Jesus Morning Star founder Jeong Myeong-seok (left) with Maple Yip from Hong Kong, in the Netflix documentary In The Name Of God: A Holy Betrayal. - NETFLIX
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network): Two aides of South Korea religious leader Jeong Myeong-seok, who was previously convicted with the sexual molestation of his female followers, were arrested on Tuesday (April 18) as accomplices to the pastor’s alleged sex crimes.
A district court in Daejeon issued arrest warrants for the two individuals, citing their flight risk and the possibility of evidence being destroyed. Arrest warrants for four other former officials of the religious group were dismissed as they have since left the group.
One of the two arrested on Tuesday was Kim Ji-sun. She was known to play second fiddle to Jeong in the Christian Gospel Mission, or more popularly known as the Jesus Morning Star (JMS) group.
The two are accused of luring women to have sexual intercourse with Jeong.
In particular, the prosecution charged Kim as a perpetrator of sexual assault, considering her role in JMS. Kim is reportedly known as Jeong’s successor and a powerful figure in the religious organisation.
Multiple sexual abuse allegations were raised against Jeong and his aides after the release of the Netflix documentary series titled In The Name Of God: A Holy Betrayal, which shed light on the religious group and its misconduct.
Some acts that were brought to light included attempts at brainwashing and Jeong’s alleged sexual abuse of numerous female believers. The eight-part series also discussed three other religious figures and their own alleged crimes.
Following the release of the series, some of Jeong’s confidants have flatly denied allegations that they had taken part in aiding his sexual assault crimes, claiming that they were the ones who actually helped separate and protect female victims from Jeong.
But the victims refuted these claims, saying that Kim and her aides were the ones who took the victims to Jeong’s room. The victims added that the accomplices would know “very well” about the sexual crimes Jeong has allegedly committed.
Jeong was arrested and indicted on charges of sexually assaulting Maple Yip, a 28-year-old former JMS member and Hong Kong national, 17 times from February 2018 to September 2021 at a training centre in South Chungcheong Province.
He is also accused of touching the body of a 30-year-old Australian believer five times from July 2018 to the end of that year. In January, three Korean female JMS members also sued Jeong, claiming that they were victims of his sex crimes.
Jeong walked free on parole in February 2018 after serving 10 years in prison for molesting four foreign JMS members in their 20s from August 2001 to April 2006.
