Two JMS Executives Sentenced to Prison for Attempting to Destroy Evidence of Jeong Myeong-seok's Sexual Assault

Knowing Victim's Documentary Appearance, Followed Them
Director of External Cooperation Sentenced to 1 Year 6 Months in Prison... Taken into Custody in Court

Two male executives of the Christian Gospel Mission (commonly known as 'JMS') who attempted to cover up the sexual assault crimes committed by JMS President Jeong Myeong-seok against female followers have been sentenced to prison.

On the 22nd, the Criminal Division 12 of Daejeon District Court (Chief Judge Na Sang-hoon) sentenced JMS executive A (60), who was indicted for instructing the destruction of evidence, to 1 year and 6 months in prison and ordered his immediate detention in court. Another defendant B (36), tried for the same charge, was sentenced to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.

A, the Director of External Cooperation at JMS, is accused of attempting to persuade a 29-year-old female follower of Hong Kong nationality to remain silent after she reported being sexually assaulted to those around her in September 2021. It is known that he sent an acquaintance to Hong Kong to persuade her. He also knew that the follower was going to appear in the Netflix documentary "I am a God" and stationed staff at Incheon International Airport to follow her to her accommodation.

Additionally, he is accused of instructing B, the Deputy Director of External Cooperation, to find ways to respond in preparation for forensic analysis of mobile phones by investigative agencies, and in April of last year, he ordered followers to replace their mobile phones in preparation for witness investigations.

JMS Training Center Marker Stone in Geumsan-gun, Chungnam [Photo by Yonhap News]

The court pointed out, "A was aware several times of sexual crimes and misconduct related to Jeong Myeong-seok after his release in 2018 but made no effort to verify the facts. Furthermore, he attempted to systematically destroy evidence by persuading and pressuring followers for a considerable period not to disclose the sexual crime victimization to outsiders."

Regarding the sentencing reasons, the court explained, "Considering that A is a first-time offender who admitted to the crime and is reflecting on it, and that B participated in the crime under A’s instructions."

Jeong Myeong-seok has been detained and indicted on charges of sexually assaulting or molesting a female follower of Hong Kong nationality 23 times from February 2018 to September 2021 at the training center in Wolmyeong-dong, Geumsan-gun, Chungnam, as well as molesting a 30-year-old female follower of Australian nationality and a Korean female follower (charges including quasi-rape). He is currently undergoing trial in the first instance.

Also, Kim Ji-seon (44, female), known by the alias 'Jeong Joeun' and considered the 'second-in-command' of JMS, along with six female JMS executives including the Director of Civil Affairs, Director of International Missions, and Executive Secretary, have been jointly indicted and are on trial for participating in or assisting Jeong’s sexual assault crimes (charges including quasi-rape, quasi-rape, forced molestation, and aiding quasi-rape).

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