I attended the BuildUp Korea 2025 Conference, now in its third year. As an event teaching the values of liberal democracy and the market economy to the younger generation, it was primarily attended by Christians and politically conservative patriotic citizens. Last year’s conference drew significant attention with the attendance of Trump Jr., the eldest son of the then-leading U.S. presidential candidate and president of Trump Enterprises. It was surprising to learn that the person who planned, operated, and secured influential speakers for this international event gathering thousands was a female YouTuber named Kim Mina. Wondering how the CEO of a small media startup could accomplish what major South Korean politicians and business leaders couldn’t, I arrived at KINTEX in Ilsan to find many people already queuing to receive their admission passes.

The official schedule began at 10 a.m., but I was amazed to see many people already arriving as early as 8:30 a.m., waiting orderly for the event to start. Seeing young people, older adults, and parents who brought their young children even on a weekday, I knew they were all passionate individuals. They were all worshipers who cherished freedom, and I felt a similar sense of belonging to what I experienced last month at the Handong University parents’ retreat. The speakers were either pastors or conservative political influencers, and while their messages differed slightly, they all flowed in the same direction. Representative Kim Min-ah introduced the American Christian slogan ‘Jesus is King,’ followed by Pastor Rob McCoy’s testimony about defying government quarantine guidelines during COVID to hold in-person worship services. Hearing the pastor say he had come to support Korean brother pastors fighting against a government persecuting the church, I truly grasped how severely religious freedom is being infringed upon in South Korea.

The speakers who attended this event delivered a strong conservative political message grounded in Christian values. The international organization-driven election fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the truth behind the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, and the recent allegations of election fraud and open immigration policies in South Korea’s presidential election—though distinct events—were interconnected. Hearing these points made me realize they harbor a sense of crisis far more severe than what South Korean citizens perceive. Kang Min Lee’s speech was deeply moving. He explained the root cause of South Korea’s systemic problems as ‘materialism,’ backed by various statistical data, lamenting the loss of Korean identity, faith, and family. The final speaker, Charlie Kirk, mentioned that immediately after landing at Incheon Airport, he visited Liberty Park where General MacArthur’s statue stands, then traveled to the DMZ. He stated that the United States is a nation built upon Christian values, and that South Korea is the only Christian nation in Asia. This is likely because in 1899, a young man sentenced to life imprisonment in Hanseong Prison read the Bible, was reborn, and wrote the book ‘The Spirit of Independence’ in prison until his special pardon in 1904. With the help of American missionaries, he studied at Harvard and Princeton Universities before returning to Joseon and establishing a nation based on the Christian spirit of America.

Meanwhile, I felt regret over why I had never learned this Christian view of history in church, and why I hadn’t sought to learn this truth on my own. When many patriotic citizens, myself included, finally woke up through President Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law last year, it felt too late. Millions took to the streets opposing impeachment and protesting against harmful laws like the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act, the Yellow Envelope Act, the Grain Act revision, and the Commercial Act revision—laws that destroy families and businesses and hand over South Korea’s land and companies to foreigners. Yet it was all in vain. The legislature and judiciary had long been cartelized and corrupted, illegally building a fraudulent election system linked to international organizations. Even when patriotic citizens organized to report these abuses, it had no effect. Worse, the police had signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese public security and were cooperating to control patriotic citizens. When we realized that communist ideology, communist politicians, and globalist capital had spread like cancer within the liberal democracy of South Korea and solidified their power, it felt like everything was already over.

But as I meditated during dawn prayer, what came to mind was precisely God’s power to transform those seemingly impossible dry bones into an army. I imagined tendons attaching to the bones, tendons connecting to tendons, bones joining together, muscles forming, the body being restored, and finally, through God’s breath of life, eyes blinking open and rising as a mighty army. Seeing citizens march in the scorching summer sun and young people waving flags and chanting “Yoon Again!” undeterred by sudden downpours, I believed those dry bones could come alive and become an army. Initially resisting oppression against freedom from their own positions, they were now gradually organizing to confront the government through street marches. This was not a movement led by any specific political leader, nor was it a temporary gathering born of emotional turmoil. It was a pure and passionate movement of patriotic citizens.

I too joined that resistance and cry for freedom, leaving blog posts and commenting on social media, awakening people one by one. And as I realized that these actions and practices were like tendons attaching to dry bones, muscles forming, and bones fitting together—and that when God breathed life into those bones, they became a mighty army—I felt energized and exhilarated. That army was the hundreds of worshippers I saw at the Handong University parents’ retreat and the thousands of patriotic citizens who attended Build Up Korea. Watching the worship dance and praise of the new generation, and the students of the Christian international school fluently debating in English, I felt certain that a new Republic of Korea was being prepared. The question was whether I would join that new Korea, and my answer was ‘Yes, God!’ Build Up Korea!

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15)