"Released Video as Evidence of Sexual Exploitation"... 'Naneun Sinda' PD Denies Sexual Exploitation Charges

"Did the court permit the public display of obscene material?"
Concerns within the legal community about overlooking 'public interest'

Jo Sung-hyun, the producer (PD) of the Netflix documentary "I Am God," which deals with sexual crime allegations against Jang Myung-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS), has strongly criticized the police for referring him to the prosecution on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. He expressed his frustration, claiming that the police equated him with Cho Ju-bin, the main culprit of the N-bang case.

On the 21st, PD Jo appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and explained, "There is a so-called 'reporter video' in the documentary where female JMS followers court Jeong Myung-seok," adding, "The police judged that publicly showing this in the documentary violated Article 14 of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act (filming using cameras, etc.)."

Producer PD Jo Sung-hyun takes on the role of producer for the Netflix documentary 'I Am God' poster [Image source=Netflix]

According to PD Jo, the most famous case punished under this charge is Cho Ju-bin from the N-bang case. He claimed, "Investigators and team leaders from the Mapo Police Station equated Cho Ju-bin with Jo Sung-hyun."

Regarding why the problematic video was broadcast without mosaic blurring, PD Jo said, "JMS has continued to claim until recently that the video was fabricated," and added, "Professor Kim Do-hyung of Dankook University, who continues anti-JMS activities, allegedly bought sex workers to create the video to defame Jeong Myung-seok, according to their claims."

He emphasized, "In this situation, the women's faces were sufficiently mosaicked, and their voices were altered," and stressed, "I thought it was right to disclose it to show the sexual exploitation situation and to create undeniable facts that JMS cannot deny."

PD Jo also highlighted that the documentary "I Am God" underwent rating review and decisions by the Video Rating Board and was recognized for its public interest by the court.

He pointed out, "JMS filed a preliminary injunction to ban the screening to block the release of the work, but the court allowed the screening," and criticized, "If the police's claim is true, it means the government awarded a presidential prize to obscene material, and that the prosecution and courts of the Republic of Korea used obscene material as evidence and permitted its release."

Earlier, the Mapo Police Station in Seoul referred PD Jo to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office on the 16th on charges of violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, citing that nude videos of female followers who were sexually assaulted by President Jeong Myung-seok appeared in the documentary without mosaic blurring.

Regarding the police's referral decision, some in the legal community criticized it as overlooking the "public interest." Lawyer Kim Sung-soon appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on the 19th and pointed out, "From the perspective of investigative agencies, they should actively consider public interest and proceed to determine whether there is a justification for illegality or not, under Article 20 of the Criminal Act."