"JMS Followers Who Falsely Testified 'Jeong Myeong-seok Was Not at Crime Scene' Indicted Without Detention"

Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office: "Second Victimization Shows Poor Criminal Nature"

Two JMS followers who gave false testimony in the trial of Jeong Myeong-seok (78), the president of the Christian Gospel Mission (commonly known as JMS), who was charged with sexually assaulting and forcibly molesting female followers, have been indicted.

On the 19th, the Women's and Children's Crime Investigation Division of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office announced that JMS followers A (in their 30s) and B (in their 40s) were indicted without detention on charges of perjury. They are accused of giving false testimony at the trial of Jeong on charges including quasi-rape held at the Daejeon District Court in November last year, where they appeared as witnesses for Jeong’s side and falsely testified that Jeong was not present at the training center in Wolmyeong-dong, Geumsan-gun, Chungnam, the location of the crime, despite him being there.

On November 21 last year, five months after the trial began for Jung Myung-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission (commonly known as JMS), on charges of sexually assaulting female followers, JMS believers held a picket protest near the Daejeon District Court in Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon.
[Photo by Yonhap News]
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It was revealed that Jeong’s side had organized a 'reference group' of 15 followers from the investigation stage, systematically instructing them to give false statements. A and others, as members of this reference group, have been giving false testimony in line with Jeong’s claims. The prosecution viewed their actions as seriously malicious, as they caused secondary harm to the victims by lying during the investigation and committing perjury even in court.

A representative from the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "We will do our utmost to maintain the prosecution so that the defendants receive punishments commensurate with their crimes," and added, "We will also actively respond to the appeal trial of the main perpetrator Jeong and his accomplices."

Jeong Myeong-seok was arrested and indicted on charges of sexually molesting or raping female followers 23 times from March 2018 to September 2021 at the Wolmyeong-dong training center and other locations. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in the first trial and was also ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device (electronic anklet) for 15 years. After the first trial verdict, Jeong’s side appealed, claiming that he did not sexually assault or molest the victims and that he never claimed to be a divine figure such as the Second Coming of Jesus. The prosecution also appealed, arguing that the sentence was too lenient and unjust. The appeal trial is scheduled to begin on the 5th of next month.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced on the 18th that 622 perjury offenders were caught by the prosecution last year. Among them, 586 were indicted, and the rest are under investigation. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "We will strictly punish offenders who disrupt judicial order through perjury, evidence fabrication, and other acts, ensuring that lying in court does not work and that there is a cost to lying, and we will do our best to establish this awareness."