JMS Press Pack
Version 1.00.
Last updated: 2nd March, 2008.

Basics

Overview of Events

In 1999, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) in Korea reported about sexual abuse allegedly committed by Jung. This resulted in Jung fleeing the country one day later.¹ However, accusations surfaced in other countries, and in 2001 he was investigated by Taiwanese authorities causing him to flee Taiwan.² Jeong was formally charged on 30 June, 2001,³ and became wanted by Interpol in 2002.⁴

On 9th July 2003 he was arrested for illegal stay in Hong Kong after Seoul Interpol requested Hongkong Interpol to deport him on 1st July 2003, but was released on bail three days later and fled the extradition hearing.⁵ He was put on the Interpol Red Notice list on January 27, 2004.⁶

Jeong was finally captured in Anshan, in Liaoning, the Chinese province that borders North Korea on 1 May 2007,^7,8 and extradited to South Korea in February 2008.⁹ There are nine complaints against him, on charges that include sexual assault and embezzlement.¹⁰

In January 2008, South Korea's Supreme Court found that Jung forced two female followers to have sex with him as part of a religious purification ritual and Jeong was ordered to play 50 million won and 10 million won in compensation.¹¹

After the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported that Jeong was going to be extradited, on January 14 2008 about 40 of Jeong's followers broke into Dong-a Ilbo office, throwing chairs about and demanding the newspaper apologise and remove the article.^12,13

In 2006, a staff member of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea was sacked for handing over personal information about anti-JMS activists to Jeong Myeong-seok.^14,15 In 2007, a prosecuter accused of revealing contents of Jeong's investigation to Jeong was fired.^16,17 In 2006, it was reported that there are many JMS devotees in military, police and prosecution and some of them allegedly interfered with investigations and covered-up his wrongdoings.¹⁸

In October 2003, Providence leaders bashed with a steel pipe the father of the founder of the anti-JMS organisation EXODUS who were responsible for Jeong's 2003 arrest. He was 62 years old and his facial bones were shattered permanently, requiring 12 hours of surgery. The court found they were retaliatory crimes and sentenced the members responsible to jail. See the following 10 minute mini-documentary from 7days detailing this attack and other violence commited by Providence, including the police discovery of a hit list of personal information of about 206 people, such as anti-JMS activists and the producers of SBS.

• Transcript of above video.

Names and Forms of Address

Media reports are inconsistent in the spelling of Jeong's name, but using the official romantization adopted by the Korean government, his name in Latin letters is Jeong Myung-seok, where Jeong is the family name.

His "English name" is Joshua Jung (Providence spell as such). Myung-seok does not translate to Joshua. Providence have also referred to him as Joshua Lee.¹

Commonly Jeong will only be referred to as "Pastor Joshua" or "JMS" among individuals who have not completed the indoctrination process. To understand the reason for this, consider the quote from long-time member Ralph Aguilar on the private American Providence forum:

I would definitely like numerous copies of R's Heaven's Words, My Words [a book of proverbs by Jeong].  I would like to give R's original proverbs book to family and friends who can read R's amazing words and be introduced to R's amazing life, and possibly study the word utilizing this preparation, but my one concern is changing the name from "Joshua Jung" to maybe "Pastor Jung" or "M.S. Jung" (something as generic as possible) or something that wouldn't make it so easy for a person to get on the internet and find all the crap that's out there.²

Jeong is often referred to as "sunsengnim" (SSN) which means "teacher" in Korean, and "R", which stands for Rabbi. He is also sometimes referred to as "Lord", "Lord of the Second Coming" (LSC), "living Lord" or "living Christ", where the "living" qualifier is used to distinguish him from Jesus.

Jeong's date of birth is 17 February, 1945.³

Providence Basic Information

The name of Jeong's cult in English speaking countries is Providence. Providence has gone through many name changes, and also uses different names in different countries. Other names that are in news reports include: Jesus Morning Star, Setsuri, Christian Gospel Mission, and the Global Association of Culture and Peace (GACP). Jesus Morning Star is convenient for critics because it abbreviates to Jeong's initials, however it is no longer the name used by Jeong's followers. Setsuri is Japanese for Providence and is used only in Japan. GACP is a front group used for recruitment that ran sports festivals (especially soccer).

Providence is basically a dissent group of the Unification Church (Moonies).¹ The teachings and practices are highly similar. According to the leaving letter by the founding American pastor, the early members were allowed to study the Divine Principle.² Jeong was originally a member of the UC. This was in the 1970s according to the Asahi Shimbun.³ What this means is that just as Christianity grew out of Judaism with acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah, Providence grew out of Christianity with acceptance of Jeong as the Messiah. They believe in one God and Jeong as His representative.

The Asahi Shimbun, the second largest national newspaper in Japan, said in an editorial:

Preaching a doctrine based on unorthodox interpretations of the Bible, Setsuri has gained a sizable following in many countries, including some 2,000 members in Japan. The followers are required to pledge absolute submission to the founder and are forced to live communally and take part in mass weddings among members.

Followers are evaluated according to the amount of money they donate to the sect. Many young members fall into financial trouble because of their large contributions to the group. The number of parents seeking advice on how to extract their children from the cult is growing rapidly.

The sect would say collective marriages and donations are designed for the salvation of the followers. But a close look at the sect's activities would show it is nothing but an antisocial group that tries to manipulate the followers' mind and bamboozle them out of their money.⁴

Front Groups

Providence uses various "secular" organisations to run activities for the purposes of recruitment. Ties to Providence are hidden and the organisation is presented as entirely secular (or mainstream Christian). When friendships are made, Providence members will begin the indoctrination process. This technique is also used by the Unification Church (Moonies); they call it "Heavenly Deception".

The largest such organisation was the Global Association of Culture and Peace. GACP held sports events and even an annual global gathering. There used to be many English websites for GACP in North America, Europe and Australia, however, during the media explosion as a result of 4 women pressing charges mid-2006, most were simultaneously pulled from the Internet and GACP no longer operates on the scale it used to.

Other activities run by the front organisations for recruit purposes include modelling, dancing, and Bible study groups.¹ In New York, they even offer tutoring programs for children.²

Names used by the fronts include: International Cultural Exchange (ICE), Korean International Cultural Society (KICS), Bright Smile Movement (BSM), Sky Soccer, Peace Model (PM), Peace Model Korea (PMK), World Peace Model, Peace Model USA (PMUSA), International Organization of Culture and Art (IOCA), IOCA modeling, Providence Vision Project (PVP), Youth Developer Group (YDG), International Culture Interchange Association (ICIA), VIA 3, United Culture and Arts Network (UCAN), China Christian Youth Association (CCYA), and Hidden Manna Seekers. This is far from a complete list.

A lawyer described this as "a fraudulent activity, as they conceal the group's identity in luring members".³

The Asahi Shimbun in an editorial said that:

The gimmicks the sect uses to increase its membership are nothing new. At university campuses, the sect's recruiters first approach students under the guise of a sports or cultural circle. After building close personal relationships with these students, the members reveal the religious nature of their group and start indoctrinating them. The favorite targets are serious-minded young people who feel alienated from their families and schools and wish to change their lives.⁴

United States of America

The first American Providence church began in 1989 in Los Angeles. Other American cities with Providence churches include San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Honolulu, New York, Boston, Washington DC., San Diego, Fullerton, Seattle and Philadelphia. There is around 300 members in the USA. They may use the name Morning Star church. "American Providence" is a blanket term sometimes used to include all English speaking countries. Front groups include Peace Model USA (PMUSA), Global Association of Culture and Peace (GACP), and Providence Vision Project (PVP).

    * California State University, Fullerton
    * California State University, Northridge
    * University of Hawaii, Hawaii
    * Harvard University
    * United States Military Academy (West point)
    * University of Washington, Seattle
    * University of California, Berkley
    * University of California, San Diego
    * University of California, Irvine
    * University of California, Los Angeles

(among others)

• American article: Alleged Cult Sows Seeds Via Campus Event
• Providence New York church website
• Old GACP front group website archived
• Other American resources

Canada

A Providence church exists in Vancouver, BC. They will tend to introduce themselves as GACP (largely used for soccer recruiting), IOCA (largely used for modeling) or Vancouver Life Church.

    * University of British Columbia, B.C.
    * Simon Fraser University, B.C.

• IOCA front group website archived
• More Canadian front groups
• Other Canadian resources

England

The church in England is called Yak-Sok church, or Promise Church and exists in London. It appears there is only one church in England. Yak-Sok means promise in Korean.

• England resources

Australia

Providence exists in the Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart. It consists of about 50-100 members, mostly Koreans. GACP in Australia has used the name International Culture Exchange Australia (ICEA).

    * Melbourne University, Parkville, Melbourne
    * Sydney University, Camperdown, Sydney

• Australian article: Claims sect using social groups to recruit members
• Australian front group ICEA
• GACP Australia front group archive
• Other Australian resources

Background

Teachings

The teachings of Providence is called the 30 lessons or the 30 principles. They are taught through 30 sessions that involve either a teacher or a video lecture. Ostensibly it is a Bible course conducted by Christians; in reality it is a method to introduce the idea that Jeong is the Messiah.

The 30 lessons is built upon a model based on the seven day week. The first four days, corresponding to the approximately four thousand years between Adam and Jesus, describe the period of time referred to as "the Old Testament". The next two days, corresponding to two thousand years, describe the time period labeled "the New Testament". Finally, the last day, corresponds to a thousand years starting roughly now, and said to be "the Complete Testament".¹ It is taught that each time period has a major "Central Figure", or Messiah,² and that heaven cannot be reached without this man.³ He teaches that the new Messiah is Jesus' second coming, however, he will not come again as himself but "spiritually", that is, by influencing and talking through a physical person alive at that time.⁴ He will come with new teachings, different to those of the "New Testament" and "Old Testament" time periods.⁵ The 30 lessons reaches its climax when Jung interprets certain Biblical verses that the Messiah will come from Korea, is currently alive and will come with new truth that will answer questions people have about the Bible.⁶ The 30 lessons also involve related teachings 

To become a member of Providence, an individual must complete the 30 lessons and testify that Jeong is the Messiah. While a member would never say that Jeong is the Messiah to the unenlightened, and unhesitatingly lie if asked, the student is expected to realise it himself as it increasingly evident that Jeong is supposedly the Lord of the Second Coming.

Jeong claims that Jesus wasn't supposed to die, and therefore the salvation that occurs through him is incomplete. Hence it is Jeong's responsibility as the 'new' Messiah to save all mankind.⁷

• The short form of the 30 lessons (actual Providence teaching materials

Jeong to Providence

The belief that Jeong is the Messiah is absolutely and undeniably the central tenet of Providence theology. It is simply the one thing that distinguishes a member from someone who is not yet a member. Jeong has been described by media as a "living deity on a par with Jesus Christ",¹ that he is the Messiah who has responsibility to save all mankind,² and that he claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.³ What does this really mean?

A major facet of Providence teachings is that there is a spiritual world. The spiritual world is occupied by ghosts, demons, spirits and angels. There are levels in the spiritual world, and the spirits are distributed across the levels as a function of their righteousness. Any human can access the spiritual world while still in a physical body, but can only interact with spirits at his level.⁴

Because Jeong is essentially blameless, he can see all the levels, including to talk with God and Jesus. Others cannot. Therefore, Jeong's word is the Word of God, and if you disagree it's because you're not spiritual enough and acting on the dissent would be an offence to God.

As the graph on the "three divisions" clearly show, Jeong is the new Messiah. Providence attempts to obfuscate the issue by claiming that Jeong is just the humble medium for the return of Jesus. However, even if this were true, it is irrelevant. The Jesus of Providence is different to the Jesus of Christianity, otherwise what need is there for a "new" Christianity? And who dictates what those differences are? Jeong. Therefore God and Jesus become extensions of Jeong's character and any attempts to distract from the reality by claiming that it is Jesus that is the object of worship are meaningless at best and an example of doublethink.

Jeong's view of himself is rather bloated:

Understand the 30 principles were words I virtually traded with my own life as I struggled those arduous 30 year. Correctly knowing and understanding the words of God is not that easy. I realized the words only after laying such foundations and conditions. I came running reading the bible 2000 times, evangelizing 10,000 people per year, defeating all the satans and demons, and overcoming all matters of physical adversities. So treacherous and wretched was my life that I cringe even at the thought of it.⁵

Members believe he is capable of miracles (primarily healing and ability to control the weather) and are essentially infatuated with him. They pray in his name and put up portraits of him on their walls.

Here are some quotes from ProvidenceTrial.com. Note that this website is for public defence of Jeong. This is the toned down version!

Through the fasting prayers, he directly experienced and learned about the suffering from hunger and illness.  He once lived with beggars, rending them aid and service.  These experiences and hardships taught him to deeply feel God’s sorrow that had not been told or understood for 6,000 years, as well as the grievance that Jesus would have felt through the unavoidable death on a cross.  He also broke the seals of 120 principles of the Bible, as precious as hidden treasure, in regard to salvation.

• Life of Jung Myung Seok from ProvidenceTrial.com
• A former member testimony  that describes being led to believe Jung is the "new Jesus"
• Former minister testimony that describes members' infatuation with Jeong

God in Providence is often described as a benevolent and loving Being, similar to the Christian concept of God. Members regularly put emphasis on these qualities of their God. Jeong does talk about the importance of love as well as forgiving your enemies.

However the God of Providence also has "another side", atypical of Christian revelations of God, and often in contradiction to other Providence doctrine: vengeful destruction. Consider this quote:

The Germans were Christians and they also knew that the Jews killed Jesus. "They killed our teacher. They killed our Messiah." Would the Germans sit idly for that? God raised Hitler to resolve His grief. That is why Hitler killed 6 million Jews in the gas chamber and rung oil from them. It was good that he did that. It's really refreshing. If you don't think that was a great thing, you have nothing to do with me or with salvation.¹

To be fair, support of Hitler is not a key belief in Providence. However, it describes how far Jeong claims God will go in order to destroy those who oppose God's Will. (In Providence doctrine, Jesus wasn't supposed to die.²)

Here is a more typical quote from Jeong:

The newcomers must listen to the word well, read the bible a lot, and study the words of this generation properly. God is speaking through my lips so if you want to escape judgment, then you have to learn properly. You have no idea how scary judgment is because you've never experienced it. I'm sure you've experienced some of that. But you've experienced just a little bit because you were still in Providence. People who leave Providence and experience the judgment of God-they experience a lot of it. There are people who have really received the judgment and have actually died. I have seen with my very eyes the judgment that God commences. And I even wrote books about that. Those judgments are scary and terrifying are they not? Do you think that they are merely natural disasters? No. It was God who purposefully made those things happen to judge those people. That is why those judgments can kill tens of thousands of people in just one place. All of these things are not coincidences-they are judgments.³

JMS Services

Providence services involve singing, cheer leading dances, and watching a streamed Internet video sermon. The following 10 minute video of a large Japanese church service provides a good description:

Songs

The songs generally concentrate on simple declarative statements to reinforce Providence dogma. The themes are usually about centralising your life on "the Lord" (Jeong), never leaving or doubting, recruiting new members, that critics and former members are evil and liars, and that you couldn't be happy outside Providence.

• Download file containing 140 Providence songs

Cheer Leading

Cheer leading dances are a big part of Providence culture. All members are taught the dances. Here is a video of 3 members doing one of the standard dances (that's WMD, Jeong's birthplace and Providence holy ground in the background). The video is extremely typical. The song is "I cannot live without the Lord" (lyrics above).

• Some more cheer leading videos (there are many more)

Rape allegations

Combining all the allegations produces the following story:

Jeong summons the female follower to a private meeting, possibly from overseas. Most of the reported cases say the pretext for this meeting is a health check.^1,2 This could be because this allows Jeong to initiate sexual touching with ambiguous motives,³ and because it allows him to ask about their sexual history, in order to minimise the risk of STDs.^4,5 Sometimes the health check occurs immediately before the follower is married in a Moonies style mass marriage.⁶ Maybe Jeong believes that because the woman wouldn't be able to speak out against Jeong without leaving her new marriage, she will be less likely to do so.

Afterwards, the woman or girl is told it was done in order to spiritually save her.⁷ They are also threatened with spiritual death⁸ or that they will go to hell if they told anyone.⁹

Jeong also had certain "favourite girls", who attended him constantly.^10,11

Some high ranking members are aware of this,¹² and send him photos of tall, female and young followers as "sexual girls" in order to gain favour with Jeong.¹³

The sexual abuses were very regular and there were many victims.^14,15

• Testimony of former member of 18 years who admits leading girls to have sex with Jeong
• Founding American pastor confesses he believed the rapes were justified in his leaving letter

Providence the Sex Cult?

Looking at the facts may lead to the conclusion that Providence is nothing more than a bizarre sex cult. However, not all members believe that Jeong was having sex with female members. Jeong himself appears to really believe he is the Messiah.

That said, there is a lot of references and allusions to sex in Providence. One of the few differences between Unificationist theology and Providence teachings is that the Moonies teach that relationship between God and man is akin to father and son; whereas Providence teaches that believers are brides of God. Eventually this "brides of God" becomes "brides of the Lord", that is, brides of Jeong.

The original sin of Christianity is reinterpreted sexually. Eve had sex with Satan, and then had sex with Adam, and hence evil entered into the world. Note that in the last page of the lesson dealing with this, it states that Adam "fell" physically, while Eve "fell" both physically and spiritually.¹ This "sets the stage" for an additional requirement for female followers in order to be saved.

Members are taught the importance of being beautiful and skinny. It is a sin to go before God without first having made yourself attractive. Jeong calls for the recruitment of attractive people because, supposedly, they have been blessed by God. Dressing up to go to church is especially important; in contrast to conservative dress as conventional in Christian churches, Providence churches can look more like fashion shows. Bright clothes are encouraged by Jeong. Supposedly black clothes indicate the person is evil, and that everything in Heaven is white.

Members sing about how much they love Jeong in church services, as well as dance and model for him. In the most extreme case we've found, 5 female American Providence members danced provocatively to a song seemingly about having a one-night stand for Jeong's birthday celebration: