Kim Jang-hwan preaches at the 56th National Prayer Breakfast at the Shilla Hotel in Jung District, Seoul on Nov. 22, 2024. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok

Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

In international relations, it is often the unexpected domestic event, not the summit meeting or the formal negotiation, that reshapes a country’s strategic environment. South Korea’s recent law enforcement raids on two high-profile Christian leaders, Reverend Billy Kim and Pastor Lee Young-hoon, are one such case. Though rooted in local legal processes, these actions carried consequences that extended well beyond national borders, stirring concern among some American political circles and prompting an unusually sharp response from U.S. President Donald Trump, who described the raids as part of a “purge” and “very vicious.”

This reaction did not emerge in a vacuum. Kim and Lee are not only respected religious figures in Korea; they also possess long-standing personal relationships with influential evangelical leaders in the United States and, by various accounts, proximity to Trump-aligned networks. These connections do not make them diplomats, but they have positioned them within the informal fabric of Korea-U.S. ties that run parallel to, and sometimes soften the rigidity of, official state-to-state channels. Their cooperation with the Lee Jae Myung government had especially been necessary given the high stakes Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations.

Understanding how a domestic investigation became a matter of diplomatic sensitivity requires acknowledging two truths: South Korea has a right and a responsibility to enforce its laws impartially. At........

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