Jung Myung Seok
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- This is a Korean name; the family name is Jung (정).
Jung Myung Seok (born February 17, 1945) is a South Korean religious leader and self-proclaimed messiah.[1] He is also known by the names of Joshua Jung, Joshua Lee Jung, Joshua Lee, and JMS.[2]
Jung originally fled Korea in 1999 after rape accusations surfaced and was officially charged in 2001.[3] After nearly 9 years on the run,[4] Jung was finally captured by Chinese police in May 2007.[5][6] Besides rape, Jung has also been charged of fraud, sexual abuse, and embezzlement.[7]
In January 2008, South Korea's Supreme Court found that Jung forced two female followers to have sex with him as part of a religious purification ritual.[1][8]
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[edit] Early biography
Jung was born in the small village Wolmyeong-dong, located in Geumsan County, South Chungcheong province, South Korea.
In the 1970s Jung was a member of the Unification Church, before breaking off to create the dissent group[9] now known as Providence around 1980 in South Korea.[10][11]
In 1999, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) in Korea reported about sexual abuse allegedly committed by Jung. This resulted in Jung fleeing the country one day later.[12] However, accusations surfaced in other countries, and in 2001 he was investigated by Taiwanese authorities causing him to flee Taiwan.[7]
Jung was arrested in 2003 for illegal stay in Hong Kong but when released on bail, fled the extradition hearing.[13][14] Following this, he managed to evade capture until May 2007 in China. He was extradited back to South Korea on February 20, 2008.[15]
[edit] Jung’s teaching
Jung believes he has come to finish the incomplete message and mission of Jesus Christ, asserting that he is the Messiah and has the responsibility to save all mankind.[16] Jung claims that the Christian doctrine of resurrection is false but that people can be saved through him.[17]
Critics say Jung's teachings pretty clearly derived from the Unification church.[18] (See Unification theology, Divine Principle.) The main differences is that:
- it identifies Jung as the Messiah (rather than Sun Myung Moon)
- according to some Korean media, it teaches that original sin, originating in Eve's intercourse with Satan, can be defeated by intercourse with the Savior[19][20]
Marriages must be approved by Jung, and both partners must have been in Providence for at least 3 years, read the Bible 3 times, and recruited 3 members according to former members.[10][citation needed]
[edit] Rape allegations
According to former members, "in order to gain the likes of their religious leader, the followers choose tall, pretty and young female victims as ‘sexual gifts’" and sends photos of them to Jung. Jung then "systematically goes through a process of choosing the girls from the photos that pleases him and calls upon (these girls) from overseas to rape them."[21]
According to Toyoshige Aizawa, a Christian minister engaged in weaning young people away from cults, Jung rapes them under the context "to atone for Adam and Eve's original sin, which was visited upon all mankind, it's necessary to engage in intercourse with the Lord."[18] Afterwards, Jung's aides told them they would go to hell if they told anyone.[22]
A former member said "I couldn't understand what was happening to me while I was being sexually assaulted, I was so messed up in the head, and couldn't resist whatever the guru did."[22]
Former members have said, that when Jung was in Japan, "he stayed at his aides' homes in Osaka and Chiba prefectures, where he summoned up to 10 female followers almost every day and indecently assaulted them under the pretext of 'health checks'."[22] In January 2007, police raided one such facility in Chiba, believing it to have been used by Jung to sexually assault female followers.[23]
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Reputation
Jung's religion is seen as a serious problem in Korea and Japan[24] and as one of Asia's most notorious cults.[5]
[edit] Secular organisations
Jung encourages his followers to form non-religious organisations for the purpose of attracting young people without initially revealing the religious nature of the group or their real motives,[24] in a practice which has been described as "fraudulent" by lawyers.[25]
[edit] Response
In response to the rape allegations, Providence member Bae Jae-yong said that it was "distorted rumor that was created by the people who have slandered him" and that "all fundamental truth will be clarified by [Jung] at the prosecutor's office".[15]
[edit] Events since 2006
In April of 2006, a press conference was held by EXODUS in which four unidentified women accused Jung of organised sex crimes against themselves and other women.[26] Two of these women, Gim (28) and Jang (21) said they were raped in group sex involving more than 50 women. While they were fleeing China, where Jung was, Jung's bodyguards tried to kidnap them at an airport, but they were saved by the police.[27] They had bad injuries in the crotch[27] and needed to go to a hospital to receive treatment.[28]
In January 2007, police raided a total of 8 Providence facilities in Japan on suspicion a senior member illegally obtained residence status.[29] The senior member, second in command of Providence's Japanese branch, fled to Taiwan according to law authorities. Taiwan has no criminal extradition treaty with Japan.[30]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Religious sect leader formally arrested on rape charges", Yonhap, 2008-02-23. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ "Claims sect using social groups to recruit members", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2001-03-10. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ Visitor board. Korean National Police Agency (2005-07-04). Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ "China extradites chief of alleged S. Korean rapist cult", AFP, The China Post, 2008-02-21. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b "Asian Cult Leader Arrested", The Australian, 2007-05-15. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ "Alleged South Korean Rape Cult Leader Arrested in China", Fox News, 2007-05-16. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b Cult boss extradited to face sex raps. JoongAng Ilbo (2008-02-21). Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ "JMS 정명석씨, 신도 성폭행 6천만원 위자료 확정", DongA, 2008-01-11. Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
- ^ Luca, Nathalie (March 2002). After the Moon sect: South Korea and indoctrination through the sacred game of football. CNRS. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b "Guru said to have raped prospective brides before mass weddings", Asahi Shimbun, 2006-08-03.
- ^ "Concerns raised about cult led by fugitive", Asahi Shimbun, 2006-07-28.
- ^ China extradites SKorea cult leader. Radio Australia (2008-02-21). Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ Visitor Board. Korean National Police Agency (2003-09-21). Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
- ^ "Accused rapist cult leader faces extradition to Korea", News Limited, 2008-01-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b South Korean religious sect leader extradited from China to face rape charges. International Herald Tribune, AP (2008-02-20). Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ "Suspect of Corrupt Cult Founder Arrested in China", The Korea Times, 2007-05-13. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ "Cult Leader Extradited to Korea", The Korea Times, 2008-02-21. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
- ^ a b "'Love' cult snares student", Japan Times, 2002-10-27.
- ^ "STORY NUMBER: 554980", Associated Press Television News, 2008-02-20. Retrieved on 2008-02-29.
- ^ "South Korean cult merges sex with prayer", Crisscross News, 2006-07-27. Retrieved on 2006-07-27.
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddaum17 - ^ a b c "2,000 Japanese join cult led by suspected sex offender on the run from Interpol", Asahi Shimbun, 2006-07-26.
- ^ "Police raid Setsuri cult facilities in Chiba". Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
- ^ a b Asahi Shimbun editorial: Another problem cult. Retrieved on 2006-12-19.
- ^ "Cult aimed at elite in 50 universities", Asahi Shimbun, 2006-07-31.
- ^ "“JMS 정명석 성폭행 계속...정부 뭐하나” 울분", CNB News, 2006-04-18. Retrieved on 2006-11-21. English: [1]
- ^ a b "被性侵犯女性集體揭發JMS教主鄭明析劣跡", Epoch Times, 2006-4-18. Retrieved on 2007-01-20.
- ^ "“JMS 정명석 성폭행 계속...정부 뭐하나” 울분", CNB News, 2006-04-18. Retrieved on 2007-01-20.
- ^ "Police Raid More Setsuri Cult Facilities", Kyodo News, 2007-01-18.
- ^ Police: Setsuri cult no. 2 in hiding in Taiwan. Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
[edit] External links
- General media
- Sites
- jmscult.com Largest English Internet resource website on JMS (critical)
- Providence Trial - American Providence official website
- Providence Cult Watch - A response to Jung's teachings by an orthodox Christian
- Apologetics Index - Jung Myung Seok entry
- Freedom of Mind Center
- (ko) EXODUS - South Korean non-governmental organisation against Jung's religion, formed by former followers of Jung.
