In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal explores the true stories of four self-proclaimed leaders who influenced and exploited a large number of people. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Episode 1: JMS, God’s Brides
Maple Yip from Hong Kong and the victims of JMS join the crew of the show to talk about how Jeong Myeong-seok, a religious leader, ruined their lives. Even today, his people continue to follow them around in an attempt to stop them from speaking against him.
Jeong Myeong-seok became popular during the 1980s and 1990s when South Korea was in chaos. JMS was a popular religion that was dedicatedly followed at various schools and colleges.
Jeong Myeong-seok often spoke about how they should look at the Bible as a metaphor. In the year 1980, he became active in Sinchon. He started out in a small apartment, from where he began evangelizing various students.
Jeong Myeong-seok’s focus was students from elite universities. He established his first church and started praying for several things, and these things did come true. For example, he made prophecies about presidential campaigns that came true.
No one knows how Jeong Myeong-seok made those predictions, but it all worked for him. He even comforted families and people who were sick and assured them that they won’t die. He prayed for them, and these people actually survived.
In the early 1990s, Jeong Myeong-seok’s popularity grew, and a lot of women joined his religion. All these women were tall and beautiful. He held several events and it wasn’t easy to meet Jeong Myeong-seok in person, owing to his popularity.
Meeting Jeong Myeong-seok alone was an honor and very rare. Though it was difficult, in the 1990s, as soon as more women joined his religion, he started conducting one-on-one sessions with them after the regular teachings were done.
During these meetings, Jeong Myeong-seok showed his true colors. He used to sexually assault these girls by claiming that the Lord has ordered him to check up on them.
Jeong Myeong-seok’s informants brought him these girls; it was one of their most important missionary works. These girls were specifically tall and beautiful because they were basically looking for Jeong Myeong-seok’s brides.
Jeong Myeong-seok planned to save mankind from corruption by not allowing humans to get intimate. He believed only he can do it because he considered himself the ‘Perfect Adam’. He wanted to say that by getting intimate with him, God was showering love on these girls through his body.
Episode 2: JMS, Messiah on Red Notice
In 1999, Jeong Myeong-seok was accused of sexually assaulting his followers. This saw him fly away to Hong Kong as soon as he could.
While Jeong Myeong-seok was busy protecting his image by claiming that he is going overseas to continue his work, Professor Kim Do-hyeong worked to take Jeong Myeong-seok down.
Do-hyeong created a website where former JMS followers came to talk about their experiences. The JMS community referred to Do-hyeong as the devil.
Jeong Myeong-seok’s overseas adventures were put on pause when his passport ran out of pages. He tried to bribe his way out, but his passport was confiscated, leaving him no option but to hide in Hong Kong.
More women came out to talk about being sexually assaulted by Jeong Myeong-seok. Interpol put him on the Red Notice list of 2003.
In June 2003, Do-hyeong received a tip suggesting that female pastors of JMS are meeting Jeong Myeong-seok in Hong Kong. Do-hyeong and his team followed these female pastors, and eventually, they tracked the perpetrator down.
The cult leader was arrested in the field. Everyone thought the nightmare was over, but it wasn’t. Jeong Myeong-seok hired a lawyer, paid a thousand-dollar bail, and got himself released. He then illegally fled to China without a passport.
Hurting their Messiah made the JMS followers furious. They hunted the people who played a part in arresting Jeong Myeong-seok down, and when they weren’t able to find them, they targeted their families.
Jeong Myeong-seok didn’t put a pause on his antics in China after escaping the authorities. Even in another country, women came forward claiming that he sexually assaulted them. It turns out that Jeong Myeong-seok didn’t stop, no matter what.
Episode 3: JMS, Messiah with Electronic Anklets
At the request of the South Korean government, Jeong Myeong-seok was extradited from China to Korea. The criminal trial against Jeong Myeong-seok began as the accusations lined up.
The JMS community desperately tried to save their Messiah; they tried to settle with the victims by paying them millions. Meanwhile, Jeong Myeong-seok started putting on a show in front of everyone at the court.
Jeong Myeong-seok, who once called himself the Messiah, denied that he was one when he was put on the stand. In 2009, the Supreme Court confirmed the ten-year sentence for Jeong Myeong-seok.
Even in prison, he continued to meet girls sent by his people. After serving 10 years in prison, he was released with an electronic anklet on his leg for seven years.
During the next few years, Maple Yip came close to Jeong Myeong-seok, who never stopped pursuing other women. He did the same with Maple and influenced her.
Maple got brainwashed, but soon she figured out what was wrong. She learned about a foreign star who was assaulted by Jeong Myeong-seok. Maple was advised to escape and go back to Hong Kong.
On March 16, 2022, Maple returned to Korea to attend a press conference where she talked about who Jeong Myeong-seok is, what he did, and what JMS really is.
Jeong Myeong-seok continued to claim his innocence by hiring a large law firm, but the court arrested him on October 4, 2022.
Episode 4: Five Oceans, God, and 32 Dead Bodies
On August 29, 1989, 32 bodies were discovered on the ceiling of a factory in Yongin. The wrists and ankles of the bodies were tied up; the nostrils and mouths were stuffed, and one of them was in a kneeling position.
These people were Park Soon-ja and her followers. Park Soon-ja ran Five Oceans, a craft manufacturing company. She was a successful entrepreneur who used to do a lot of charity work. She was known for helping the poor.
Park Soon-ja’s company gave benefits to its employees. They allowed them to live on-site and even took care of their children. Park Soon-ja held an important leadership position in her community.
People showed trust in Park Soon-ja, who soon turned this whole thing into a cult. Park Soon-ja took money from people, claiming that she is going to provide for the poor.
The people willingly gave her the money as she offered impressive interest rates. Apparently, Park Soon-ja told her employees that borrowing money is the only way to obey the Holy Spirit.
Five Oceans was a mysterious place. There were several bizarre rules. Couples were not allowed to talk to each other. The orphan kids she looked after were her creditors’ children.
According to the testimony of some Five Oceans members, Park Soon-ja always emphasized that she was someone who received revelations from God.
Though Park Soon-ja took the money, she wasn’t able to pay it back. She soon found herself in debt of ten billion won. On August 24, 1987, Park Soon-ja fainted during a police interrogation where she was accused of assaulting the people who came asking for their money.
She was shifted to a nearby hospital, from where she ran away with her followers. After a few days, the cops discovered the dead bodies of Park Soon-ja and her followers in a factory.
The whole mess was dubbed a mass suicide encouraged by Park Soon-ja, but there were discrepancies in the case. A further investigation into the case revealed that Lee, who seems to have killed the other 31 people, has a mark around his neck that suggests that he was strangled to death.
The question remains: if he killed the others, then who killed him? Furthermore, having Park Soon-ja die before the followers also didn’t make sense.
Several notes found at the crime scene led the investigators to Samwoo Trading Company, which was working with Five Oceans. Apparently, the money Five Oceans borrowed went to Samwoo Trading Company.
The court still didn’t have evidence on whether Samwoo Trading Company’s CEO, Yoo Byeong-un, was involved in the mass suicide. Therefore, Yoo Byeong-un was only charged with fraud in relation to the money he received from Park Soon-ja.
Episode 5: The Baby Garden, On the Way to Heaven
Kim Ki-soon, a loyal follower of a pastor, Lee Kyo-Bu, took the place of the person she worshipped and started preaching. Soon she started making a name for herself, and the followers of Mr. Lee thought his spirit has traveled into Kim Ki-soon.
Kim Ki-soon aimed to create a heaven on earth at a place she called the Baby Garden. She tricked people by stating that an apocalypse is coming and that only her followers will enter the millennial kingdom. This way, around 400 people started living at the Baby Garden.
The Baby Garden soon became the Devil’s Garden. It was called a bizarre group with blind faith. They were living on a farm where they were forced to perform heavy labor from dawn. Any cult member who disobeyed the leader was killed.
Many claimed that Kim Ki-soon used to sleep with young male followers and forced everyone else to follow a life of celibacy. Things went out of the spiral when she claimed that a five-year-old boy, Nak-Gwi, is a devil.
She said that the boy needs an exorcism. In order to exorcise the demon, she directed her followers, including the aunt of the boy, to hit him with sticks, which resulted in his death.Â
Episode 6: The Baby Garden of Death
A complaint against Kim Ki-soon regarding the death of Nak-Gwi was received at the local station after ten years. Nak-Gwi’s father and those who agreed to go against Kim Ki-soon worked together and filed a lawsuit against her.
The deaths of other people at the Baby Garden came to light. Kim Ki-soon had managed to escape, but she later turned herself in. Upon returning, Kim Ki-soon denied all the accusations made against her.
The case was hanging on Nak-Gwi’s mother’s testimony. Before the trial, Nak-Gwi’s mother was brought to Kim Ki-soon. There is a belief that she agreed to say things the way Kim Ki-soon instructed her.
In court, Nak-Gwi’s mother testified that her son died from a heart attack, as the doctor said. The woman who hit Nak-Gwi admitted that she had done it, but Nak-Gwi’s own mother denied it.
No one knows how Kim Ki-soon convinced a mother to lie about her son’s death. In 1998, the Supreme Court sentenced Kim Ki-soon to four years in jail and a fine of 5.6 billion won.
Kim Ki-soon is not found guilty of beating Nak-Gwi or any other murderers, due to the lack of evidence. The court acknowledged that Nak-Gwi was beaten and killed, but they said it wasn’t intentional. The court claimed that Kim Ki-soon was trying to discipline the kid.
Episode 7: The Man Who Became God of Manmin
In May 1999, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) looked into the reports they received about Manmin Central Church, where a Christian pastor named Jaerock Lee was healing people.
The miracles Jaerock Lee was pulling off were astounding. Jaerock Lee had dedicated followers, but the MBC saw it as a cult pretending to be a church; Jaerock Lee was just acting as a pastor.
It was believed that Jaerock Lee took the money offered by his followers and gambled it. The crew of MBC also met the victims who were sexually assaulted by Jaerock Lee.
The MBC aimed to air a documentary criticizing Jarecok Lee. In response, he and his followers invaded the studio of MBC. They attacked everyone there in an attempt to stop the airing of the documentary.
After the MBC documentary broadcast, Jaerock Lee and his followers continued to file lawsuits against them, and though MBC won, Jaerock Lee told his followers that they have won.
Right after this, Jaerock Lee embraced the cult-like nature of his personality. He started building an empire of his own by holding grand events to bring his followers together. Jaerock Lee’s empire grew until allegations of sexual assault were brought against him.
Episode 8: God of Manmin Who Went to Prison
Jaerock Lee demanded offerings from his followers by scaring them. He stated that the Lord will put curse upon them if they don’t pay their offerings. The more money you paid, the closer you got to Jaerock Lee. The people who were close to Jaerock Lee paid millions every year.
Jaerock Lee also instilled a thought among his followers, suggesting that they only get sick if they sin. This thought resulted in the deaths of many who were part of Jaerock Lee’s church.
The faith in Jaerock Lee prevented his followers from going to the hospital. They accepted that they had sinned, and that’s why they were sick.
The news that rocked Jaerock Lee’s followers was when he was accused of sexually assaulting nine of his followers.
Jaerock Lee used to invite women personally to his house. The women, believing that he wanted to discuss their faith or a job, went to meet him. He convinced them that he is God and that whatever they are doing isn’t wrong.
The victims failed to see what was happening to them. After assaulting them, he gave millions of won to the women.
Jaerock Lee continued to deny the charges brought up against him, and his followers supported him, but soon he was arrested for multiple sexual assault charges.