South Korea: Rally in Front of Chinese Embassy Commemorates April 25 Appeal and Condemns the Persecution

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on April 22, 2024, to mark the 25^th anniversary of the April 25 Appeal. Earlier in the day, practitioners did the exercises, introduced Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong), and talked about the background of the April 25 appeal.

Press conference in front of Chinese Embassy in Seoul on April 22

Group practice before the press conference

A representative of the Korean Falun Dafa Association read a statement on the 25th anniversary of the April 25 petition in Chinese and Korean, pointing out that, “Chinese Falun Gong practitioners peacefully rallied in Beijing to retain their basic right of belief, which was a mature, new way of citizens petitioning.”

The April 25 Appeal refers to April 25, 1999, when more than 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners went to the Petition Office of the State Council in Beijing to peacefully request the release of 45 practitioners who had been illegally arrested by the Tianjin police. They also requested the legal publication of Falun Gong books and demanded to be allowed to cultivate legally and without interference. Although approximately 10,000 practitioners participated in the peaceful petition on April 25, no one shouted a single slogan or created a disturbance. The appeal was called an “unprecedentedly peaceful rally seldom seen in the world.”

The representative then read another statement about Chinese Embassy officials calling and visiting theaters and local governments to attempt to interfere with Shen Yun Performing Arts coming to South Korea.

Dr. Wu Shilie, secretary of the South Korean Falun Dafa Association, delivers the statement to the Chinese Embassy.

Dr. Wu condemned the Chinese Embassy for pressuring the local government to cancel the Shen Yun Show after the tickets were nearly sold out. He called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, and other governmental agencies to take special action in regard to the Chinese Embassy for violating South Korea’s sovereignty.

After the press conference, Dr. Wu delivered the statement to the Chinese Embassy.

Other practitioners held press conferences concurrently at Chinese Consulates in Busan, Gwangju, and Jeju, South Korea.

Press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in Busan on April 22

Press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in Gwangju on April 22

Practitioners deliver the statement to the Chinese Consulate mailbox in Jeju

Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced improved health and well-being.

On April 23 & 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who had gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeal to Beijing.

The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the Central Appeals office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier, Zhu Rongji, and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners' concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released and everyone went home.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years; the actual number is suspected to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.