Jung Myung-seok

Jung Myung-seok fled South Korea in 1999 after Korean television broadcaster Seoul Broadcasting System aired its exposé on the alleged sex crimes of Jung on 20 March 1999. He was in Hong Kong and Mainland China for years before he was extradited from Beijing, China in February 2008 to face the charges in South Korea.[14]

While Jung was in China, Providence (then known mostly as JMS) continued publishing Jung's sermons online, providing telephone counseling and holding overseas events for their followers.[15][16]

Besides being prosecuted in South Korea, Jung was also indicted by the Taiwanese District Prosecutor's Office on charges of rape in 2003 but failed to appear in court. He remains wanted by the Taiwan Taipei District Prosecutor's Office until the arrest warrant expires in 2027.[17][18]

Jung was arrested in Hong Kong in July 2003 for overstaying his visa but was released three days later on bail. When Hong Kong authorities approved extradition to Korea, Jung fled the extradition hearing.[9][19][20] An Interpol Red Notice was issued on Jung in 2003 for multiple counts of fraud, sexual crimes and embezzlement.[21][22] In 2006, South Korean authorities put Jung on an international wanted list on rape charges,[23] and there were nine charges and accusations against him filed to South Korean prosecutors by October 2006.[24]

After learning that Jung had fled to China, the South Korean government officially asked China in November 2006 to extradite him.[22] In February 2007, Interpol requested for the fingerprints of Jung from South Korea, who was then thought to be in Costa Rican territories under false documentation.[25]

Jung was reportedly appeared in Qianshan near Anshan, Liaoning Province, China after leaving Hong Kong in 2003.[26] After about 8 years,[27] Chinese Ministry of Public Security announced that Jung had been arrested in Beijing by Chinese police on 1 May 2007.[9][28][29] Jung was questioned by the Chinese authorities for the sexual assault he allegedly committed in China.[22] The Liaoning Provincial Higher People's Court ruled in September 2007 to extradite Jung, a decision upheld by the Supreme People's Court.[30][31] He was extradited back to South Korea to stand charges in February 2008.[32] Jung was also charged with fraud and embezzlement of church funds.

Seoul prosecutors indicted him on five charges of sexually assaulting five female followers from 2001 to 2006 in Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. Jung was initially convicted on three counts of rape, acquitted on one count, and one case was dismissed because the victim dropped the charges. He was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in 2008.[14][33] An appeal court added four more years to his sentence in 2009, convicting him on all four charges of rape between 2001 and 2006.[34][35][36]

In April 2009, Jung Myung-seok was convicted of 4 counts of rape by the Supreme Court of Korea and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. During his incarceration between 2008 and 2018, Jung's sermons and directives were delivered through visitors to the prison and through his successor Jung Jo-eun (real name Kim Ji-seon).[15]

Members of the Providence Church, now mostly known as the Christian Gospel Movement (CGM), tried to downplay their religious ties when proselytizing. They often recruit members from shopping malls and university campuses in Taiwan, Japan and Australia. Other new members are recruited from student clubs in universities (e.g. modeling, cheerleading, groups focused on sustainable development goals issues),[37] before they are introduced to the Providence doctrine and CGM church services with Jung's sermons. According to former members, some female followers are then introduced as spiritual brides for the leader and coerced or forced into sexual relationships with their perceived messiah.[38][39]

In 2014, Australian public broadcaster SBS aired a feature Inside Providence: The Korean church cult led by a convicted rapist, in which former Australian members described how they were encouraged to write letters, send photos of themselves in bikinis and visit Jung in jail.[40] Members are encouraged to ignore news on Jung's imprisonment and alleged crimes, claiming he is a messiah suffering for them.[38][41] In a 2023 interview, a source confirmed that members were indoctrinated to believe Jung was wrongfully accused.[42]

Jung was released from jail on 18 February 2018.[43]

Jung Myung-seok was indicted in South Korea on 28 October 2022, for sexually assaulting a follower from Hong Kong and sexually abusing an Australian follower.[44][45]

On 13 March 2023, it was reported that Providence's second-in-command Jung Jo-eun, stated that there were seven people from the church who were sexually assaulted by Jung Myung-seok, of which two were minors. She also said that a Providence member said Jung Myung-seok gave false testimony. Jung Jo-Eun said in a recorded video that she had tried to prevent female followers from entering within a 3-meter radius next to Jung Myung-seok.[46][47]

[Reporter Chungnam Ilbo Kim Hyun-soo] The appeal trial against Pastor Jeong Myeong-seok, chairman of the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS), was held in the morning of the June 25th at the Criminal Chamber No. 3 of the Daejeon High Court.

On this day, a debate continued over whether and what the result of the audio recording by female M in Hong Kong at the scene of the damage would be.[50]

• The prosecution and the defense clashed over the admissibility of the audio recording file submitted by the prosecution and the credibility of the complainant's testimony.[51]
• The court has not yet made a decision on the admissibility of the audio recording file.[52]
• The defense team argued that the audio recording file had been tampered with and that the complainant's testimony was not credible.
• The defense team also submitted evidence that the structure of Pastor Jeong's Genesis vehicle made it impossible for the complainant to have been sexually assaulted in the vehicle, as she claimed.

• The defense team called for a fair trial for Pastor Jeong.

Summary:

• A study presented at the CESNUR conference exposes the manipulation and distortion of evidence in Netflix's documentary "I Am God" about the Providence Church and its leader, Pastor Jeong Myeong-seok.
• The study, conducted by Dr. Lee Jin-myung, analyzes various scenes from the documentary and reveals how audio and video footage was edited and manipulated to create a false narrative.
• Dr. Lee Jin-myung argues that the documentary's portrayal of Pastor Jeong and the Providence Church is based on unreliable and biased sources, and that it has caused significant harm to the church and its members.
• The study also highlights the broader issue of media bias and the impact of false news on society.

Key points:

• The study identifies specific instances of manipulation in the documentary, such as splicing audio files, changing subtitles, and removing context.[54][55]
• It argues that the documentary's reliance on sources with a history of animosity towards Pastor Jeong and the Providence Church raises serious questions about its credibility.
• The study emphasizes the importance of critical media literacy and the need to hold media outlets accountable for their reporting.

Additional details:

• The study was presented at the CESNUR conference in Bordeaux, France, on July 14, 2023.
• Dr. Lee Jin-myung is a professor of religious studies at Kyung Hee University in South Korea.
• The Providence Church is a Christian denomination founded by Pastor Jeong Myeong-seok in 1980.
• Netflix's "I Am God" was released in March 2023 and has been the subject of much controversy.