Agadongsan, Injunction Request to Ban Broadcast of Documentary 'I Am God'

"If the broadcast continues, pay 10 million won daily"
Last month JMS also filed an injunction... Court "Dismissed"

The religious organization 'Agadongsan' has filed an injunction with the court to ban the broadcast of the Netflix documentary 'I am God: People Betrayed by God' (hereinafter 'I am God'), which tells their story.

On the 13th, Yonhap News and others reported that Agadongsan and its leader Kim Gisoon recently submitted an injunction application to the Seoul Central District Court against Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), producer Jo Seonghyeon, and Netflix, who produced 'I am God.' Kim Gisoon's side claimed that episodes 5 and 6 of 'I am God' contain false information about Agadongsan and Kim Gisoon, and demanded that if the broadcast continues, "Agadongsan must be paid 10 million won daily."

Previously, in 2001, Agadongsan also filed an injunction to ban the broadcast of SBS's 'Unanswered Questions - Agadongsan, Five Years Later.' At that time, the Seoul Southern District Court accepted the injunction, resulting in the cancellation of the airing of 'Agadongsan, Five Years Later.'

Agadongsan is a collaborative village-type new religious movement founded by Kim Gisoon in 1982, which caused major controversy due to incidents such as the murder and secret burial of followers. However, leader Kim Gisoon was only found guilty of tax evasion and embezzlement charges, sentenced to four years in prison and fined 5.6 billion won, and has completed his sentence.

Netflix 'I Am God' poster capture.

The eight-part documentary 'I am God,' released on the 3rd, contains the realities and victim testimonies of Jeong Myeongseok, Lee Jaerok, Kim Gisoon, and Park Sunja, who called themselves gods. MBC participated in the production of the documentary, with the director who made 'PD Notebook' in charge of directing, and it is currently being broadcast through Netflix.

This is the second injunction application filed against this documentary. Last month, the Christian Gospel Mission (commonly known as JMS) filed an injunction first. On the 17th of last month, JMS filed the injunction before the documentary aired, arguing that including ongoing trial content in the documentary violates the presumption of innocence and infringes on religious freedom. However, the court dismissed the injunction on the 2nd, stating, "MBC and Netflix appear to have collected a substantial amount of objective and subjective materials and structured the program based on them." The court also explained, "The JMS leader is a public figure who has previously caused significant social upheaval, and the program's content cannot be said to be unrelated to matters of public interest."