Two pastors fined $920 each for disrupting South Korean flight w/ loud preaching

Two pastors in South Korea were fined 1 million won (S$920) each for disrupting a domestic flight by loudly preaching to passengers and refusing repeated requests from cabin crew to stop, local media reported on Aug 24.



The pastors, aged 64 and 68, were convicted of violating the Aviation Security Act over an incident aboard a flight from Jeju to Gimpo that departed at around 3.40pm local time on March 12, according to the Seoul Southern District Court's Aug 18 ruling.



The court said the 64-year-old pastor stood in the aisle despite repeated attempts by crew members to stop him and shouted at passengers, "You will go to hell if you don't believe in Jesus."



The other pastor joined in, shouting, "Hallelujah, you will go to hell" while walking up and down the aisle. When a crew member approached to issue a warning, the pastors reportedly shouted back, "Don't try to lecture me."



The two ignored repeated complaints and objections from crew and passengers, and the disturbance continued for about 13 minutes, according to the court.



At trial, the pastors denied the charges, arguing that their conduct did not meet the legal definition of a "disturbance" under the Aviation Security Act and that they had no intent to cause such a scene.