Jung Myung Seok

Jung Myung Seok (born February 17 1945) is a controversial Korean religious leader. He was born in a small village called Wolmyeong-dong, which is located in Geumsan County, South Chungcheong province, South Korea.

One of seven children, Jung became involved with mysticism as a child and after finishing elementary school spent years at prayer mountains, retreats where people pray and fast. At an unspecified age, he joined the White Horse Division, a unit of the Korean force in the Vietnam War.

The organizations

At age of 30 he returned to his hometown and visited the Unification Church. Jung worked for two years as an instructor for the International Federation for Victory Over Communism - a group formed in the 1970s by Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church. In March 1980, Jung left the Unification Church and established Ae-Chun Church, along with four followers: Kim Ki-hee, Ahn Goo-hyoun, Suh In-soon, and Kim Hyoung-maan.

Jung developed "The 30 Lessons" of the International Christian Association (ICA), which include criticism of Christian churches, interpretation of the Bible and the claim that Jung is the saviour. The ICA uses summer retreat and revival programs including a daily devotional program and group Bible study. The names of his organization are different in different countries and at different times. The organisation operates worldwide, primarily on university campuses.

Korea

The organization has been called Nak-seong-dae Church, Seoul Church, Jesus Morning Star church (JMS), the ICA, the Global Association Of Culture and Peace (GACP), and finally Christian Gospel Mission ("기독교복음선교회", CGM).

Critics say that there are 240 branches of the church in Korea alone, and there are organizations in almost all universities.

Other than religious rituals, the church supports many kinds of school activities, such as sports events.

Taiwan

The organization's earliest activity in Taiwan started in 1988 (CCYA page, ). The organization is commonly known as Jesus Morning Star church (JMS), "晨星會" (Tongyong Pinyin: chéeng sīn hùei), or "攝理教" (Tongyong Pinyin: shè lǐ jìao).

The organization itself rejects these common names, officially registered as "中華基督教新時代青年會" (China Christian Youth Association, CCYA), and sometimes calls itself "攝理教會" (Providence Church).

Activities include supporting soccer, cheerleading, and model training.

Since 2001

In 2001 September, Jung was charged with sexual assault by the Korean government and left the country. In November, the Taiwanese version of Next Magazine covered the story with the headline: "Korean cult leader raped over 100 Taiwanese female college students." Members of Exodus (a South Korean non-governmental organization against JMS) soon came to Taiwan and held a press conference with an involved woman in a local Legislative Yuan.

In 2003 July, Jung was arrested by the Hong Kong Immigration Department for illegal residency, but escaped to Mainland China by jumping his 780,000 HKD (100,000 USD) bail. The Korean court ceased prosecution at that point.

In 2005 October, the Apple Daily Taiwan covered his arrival and involvement in Taiwanese college activities.

In 2006 April 18, the group Exodus and four South Korean women accused Jung of rape. They said that Jung is now staying in one of four lavish villas in Anshan, Liaoning province, Mainland China.

They accused Jung of raping at least two Korean women (out of 50 women from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China, who were having group sex with Jung) on April 2. They also accused Jung of attempting to kidnap them when they were taking a plane back to Korea.

Aliases

Also known as: Joshua Jung, Joshua Lee Jung, Joshua Lee, JMS
In Taiwan he had also been called "president"

References

Press conference on 2006 April 18

In Chinese :

(Central News Agency the state news agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Primery source)

News from Taiwan and Hong Kong

In Chinese : (Jeong was wanted in 2001 September)

In English: (Jeong was covered by media in Taiwan on November)

In Chinese : (Media conference in Taiwan 2001 December 10)

In Chinese : (Arrested in Hong Kong 2003 July 30)

In Chinese : （2005 October Taiwan college activities) (A copy from the web: ^*)

Korean police

Korean National Police Agency Visitor Board: There is no direct link to specific messages. However using keyword search the messages about JMS can be easily found.

Critical websites

South Korean religious leaders | New religious movements | 1945 births | Living people

Jung Myung-seok | 정명석 | 鄭明析

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