduadua said the passports in question were issued to the children of the South Korean Christian doomsday cult Grace Road Church, which is associated with human rights allegations.

This week, The Fiji Times reported that a Grace Road employee claimed she and others were physically abused and she was kept from seeing her children.

• READ MORE: Grace Road operations in Fiji have ‘breaches’ – Minister Agni Deo Singh
• Other Grace Road cult reports

State broadcaster FBC reported that Grace Road had refuted the claims.

The group said in a statement on Thursday that it was a family dispute within the Grace Road community, which was exploited by the media.

Grace Road said it had stayed out of the issue, allowing the family to address their differences privately, but was disappointed when the media chose to sensationalise the matter and place undue focus on the Grace Road Church.

Tikoduadua said the passports were issued without his knowledge or the knowledge of his permanent secretary and senior management of the immigration department.

“If confirmed, this constitutes a significant breach of our protocols and raises serious concerns about the internal oversight mechanisms within the [Immigration] department,” he said.

Immediate investigation
“I have directed an immediate and thorough investigation to determine how the lapse occurred and to hold accountable those responsible,” he said.

The minister said stepping down was necessary to ensure the inquiry is conducted impartially and without any perception of undue influence from his office.

He has also informed Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka of his decision.

Tikoduadua assured that he would fully cooperate with the investigation and work towards restoring trust.

Meanwhile, opposition MP Jone Usamate has called for a “full-scale investigation into the allegations of human rights abuse”.

Fiji police have told local media that an investigation is already underway.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s government has taken the local leader of an influential South Korean doomsday sect into immigration custody after he and several other members of the Grace Road Church were declared “prohibited migrants” based on charges filed in 2018.

Fiji had announced last Thursday that it was taking steps to deport Daniel Kim and the other sect members who had been detained.

The passports of the sect members had been annulled by the Korean government in 2021, and Interpol “red notices” were issued against them.

• READ MORE: Fijian doomsday sect gets rich in Fiji with government help
• Fiji immigration officials detain Grace Road cult leader Daniel Kim
• Interpol ‘red notices’ against 7 Grace Road cult figures, but court orders stay
• Other Grace Road cult reports

Fiji Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua revealed that all of this had been ignored by the previous repressive Fiji government led by former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama, according to Fijivillage News and other local media.

Tikoduadua said two sect members had already been deported while the deportations of another two were temporarily halted by a court order.

One more member was still at large.

OCCRP investigated Grace Road and its close ties to the Bainimarama regime last year. Kim and others had managed to evade a 2018 INTERPOL red notice until the new government acted. https://t.co/i4d0XtVLYS

— Dan McGarry (@dailypostdan) September 7, 2023

A joint investigation by the Organised Crime and Corruption Organising Project (OCCRP) and KICJ-Newstapa last year exposed how the secretive Grace Road became an economic powerhouse in Fiji during the 16-year rule of Bainimarama, who lost power in elections last December.

Reporters discovered that the church was able to thrive in Fiji despite Kim and other key members being wanted on international warrants.

The investigation also uncovered how the church expanded its empire, which included a farm, restaurants, petrol stations, and supermarkets, all while receiving millions in state-backed loans.

Grace Road’s spiritual leader, Kim’s mother Ok-joo Shin, was arrested at Seoul’s international airport in 2018 and imprisoned for offences, including assault, child abuse, and imprisoning church members.

Around the same time, South Korean police attempted to bring Kim and other church members back on similar charges in Fiji but were forced to return empty-handed after a court blocked their removal.

Republished with permission from the Organised Crime and Corruption Organising Project (OCCRP).

The press statement was clear enough — that the Interpol Red Notice described these individuals as “Fugitive wanted for Prosecution”. pic.twitter.com/EjqJcyVVwv

— Pio Tikoduadua (@piotikoduaduafj) September 8, 2023

Grace Road group Fiji president Daniel Kim is currently in Fiji immigration custody as he has been declared a prohibited immigrant, according to Immigration Minister Pio Tikoduadua.

Speaking to Fijivillage News this afternoon, Tikoduadua confirmed that Kim had been located and that he was a prohibited immigrant.

He said there was a court order that stopped Kim from being removed from Fiji now but the government was appealing against the court decision.

• READ MORE: Interpol ‘red notices’ against 7 Grace Road cult figures, but court orders stay
• ‘If I did wrong, arrest me’: doomsday sect leader challenges Fiji cabinet minister
• Other Grace Road reports

Tikoduadua confirmed yesterday that Daniel Kim was on the run after his passport was nullified by the South Korean government, and the Fiji government stated that it was unable to locate him.

Tikoduadua said seven other people from Grace Road in Fiji were wanted by the Korean government and this included acting Grace Road president Sung Jin Lee, Nam Suk Choi, Byeong Joon Lee, Jin Sook Yoon, Beomseop Shin and Chul Na.

Also on the run is Jin Sook Yoon.

Tikoduadua confirmed that the government of South Korea communicated through diplomatic channels on 21 September 2018 that they had nullified the passports of the seven individuals connected with the Grace Road cult.

Passports nullified
He said these individuals’ passports were nullified by the Korean government in relation to charges laid and a warrant issued for their arrest.

The Fiji Immigration Minister said that in July 2018, “red notices’ were published by Interpol referring to these individuals as “fugitives wanted for prosecution”.

He said all of these notices were ignored by the former government.

Tikoduadua said that using his discretion as Minister under Section 13(2)(g) of the Immigration Act, these individuals were declared Prohibited Immigrants making their presence in Fiji unlawful.

He said yesterday that a task force, consisting of police and immigration officers, began the removal of these individuals.

Kim had called a press conference at Grace Road Navua yesterday afternoon challenging claims by Tikoduadua that he was on the run and he had demanded an apology from the minister.

Kim also confirmed that two Grace Road members, namely Byeong Joon Lee and Boemseop Shin, had been removed from the country without the group’s knowledge or information about the removal process.

Republished from Fijivillage News with permission.

The High Court in Lautoka yesterday issued orders to the Fiji police and the Immigration Department not to remove four members of the controversial South Korean religious cult Grace Road from Fiji.

They are Beomseop Shin, Byeongjoon Lee, Jung “Daniel” Yong Kim and Jinsook Yoon.

The interim injunction was issued restraining the Director of Immigration, Commissioner of Police, Airports Fiji Ltd, Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji, Fiji Airways and Air Terminal Services from removing these individuals from Fiji.

• READ MORE: ‘If I did wrong, arrest me’: doomsday sect leader challenges Fiji cabinet minister
• Other Grace Road reports

The High Court has adjourned the case to September 18 at 9am for hearing.

The restraining order was obtained by Gordon and Company of Lautoka.

Earlier, Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua had called on members of the public to reach out to the authorities if they had information on the whereabouts of Grace Road president “Daniel” Jung Yong Kim and Jin Sook Yoon, reports The Fiji Times’ Meri Radinibaravi.

An International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) red notice was issued for Kim, Yoon and five other South Korean individuals in July 2018, which Tikoduadua said had been “ignored by the former government”.

Red notices
The seven individuals are Kim, Yoon, acting Grace Road president Sung Jin Lee, Nam Suk Choi, Byeong Joon Lee, Beomseop Shin and Chul Na.

“In July 2018, red notices were published by Interpol referring to these individuals as ‘fugitives wanted for prosecution’. All of these were ignored by the former government,” Tikoduadua told the media yesterday.

“Using my discretion as minister, under Section 13(2)(g) of the Immigration Act, these individuals were declared prohibited immigrants — making their presence in Fiji unlawful.

“In that regard, may I just use this opportunity to reach out to these other two who, in my view perhaps, are trying not to be seen or noticed by anybody.

“We’re unable to reach them, the police obviously, and the relevant authorities are looking for them. Let me remind the general public that it is an offence to actually harbour people who are wanted, it’s against the law to do that.

“So, please, we welcome information with regard to their location as they are prohibited immigrants in Fiji.”

Tikoduadua said that while Kim and Yoon were still at large, Joon Lee and Shin had been successfully transported back to Korea, accompanied by a South Korean Embassy interpreter and four Fiji police personnel who “will return to Fiji after a brief stay in South Korea”.

Passports nullified
“These individuals’ passports were nullified by the Korean government in relation to charges laid by the South Korean government which had issued a warrant for their arrest.

“During the removal process, Fiji Airways declined to transport Sung Jin Lee and Nam Suk Choi due to a High Court order. The Solicitor-General (Ropate Green) has received this court order for review.

“Ms Lee and Ms Choi have been released and are currently at the Grace Road farm in Navua.

“Additionally, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration is exploring legal options under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1997 and the Extradition Act 2003, given that these individuals are subject to an Interpol red notice.”

Tikoduadua said that yesterday, Green had indicated plans to appeal the court order.

Anish Chand is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

The Grace Road Church made 31 acquisitions of land during the reign of the FijiFirst government and it has several other land acquisition applications still pending.

Lands Minister Filimoni Vosarogo revealed this yesterday when responding to queries about a meeting on Friday where he briefed Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka about issues surrounding the South Korean church and business group.

He said he would investigate the church’s organisations dealings with the FijiFirst government once it was brought to his attention.

• READ MORE: Calls for inquiry into Fiji government’s ties to South Korea’s Grace Road Church
• Other Grace Road cult reports

“I’m sure there are a number of applications that are probably in the process of ministerial consent (under the Land Sales Act) so when it gets to my table then I will pay attention, the same as I have given to any other purchaser in relation to compliance,” Vosarogo said.

“I have not looked at each individual dealing the FijiFirst government had with Grace Road in the past and which have been approved. I will be looking into it, but I have not gone through each individual one.

“They have had 31 acquisitions so far during the time of the FijiFirst government.”

He said he felt the purchases of property by Grace Road were unnecessary.

Human rights allegations
Attorney-General Siromi Turaga said he was not aware about the issue.

“It has not been brought to my attention but I’m sure it will come out,” he said.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported last year allegations by investigative journalists in the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Korea Centre for Investigative Journalism (KCIJ-Newstapa) that the church received more than $8.5 million in loans from the Fiji Development Bank.

Four UN Special Rapporteurs claimed in 2020 that they had received information about Grace Road Group members being subjected to abusive and exploitative labour conditions, which could amount to forced labour and asked the group for their response.

Other human rights abuses reported referred to child labour, restricted freedom of movement, obstructed access to healthcare and education, as well as physical and psychological abuse.

Attempts to reach the management of the church proved unsuccessful yesterday.

Arieta Vakasukawaqa is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Former prime ministers, an opposition leader, and an ex-central bank governor have added their voices to a growing chorus of concerns about the Fiji government’s “close association” with a Korean doomsday Christian cult that has reportedly benefited from millions of dollars from a state-backed institution.

Award-winning investigative journalism organisations, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Korean Centre for Investigative Journalists (KCIJ), published a major exposé this week, that zeros in on the rapid expansion of the controversial Grace Road Church business empire through Prime Minister Voreqe  Bainimarama’s FijiFirst government’s help.

The two groups have revealed that Grace Road, whose leader Ok-joo Shin is in a Korean prison for “assault, child abuse, and imprisoning church members” and whose top executives remain under international police warrants, has received at least FJ$8.5 million (NZ$6.1m) in loans from the Fiji Development Bank (FDB) since 2015.

• LISTEN T0 RNZ PACIFIC WAVES:  The Grace Road cult investigation
• South Korean cult leader who held 400 people captive in Fiji jailed for six years

The FDB is a government-backed institution established to develop the country’s economy by providing finance to local small and medium agricultural enterprises. But Grace Road, which established as a foreign investor in 2014, started getting FDB loans just a year after it began operations.

According to the OCCRP-KCIJ, that money has helped the sect propel itself into a major entity in the Fijian economy, spreading its footprint throughout the main island of Viti Levu, with plans to develop further.

“The sect now operates the country’s largest chain of restaurants, controls roughly 400 hectares of farmland, owns eight supermarkets and mini marts, and runs five Mobil petrol stations. Its businesses also provide services such as dentistry, events catering, heavy construction, and Korean beauty treatments,” the two investigative groups report.

‘Red carpet treatment’
The investigations also uncovered Fijian police’s failure to investigate and charge the top leaders of the sect who were arrested four years ago on allegations of human rights abuses of its followers, but were released soon after when “a local court temporarily blocked their deportation”.

“The South Korean police said that the Fijian police had released the Grace Road members after a high-level meeting that included Fiji’s late immigration chief, the prime minister’s personal private secretary, the solicitor-general, and the country’s top prosecutor,” according to OCCRP-KJIC.

OCCRP’s Pacific editor, Aubrey Belford, told RNZ Pacific the core issue with Grace Road in Fiji was the perception it had been given the red carpet treatment by the government.

“They showed up in the country less than 10 years ago and in that time they have managed to build what is now one of the biggest business empires in the country,” Belford said.

“We counted 54 business establishments currently running in the country — 55 If you count the huge farm they have in Navua. They’re really everywhere.”

He said the OCCRP was able to uncover “that no one knew” that FDB provided Grace Road millions of dollars in loans to finance its business aspirations.

Belford said the police investigation into the alleged abuses of its members in Fiji had been ongoing for several years but had “gone nowhere” despite Fijian police officers travelling to Seoul to collect victim statements from key witnesses.

Former church member Yoon-jae Lee with two Fiji police officers. Image: Yoon-jae Lee

Government dismisses claims
“There is no conspiracy or cover-up here,” Fiji’s Director of Public Prosecution Christopher Pryde told OCCRP-KCIJ.

OCCRP-KCIJ said the South Korean Embassy in Suva declined to be interviewed, citing “the sensitive issues of the matter on Grace Road Church and ongoing Korean-Fijian law enforcement cooperation”.

Fijian authorities have remained quiet about the claims made in the report, but Attorney-General and Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Kahiyum deflected media questions on Tuesday, telling reporters the investigations were “done by some organisation who we have never heard about”.

RNZ Pacific has contacted Grace Road for comment.

But with an election looming, Fijian political leaders are calling for Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum to “come clean” about their dealings with the Korean group.

Former prime ministers Sitiveni Rabuka and Mahendra Chaudhry, who lead the People’s Alliance and the Labour Party respectively; the leader of the major opposition SODELPA, Viliame Gavoka; as well as former Reserve Bank of Fiji Governor Savenaca Narube are all calling for an official inquiry.

Rabuka has labelled the close links between the government and Grace Road a “disgrace”.

“It is a disgrace that this foreign sect whose founder is serving jail time in Korea for abusing its adherents has been given the red carpet treatment by the FijiFirst government,” Rabuka said.

“What equity did they bring as part of the deals to justify the $8.5m lending?” he asked, adding: “It seems that this government will willingly leave Fijians behind for the sake of assisting their own rich foreign friends.”

Rabuka said his People’s Alliance would launch an investigation into the operations of Grace Road Church if the alliance formed a government after the 2022 election.

Chaudhry said he hoped the findings uncovered by OCCRP would “bring out the truth”.

“Many here have questioned whether the Fiji police investigations into the complaints against the group have been hamstrung by political interference,” Chaudhry said.

“It is believed that a number of powerful people may have personally benefited from the activities of the Grace Road group in return for favours extended to it.”

Chaudhry said the Fiji police investigation was “just a joke”.

“We have raised this issue many times before but without results, because the group appears to have the backing of the government top brass who have not hesitated to defend them even in Parliament,” the Labour leader added.

‘Gravely concerned’
SODELPA’s Gavoka said he was “gravely concerned with revelations” of the investigations.

“There have been unspoken concerns among our people with respect to the fast-growing expansion of the Grace Road business in Fiji, while many are aware of past reports alleging gross abuse of human rights and workers’ rights,” he said.

“SODELPA demands the FijiFirst Government and local authorities act and come clean; and put all these to an end.”

Gavoka is calling on Bainimarama’s government to “declare its interest on Grace Road”.

“We cannot allow such incidences on allegations of criminal conduct on gross violations of human and workers’ rights on our land.”

Former Reserve Bank of Fiji governor and leader of the Unity Fiji party Narube said they had “watched with great concern” the friendly relations between the Bainimarama government and the sect.

“We have seen the rapid expansion of Grace Road into sectors that are reserved for the Fiji citizens and companies,” Narube said.

“We have been informed of the rapid processing of their business applications compared to others. We have seen many foreign workers in jobs that would be easily filled by locals. We are concerned about the allegations of physical and mental abuses within the sect.”

With a general election looming, Narube said a Unity Fiji government would apply the laws fairly and uniformly.

“A Unity Fiji government would therefore investigate the ties between the government and Grace Road to clear all the allegations and perceptions.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.