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| Jung Myung-seok | |
| Hangul | 정명석 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 鄭明析 |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong Myeong(-)seok |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Myŏng-sŏk |
Template:Korean name Jung Myung-Seok (born February 3, 1945) is the founder of an international organization called Providence. He is also known by the names of Joshua Jung, and JMS.
Since founding his first church in Seoul, South Korea in 1980 Jung has developed his organization into a religious movement with churches in more than 50 different nations over the course of the past 30 years. He has also established organizations celebrating culture, peace, and the arts including the Global Association of Culture and Peace (GACP) and Peace Model.
In 1999 Jung was accused of sexual assault and was officially charged in 2001. In May 2007 Jung was taken into custody by Chinese police and imprisoned in China for 10 months. In January 2008, the Supreme Court of South Korea tried Jung based on the testimonies of two young women. Jung was convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment. In April 2009, the Supreme court of South Korea extended the sentence to 10 years imprisonment.
He is currently serving his sentence and still continues to publish proverbs, songs, books, as well as the Sunday and Wednesday message for Providence churches all over the world every week.
Early biography
Jung was born in a small high altitude mountain village named Sukmak-ri (Wolmyung-dong or Dalbak-gol) in Geumsan County, South Chungcheong as the third child among six sons and one daughter. According to him he began calling out to God at age 6 and attending the local church at 9 years old. His family were very poor farmers. Though his older brothers continued to learn on into high school, his parents pulled him out of school after completing the elementary years to work the fields complaining that it was too expensive to continue his basic education.
He spent all of his early years and teens up in the mountains until 1966, when he was drafted into his first term of service in the Vietnam war. After his first term he returned voluntarily to serve a second term, fulfilling two terms of duty in Vietnam (1966 to 1969). Once his service in Vietnam was complete he returned to his life of prayer and farming in his small hometown village.
On June 1, 1978 he left his village at 34 years old and went to Seoul, South Korea. There he began his first church which over the course of the last 30 years has grown into the international religious movement known as, "Providence."
In March 1982, he established MS Missionaries (Christian Gospel Mission today). The following November he graduated from Wesley Theological School.
In February 2001, he founded Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) Volunteer Group. During this period he also founded Global Association of Culture and Peace (GACP), which held large international assemblies to celebrate culture and the arts including modeling, fashion, cheer, and sports. He visited and helped establish the international Providence churches outside of Korea including United States, England, France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.
He returned to South Korea on February 20, 2008.
Jung’s teachings
Upon his return from China, Jung began preaching that the most urgent thing for this time period is to prepare for the Lord's imminent second coming which Jung states will happen very soon. A common theme in Jung's sermons is that believers should prepare in their daily life of faith by maintaining a bride level relationship of spiritual love with the Lord as preached in the Matthew 25:1-13
Providence churches share many of the same doctrines as most Christian denominations. The difference is Providence doctrines interpret the prophecies pertaining to this time period more spiritually. Most traditional Christian churches interpret scripture to have literal meanings. But according to Jung's interpretation, scriptures referring to rapture, resurrection, advent, and even the Lord's second coming shouldn't only be understood to have only a literal physical meaning, but also a fundamental spiritual meaning. He also stresses that the Lord Jesus Christ will not come back in his physical body at the second coming, but will come in spirit and must be received in spirit.
Trial and Conviction
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Media broadcasts and news reports
When rape allegations against Jung from anonymous accusers surfaced, the news media broadcasts in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan as well as the articles printed in newspaper tabloids published the sensational material labeling Jung a criminal even before a formal accusation had been made and it labeled the organization of Providence as a cult.
A monthly magazine, Civil Government, published an article under the title, “Why is JMS (CGM)’s President Jung Myung Seok carrying the cross?” and listed the problems of his trials, item by item. Cha, an active journalist who had been following the case and frequenting police stations for eleven years reported the following:
A Media took an excerpt from a 1995 Sunday sermon entitled, “Life of Thanksgiving.” The Media modulated President Jung’s voice in the part where he says, ‘The tithe of life—evangelize one person out of ten’ to make it difficult to clearly hear what he actually says. Then the Media added a subtitle that read, ‘one woman,’ when it was aired. This quote inevitably made the viewers think President Jung Myung Seok to be a leader with sexual problems. Furthermore, when the Media aired the footage of the services or events of the organization, even though both males and females are shown in the original video, the Media edited the scenes so that only females would be visible. In this way, A Media gave the audience an impression that President Jung was a religious leader who dealt only with females.
— Civil Government, Magazine/ Retrial needed for the case of Jung Myung Seok
Jung's accusers refused to give their identity remaining unnamed and the journalists did not interview anyone from the church resulting in one sided reporting. The Media’s biased report was found to be legally wrongful at that time. In Korea, Providence church filed a suit against the Korean news and the court ruled in favor of the church, ordering the following: 1) the media must not use one-sided material provided by the informer and others; 2) the media must inform the organization 48 hours before broadcasting; 3) the media must guarantee 5% of the broadcasting time to so that their rebuttal will also be aired; 4) if these orders are violated, the media must pay damages in the amount of 30 million won (about the equivalent of $30,000) for each violation. The court decision acknowledging the media’s errors and biased reporting was not made widely known to viewers. But a similar case was filed in Taiwan and the Taiwanese news media that broadcasted the report made a public apology.
Problems during Jung's trial
The magazine Civil Government 02-15-2010 issue also reported several reasons to doubt the validity of the testimonies given by Jung's initial accusers during the trial,
Plaintiff C, who filed the suit as co-plaintiffs and initially claimed that she was sexually assaulted, declared that she committed perjury, and she withdrew her suit. ... Plaintiff C completely denied the assault allegations. Even though the court warned her, saying ‘If your testimony differs from the contents of the complaint, you could be penalized,’ C clearly said, ‘I’m fine even if I will be penalized. The truth is that I was not sexually assaulted. Plaintiff D who filed the suit with me wasn’t raped or sexually assaulted either at all. But incited by the informer, she filed a false suit and has given false testimonies until now.’
— Civil Government, Magazine/ Retrial needed for the case of Jung Myung Seok
There was no evidence of rape found by the police hospital’s doctor upon examination immediately after. The girls who did testify against Jung were proven to have falsified what remaining evidence there might have been to prove any wrongdoing. Due to the sensational headlines being broadcast and posted all over the news media there is now speculation about whether he could really have received a fair trial.
Prison sentence and possibility of retrial
In August 2008, Jung was sentenced to six years imprisonment. In April 2009, the Supreme court of South Korea extended the sentence to 10 years imprisonment. In the event Jung’s side files a motion for retrial based on the new evidences or material that could reverse the previous finding, seeking acquittal, it is expected that this case may be placed at a stage where it seeks a new ruling through a retrial. However, since the prosecutor’s office and the court stand behind the accusations of the plaintiffs and the informer, with the court ruling in their favor, it is unknown whether this case can be reversed at retrial.
Current Situation
He is currently serving his sentence and still continues to publish proverbs, songs, books, as well as the Sunday and Wednesday message for Providence churches all over the world every week.
References
- ^ "Retrial needed for the case of Jung Myung Seok". providencetrial.com. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ "Christians on trial: Joshua Jeong Myung Seok". ProvidenceTrial.com. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ "History of the Founding of Providence Church". providencetrial.com. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
- ^ "GospelOfProvidence.com".
- "Sunday Message Sermon: Prepare the Oil". Sunday Message Sermons preached in Providence Churches. gospelofprovidence.com. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
- Jeong, Joshua. "Sermon: Listen to My Word and Believe in the One I Sent Then, a Great History Will Take Place". Gospel of Providence. Retrieved Feb 6, 2011.
- "Sermon: What does Providence actually teach?". Providence Trial. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- ^ "JMS 鄭明析總裁事件全都以無犯罪嫌疑終結". Retrieved 28 January 2013.
{{cite journal}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Cite journal requires|journal=(help) Cite error: The named reference "JMS 鄭明析總裁事件全都以無犯罪嫌疑終結" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - "기독교복음선교회(JMS)와 정명석 총재, 가려진 10년의 진실". News Daily. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- Moon Il Seok. "Retrial needed for the case of Jung Myung Seok". Providence Trial. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "JMS(기독교복음선교회) 정명석 총재는". MJ News. Retrieved 28 January 2013. Cite error: The named reference "JMS(기독교복음선교회) 정명석 총재는" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
External links
- Providence Trial - English language Providence related website authored by various members internationally