Ethnic Korean Pastor in China Mentioned by Trump Released After Nine Months in Detention

Detained for 266 Days in Crackdown on Underground Churches
Reunited with Family in the U.S. After Nine Months

Pastor Jin Mingru (Korean name: Kim Myungil), an ethnic Korean who was detained during the large-scale crackdown on underground churches by Chinese authorities last year, has been released after about nine months and has relocated to the United States. The release has drawn attention as it came after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly stated that he had directly addressed Pastor Jin’s detention during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in May.

Pastor Jin Minglu leading the underground church in China. Photo by AP Yonhap News.

According to U.S. media outlet The Free Press and British daily The Guardian on the 4th (local time), Pastor Jin was released after spending 266 days in a detention facility in China and arrived in Los Angeles (LA), United States, on the 3rd. Both outlets cited a statement issued by Pastor Jin’s family in reporting this news.

It has been reported that Pastor Jin reunited with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and other family members in LA.

Pastor Jin is one of the key leaders of Zion Church, an underground house church network in China. In early October last year, he was arrested along with around 30 other church leaders during a sweeping crackdown by Chinese police on underground churches and was subsequently detained.

Zion Church, founded in 2007, has continued its activities both online and offline since 2018, when increasing government pressure made it difficult to secure worship spaces. This dual approach reportedly led to the church’s expansion in membership.

The Chinese government only recognizes churches affiliated with the “Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches in China” (Three-Self Church), which is overseen and supervised by the Communist Party, as legal. All other house church activities are considered illegal religious activities and are subject to crackdowns.

Pastor Jin, originally from Heilongjiang Province, graduated from Peking University and is known to have embraced Christianity following the Tiananmen Square Incident in 1989. He was initially active in the Three-Self Church but later established his own independent house church and grew his congregation, which subsequently placed him under the watch of Chinese authorities.

Pastor Jin’s detention has attracted significant attention, particularly among the American Christian community. During his visit to China in May, U.S. President Donald Trump also raised the issue of Pastor Jin’s detention in his meeting with President Xi Jinping and later disclosed that he had received a positive response at that time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.