JMS Victims to Receive Hundreds of Millions of Won in Damages... "Jeong Myeongseok and Religious Group Also Liable"

Court: Group indoctrinated members with its doctrine and managed "faith stars"
Also subjected victims to secondary victimization through rallies and press releases

A court has ruled that both Jeong Myeong-seok (81), the leader of the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS), and the religious group are liable for damages in a lawsuit brought by victims of Jeong's sex crimes.

According to legal sources on October 17, the 12th Civil Division of the Daejeon District Court, presided over by Judge Im Seong-sil, recently ruled in a damages suit brought by three female congregation members who were victims of Jeong—Maple, a Hong Kong national; Amy, an Australian national; and a Korean identified as A—that Jeong and JMS must jointly pay Maple KRW 250 million plus interest.

The court also ordered payment of KRW 80 million plus interest to Amy and KRW 40 million plus interest to A. Kim Ji-seon (48), the group’s second-in-command, was also ordered to pay KRW 30 million plus interest toward the amount owed to Maple, jointly with Jeong and the group. The three women were victims in the case in which the Supreme Court finalized Jeong's 17-year prison sentence in January 2025 for quasi-rape and other offenses.

A notice placed by JMS followers outside the Daejeon District Court in Seo-gu, Daejeon, ahead of Jeong Myeong-seok's sentencing in 2023. Yonhap News.

Jeong is serving a prison sentence after being convicted of sexually assaulting and raping the victims between February 2018 and September 2021. He brainwashed them into believing that he was the "Second Coming of Jesus," leaving them in a psychological state in which it was difficult to resist. He was also convicted of making false accusations after countersuing Maple and Amy, claiming they had falsely accused him. Kim was likewise sentenced to seven years in prison for participating in Jeong's quasi-rape offenses in March and April 2018.

The victims filed a civil lawsuit in 2024, arguing that the group and Kim were also responsible for Jeong's sex crimes. Maple sought KRW 500 million in damages, Amy KRW 150 million, and A KRW 100 million. They also cited as grounds for their claims that the group had engaged in secondary victimization by repeatedly asserting at rallies and in press releases that "the victims made false accusations."

Jeong and JMS argued that the group was not liable for damages because the sex crimes were Jeong's personal misconduct. They also countered that the alleged secondary victimization was not an unlawful act because it constituted the exercise of the right to defense in the criminal trial. Kim also denied participating in Jeong's crimes.

However, citing the criminal convictions of Jeong and Kim, the court found both liable for damages and ruled that the group also shared responsibility. The court cited, among other factors, that the group's doctrine portraying Jeong as Jesus and a divine figure, and as a being superior to Jesus, had influenced the sex crimes; and that the group's organization had been mobilized to select and manage attractive female members as so-called "faith stars."

The court also rejected the group's argument that the victims bore some responsibility. The group claimed that the victims had been grossly negligent in failing to exercise proper judgment, despite knowing that the requests for physical contact were not normal religious activities. However, the court found that the victims had been brainwashed by the group and were in a state in which they were unable to resist Jeong's actions.

The court noted, "As the perpetrator of the sex crimes, Jeong knew better than anyone that the accusations were not false," adding, "Filing false-accusation complaints against the foreign victims was an act of making false accusations with the aim of subjecting them to criminal punishment." In determining the compensation for emotional distress, the court considered the repeated nature of the crimes, the high degree of blameworthiness, and the victims' severe psychological trauma. The court rebuked Jeong, saying, "Even after receiving a hefty 17-year prison sentence, Jeong has shown no remorse and continues to deny committing the crimes."

Meanwhile, Jeong has been indicted on charges of religiously brainwashing 16 other female members between 2018 and 2022, rendering them incapable of resistance, and then raping or sexually assaulting them more than 80 times. The court is scheduled to deliver its first-instance verdict on October 19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.