Prosecutors seek 27 year prison term for JMS leader over sexual assault of 16 followers
2 sources · South Korea · 1 of them is linked to a state
Who reported this
- Yonhap
- The Korea Herald
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
Every source for this story reports from South Korea.
Prosecutors on Monday demanded a 27 year prison term for Jeong Myeong-seok, the 81 year old leader of the religious sect known as JMS or Christian Gospel Mission. The request follows charges that Jeong sexually assaulted or molested 16 female members on approximately 80 occasions between 2018 and 2022. Prosecutors allege that Jeong brainwashed the women into believing he was the Messiah, rendering them psychologically unable to resist him. In addition to the prison term, prosecutors requested a 10 year employment restriction at facilities for children, juveniles, and disabled people, 20 years of electronic tracking, and five years of probation. One source also noted a request for a sexual violence treatment program and the disclosure of his personal information.
Jeong is currently serving a 17 year prison sentence finalized by the Supreme Court in January 2025 for the sexual assault of a Hong Kong national and the harassment of followers from Australia and South Korea. He previously served a 10 year term for the sexual assault of four female followers between 2001 and 2006, from which he was released in February 2018.
Jeong has denied all charges in the current case, arguing that he had no physical contact with the women and that they were not incapable of resisting him. The court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on October 1.
How each side framed it
- Centre
- The center lean outlet focused on the prosecution's demand and the defendant's history of repeated crimes exploiting vulnerable victims.
- Centre-right
- The center-right lean outlet provided more detail on the specific legal charges, the defense's arguments, and the timeline of the court proceedings.
Sources
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.