Agadongsan Withdraws Injunction to Ban 'I Am God' Broadcast Against Netflix

MBC·PD Injunction Application Remains Maintained

Documentary 'I Am God'.
[Photo by Netflix]

The religious group 'Agadongsan' has withdrawn its injunction request against Netflix, which sought to ban the broadcast of the documentary 'I Am God' aired on Netflix.

This move was made considering that Netflix's headquarters are located in the United States. Agadongsan has not withdrawn the injunction request filed against Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), which produced the documentary, and the responsible producer (PD), and those requests remain in place.

According to the legal community on the 20th, Agadongsan and its leader Kim Gi-soon submitted a partial withdrawal of the injunction request to the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 50 (Presiding Judge Park Beom-seok) through their legal representatives on the 20th.

Agadongsan decided this based on the judgment that Netflix Services Korea only handles subscription contracts in Korea, while the broadcasting rights for 'I Am God' belong to Netflix's U.S. headquarters, making the injunction request meaningless.

However, there remains a possibility that Netflix's headquarters may apply to participate as an auxiliary party in the injunction case to dispute future broadcasting decisions.

Prior to Agadongsan, the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS), which filed an injunction request to ban the broadcast, only filed against MBC, but Netflix's headquarters applied to participate as an auxiliary party and took part in the trial.

With Agadongsan withdrawing the injunction against Netflix, even if the court grants the injunction request against MBC and the PD, there is no way to enforce it against Netflix, making it unlikely that the broadcast of episodes 5 and 6 of 'I Am God,' which cover Agadongsan, will be halted.