Shadowing Practice: Korea's Most Disturbing Cults Iceberg - Learn English Speaking with Video
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They say when solo traveling in Korea, if someone approaches you on the street, you should always turn them down, as Korea is home to some of the most disturbing cults in the world.
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Today, we'll look at these cults in the form of an iceberg.
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Layer by layer, we'll go down deeper, where things will become more obscure and more horrifying.
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So, let's get started at the tip of the iceberg. In 2024,
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a Chinese TV program went undercover in Korea to investigate if solo travelers are in danger of being approached by cultists.
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They were equipped with camera glasses and microphones and walked the streets with a touristy getup to see if they'd be approached.
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Within two hours, Xiaohua, one of the hosts, was approached by a woman who said she wanted to talk about Korea's culture.
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As they walked, a larger man who was shadowing them got closer and began walking with them.
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Figuring they must be together, Xiaohua asked and was told they were student and teacher.
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After some talking, she followed the woman into a shady building to learn more about Korea culture.
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However, this isn't actually anything to do with Korean culture and all to do with their cult.
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Dae -sun Jin -ri -ho
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The group began in Korea's early 20th century
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when a mystic named Kang Jung -san declared himself the incarnation of the supreme god of the ninth heaven, sent to reorder heaven and earth.
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His death in 1909 split his movement into dozens of branches, and one of them grew and today Sun Jin Ri Hou.
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A religion built on merit.
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After a few hours, Xiao Hua comes outside and they meet up again.
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She explains how the process went.
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She did a ritual, took some photos and, although she wasn't forced into anything and she probably could have left at any time, as the door wasn't locked or anything,
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but she said it would have been weird to do so.
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Almost like you're pressured into staying through other means.
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The kindness and the smile of the woman makes it almost impossible to turn her down.
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The cult teaches that all suffering comes from ancestral grudges.
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Every illness, accident and heartbreak is a punishment passed down through both lines.
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And to free yourself or your ancestors, you must accumulate gongdyuk or merit.
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Good deeds can earn merit and what does the cult consider a good deed?
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Donations.
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With material merit, money offered directly to the gods, being the highest form.
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Xiaohua reported that when inside she was told no phones, they asked her birth date and her parents' names,
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and they asked her to change into a handbok for a purification ritual.
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She sat cross legs for hours while they burned paper in her hand.
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When it was over, she was told that she had entered the path, but she was also warned, And don't tell anyone what you saw here, not even online.
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With this secrecy being the first test of obedience.
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In fear of Xiaohua's safety, the team sent in a second agent, Wen Zhong.
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He was introduced as a friend of Xiaohua, who she just so happened to meet while traveling.
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He entered the cult and went through the same things as her, recording conversations with his glasses.
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The emotional manipulation caught on his footage in particular was horrifying dying.
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When told about the merit system, Wen Zhong hesitated to donate only for the teacher to tell him, one day of delay means your ancestors suffer a month in the underworld,
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saying that his insomnia and headaches were caused by angry spirits.
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They asked him how much money he had for travelling, and they started to manage his funds for him, saying he could save 2 million won by not staying in a hotel and staying in the cult's facilities instead,
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which would be enough to save his ancestors.
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And for any hesitation on his end to be met with if you truly cared about your family's peace, you would donate that money today.
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At the bank, the teacher refused to show her face to the cameras.
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And when Wen Zhang hit his withdrawal limit, she totally panicked, insisting that the delay would extend the ancestors' torment.
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So they went together to the airport, as Wen Zhang had to leave the country that day.
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She took his suitcase hostage until he withdrew the remaining $500 ,000.
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The cash was deposited under the name Daishun Truth Society, a rebranded front of Daishun Jin Riho.
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Legally, it was a voluntary donation, but really, it's more like spiritual ransom.
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Even after the reporters left Korea, the organization kept calling, with over 40 missed calls in one day, the first day they stopped responding.
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The messages read, we only want what's best for you.
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Your ancestors are waiting." Xiao Hua admitted later that she missed them, that the recruiters were kind, gentle and seemed to care more than anyone else.
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When you watch the footage, it really is hard to tell if it's an act, with the TV crew saying if she's acting, she seriously deserves an Oscar.
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With the teacher shedding real tears and sharing the emotional moment with Xiao Hua on her final day, pleading with her about how the cult genuinely saved her life.
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She said before the cult, she was arguing with her family every day, couldn't hold a job and was struggling with every aspect of her life.
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Xiaohua said, how can you convince someone like that?
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What can you really say to convince them?
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Nothing.
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Today, Daesun Jinruho operates temples, universities and hospitals worth billions,
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while they scam their members out of their houses, inheritance and their savings.
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There's a saying in South Korea, if you meet a smiling stranger with a bible in their hand, don't take it.
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Because it might not be a bible, and it might not be god they're talking about.
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Founded in 1984 by Lee Man -hee, Shincheon -ji began as a small splinter group from existing Korean Christian sects.
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But Lee declared something radical.
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That he himself was the prophesized, promised pastor.
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The only person chosen by God to interpret the book of Revelation correctly.
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In his teachings, the bible was a coded message only he could unlock.
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Everyone else, every pastor, priest or theologian was part of Satan's world.
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By the late 1990s, the cult had developed a sophisticated recruitment network.
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Members called it Evangelism work, but outsiders called it what it was, religious infiltration.
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Followers secretly joined other churches, pretended to be new believers, slowly drawing members away to Bible study classes
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that were later revealed to be cult recruitment groups that would slowly transition members over.
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Members are taught that leaving the church or even doubting Lee's teachings means spiritual death.
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Families of converts describe them as completely changed, speaking in coded language and cutting off old ties completely.
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But Shinjyoshi stayed mostly underground until 2020.
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That's when South Korea's COVID -19 outbreak exploded in Daegu, and the epicenter was traced back to a Shonji congregation.
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Patient 31, a 61 -year -old woman, had attended multiple services while showing signs of COVID -19 symptoms,
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refusing testing because she believed sickness was a test of faith death.
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Within weeks, over 5 ,000 infections were linked to the sect, which was nearly 60 % of the country's total at the time.
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The public fury was immediate.
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News crews surrounded the cult's headquarters, former members leaked footage of mass prayer sessions where thousands knelt in perfect synchrony before Lee's image.
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Majority of them showing symptoms of COVID -19.
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When prosecutors raided the compound, they found hidden membership lists, sealed meeting rooms and training videos on how to deceive outsiders.
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Lee Man -hee himself appeared on television kneeling in the public to apologize, but even that apology felt rehearsed.
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Like, just a performance for the cameras.
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In interviews, ex -members describe a life of total control, daily confession reports, mandatory attendance logs,
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emotional manipulation through spiritual hierarchy, similar to the previous cult we just looked at.
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They were told that the outside world of Shinjongji was doomed, that even their parents were demons trying to drag them away from salvation.
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Despite arrests, fines and global exposure, the cult didn't actually die, it simply went deeper underground.
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Lee Man -hee now in his 90s still holds math gatherings and stadiums, claiming each one fulfills a new verse of the revelation.
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When people ask why anyone still follows him, one survivor said quietly, because they believe he's the key to the end of the world.
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And when you think the world's about to end, you'll believe anyone who promises you a way out.
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Welcome to Tier 2.
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Here things will start to get more disturbing as we look at some of the more serious cases.
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So, let's get started.
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Grace Road Church was founded in South Korea in 1998 by Shin Okeju,
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a self -proclaimed pastor who combined apocalyptic Christianity with authoritarian discipline.
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She told that South Korea would be destroyed by a famine and natural disasters, and that only those who followed her would survive in the promised world.
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In 2014, Shin relocated hundreds of followers to Fiji, declaring it the site chosen by God for humanity's preservation.
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Members sold their property, handed over personal finances, and emigrated under her direction.
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Upon arrival, the group formed Grace Road Group, a business network operating construction, food and retail companies throughout Fiji.
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These companies appeared legitimate and became significant employers in the local economy.
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Behind the surface, Shin imposed physical punishment, social isolation and psychological control on her followers.
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Those who didn't conform were beaten or confined for purification.
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Public confessions and forced labor were described as routine, with members who worked for Grace Road owning businesses with little
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or no pay and were convinced that their suffering was a divine test that would secure eternal life.
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Reports from defectors indicated that members' passports were often confiscated to prevent escape.
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The internal surveillance that went on just created an environment of fear and conformity.
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However, thankfully in 2018, the South Korean government charged Shin and several leaders with assault, child abuse, and illegal confinement.
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She was sentenced to six years in prison in 2019.
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Victory Altar was founded in 1980 by Chou Hee Seung, who declared himself the final Christ and claimed his followers could achieve physical immortality through him.
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The movement itself presented itself like Christian, but rejects mainstream doctrine, teaching that death is caused by disbelief.
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In the 1990s, South Korean authorities charged Chou with fraud and tax evasion, revealing millions of dollars in member donations.
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After serving a prison sentence, he resumed leadership and continued preaching immortality until his death in 2004.
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The group concealed his death for months, later claiming he had ascended and remained spiritually alive.
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Today, Victory Altar operates on a smaller scale.
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Dammy Mission, short for Mission of the Coming Days, was a Korean Protestant Apocalyptic sect founded in 1987 by Lee Jang Rim.
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Lee, a charismatic Baptist pastor, claimed to have received direct revelation from God confirming the exact date of Christ's return.
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He told that only those who joined Dame mission and fully repented before that day would be saved, while the rest of humanity would face destruction.
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His sermons and pamphlets circulated widely during South Korea's early 1990s wave of evangelical enthusiasm, attracting over 20 ,000 adherents.
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In the months leading up to the predicted raptor, members sold property, quit jobs, and withdrew children from school.
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Many donated their life savings to the organization to prepare for the Lord's coming.
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Services were held daily, and members gathered for extended prayer sessions to await the event.
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On the night of October 28, 1992, churches associated with Damien Mission were packed with followers, dressed in white robes, singing hymns, and waiting ascension.
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• Police outside and journalists around the buildings anticipating mass hysteria • Midnight passed without incident and, of course, nothing happened.
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The failure of the prophecy triggered immediate collapse.
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Angry members demanded refunds of their donations and accused leaders of deception.
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Within days, South Korean authorities arrested Lee Jang -rim for fraud and violating foreign exchange laws.
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After discovering he had secretly invested large sums of donated money in US treasury bonds rather than using it for religious preparation.
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He was sentenced to two years in prison.
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Following Lee's imprisonment, the cult disbanded, though smaller offshoots continued under different names,
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some leaders interpreted the failed rapture as a spiritual event claiming the world had entered a new phase of divine testing.
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I find it funny how the Korean authorities really waited, like, what if the rapture is real?
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They waited for it to be confirmed, like, Let's just see.
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Oh, the rapture didn't happen?
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Okay, now you lied.
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Now for tier 3, where we get into rituals and horrifying sacrifices.
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But if you're enjoying the video so far, be sure to take this chance to subscribe, as our goal is 20 million subscribers, and we're only 19 ,997 ,503 away.
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And if you subscribe, you will gain spiritual merit, and your ancestors don't have to suffer for the next month.
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No, I'm kidding.
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In August 1987, police discovered 32 bodies in what was described as a mass and murder incident.
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Investigators concluded that financial collapse and internal dissent had led Park to order a collective ascension.
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Prior to the tragedy, Park had been under investigation for embezzlement and fraud, involving large -scale donations from followers.
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Reports indicated that she diverted group funds into personal luxury accounts while maintaining strict poverty within the commune.
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When the fraud became public and members began questioning her authority, she interpreted it as betrayal and loss of divine favor.
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The baby garden case shocked South Korea and drew comparisons to foreign cult tragedies such as Jonestown.
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It prompted the government to intensify oversight of unregistered religious charities.
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The Nth Room
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The Nth Room case refers to a network of digital sexual exploitation rings uncovered in South Korea between 2018 and 2020.
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Though not a religious cult, investigators and sociologists classify it as a cult -like digital control system due to its use of psychological domination,
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ritual humiliation, and hierarchical authority structures.
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The operation began on encrypted platforms such as Telegram and Discord, where administrators, most notably Chou -Ju -Bin,
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God -God, and others, created private trap rooms called rooms.
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Entry required cryptocurrency payments, explicit material, or coerced personal data.
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Within these rooms, victims, mostly women and minors, were blackmailed into producing degrading sexual videos through threats of exposure, doxing, and physical harm.
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The content was distributed to paying members, some of whom viewed participation as initiation, into an exclusive underground community.
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The leaders presented themselves as masters, positioning absolute power over slaves.
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Psychological manipulation was central to the system.
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Perpetrators told victims that escape was impossible because every image was permanently archived online.
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Some demanded ritual acts of obedience, labeling victims with assigned numbers, animal names, or commands written on their skin.
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Investigations began in late 2019 after Korean journalists and civic groups tracked cryptocurrency payments linked to Telegram.
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In 2020, police arrested Cho Ju Bin, who operated under the alias Baxa, or Doctor.
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His chat rooms had over 260 ,000 registered participants, with evidence including extensive message logs detailing threats,
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exploitation instructions, and explicit recordings.
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Following public outrage, the government enacted the Nth Room Prevention Law in 2020,
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requiring digital platforms to store user data and cooperate with law enforcement in cases of sexual exploitation.
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Beginning in 2022,
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South Korean and international researchers documented the emergence of online religious subcultures that combined artificial intelligence tools with apocalyptic prophecy.
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These groups, often called AI prophecy sects, used chatbots or generative text models as oracles and claimed their outputs constitute divine revelation.
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The first identifiable clusters formed on Discord, Telegram, and Korean community sites such as DC Inside and Naver Cafe.
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Participants created private servers where an AI system, sometimes custom -trade on scripture or occult literature, was treated as a living spirit.
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Leaders framed the model's responses as direct communications with higher beings they called Chat Messiah and Data Spirit, or Lambda of Heaven.
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Recruitment targeted technologically illiterate youth, several Korean servers reported hundreds of active members before closure by moderators in late 2023,
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after cases of psychological dependence and financial scams.
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From all the cults and churches and religions in South Korea, there aren't many of them that claim God is alive right now,
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and that she's living quietly in a suburb right outside Seoul.
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The World Missionary - The World Mission Society - I'm sorry, their name is so stupid.
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The World Mission Society Church of God,
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often shortened to WMSCOG, was founded in 1964 by a man named An Sanghong,
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who believed everything known was wrong and that he himself was the physical return of Christ.
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But the story didn't end with him, as he died in 1985.
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For his followers, that was only the beginning.
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Among his disciples was Jang -Zang -Gil -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah
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-Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah
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-Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah
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-Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah
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-Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah
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-Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah
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-Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah
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-Jah -Jah -Jah -Jah -J name God the Mother.
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And from that moment, the theology of the church changed forever.
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Members believed that Anne Sang -hong, the original person, was God the Father, and that Jill is the living counterpart, the female half of divinity.
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Together they form the Elohim, the plural God described in Genesis.
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Let us make mankind in our image.
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The group teaches is that we're living in the final age, that every earthquake and war marks the countdown to the end of the world.
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Baptism is required immediately upon joining, and members are told to evangelize relentlessly, because every soul they convert adds a jewel to the Mother's crown.
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Like most of these cults, recruitment happens everywhere.
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At bus stops, in coffee shops, on university campuses around the world, it always begins softly.
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Have you heard of Mother the God?
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Would you like to join a short bible study?
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They show you verses that seem convincing, photos of clean white churches, videos of smiling volunteers doing charity work,
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if - feels really safe, sincere, and even wholesome.
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Then the deeper teachings unfold, exclaiming the world will soon be destroyed and only the members will be saved.
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Your family, if they refuse to join, will perish in eternal life.
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Inside the church, time is tightly controlled.
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Multiple services per week, hours of Zion meetings, constant pressure to recruit, donate, and confess, with members are told to cut off spiritually dangerous relationships,
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So that's anyone who doesn't believe, non -believing parents, spouses, friends, only obedience to mother brings peace.
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Former members describe emotional exhaustion and sleep deprivation, spending nights rewriting bible verses to align with terrible acronyms doctrine.
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Those who questioned teachings were told their doubts were Satan -whispering.
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The church denies all accusations, calling itself a misunderstood Christian movement event.
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And on the surface, sure it looks legitimate, it's registered in over 170 countries, recognized by the United Nations for volunteer services,
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and they run charities, blood drives and environmental cleanups, but X members claim those events double as recruitment fronts.
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Today, Jill is in her late 70s, still worshipped as a living goddess, with her followers kneeling before her image singing hymns that begin,
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On Jeju Island in the early 2000s, rumors began spreading through villages about a secret group holding ceremonies in the woods.
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Locals said they gathered at night, wore white robes, and chanted near the sea.
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The group's origins are traced to a circle of survivors and descendants of the Jeju Jiju -43 massacre in 1948 -1954.
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A violent anti -communist oppression in which an estimated 25 ,000 -30 ,000 civilians were killed.
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Members of the Jiju cleansing sect believed that they were trying to lift a curse left by the massacre.
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Their antics on the island made locals terrified of their presence.
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With reports going on to say that residents complained of missing livestock, strange fires, and the sound of drums near abandoned coastal shrines.
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Witnesses claimed to see figures carrying torches and animal carcasses towards the cliffs, with whispers of human sacrifice spreading quickly,
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fueled by the talk that the sect wanted to wash away the island's blood with new blood.
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Police launched an investigation in 2007 after farmers found ritual pits filled with burned documents and animal remains near Joji village.
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The documents listed names of massacre victims, mixed with prayers about returning the sea's debt.
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No human remains were ever found, as leaders told authorities, they were performing spiritual restoration ceremonies to heal Jiju's trauma, not sacrifices.
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They were charged with illegal exhumation and given suspended sentences.
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Academic reviews later described it as trauma -based memorial movement, not a traditional cult, but acknowledged its secrecy and apocalyptic tone,
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as well as the fact that they were conducting rituals with dead animals.
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Even after the group disappeared, the fear persisted among locals, with stories claiming the new cleansing ceremonies were recorded and shared online, though not more verified.
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On Jeju, the name cleansing sect still evokes unease, a reminder of the island's birth history and survivor guilt.
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Pastor Jung Mae Ong -Sook was one of South Korea's first celebrity pastors.
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Handsome, charismatic, a man that promised through him you could reach salvation.
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In the early 1980s, he began touring university campuses preaching a new theology called JMS, short for Jesus Morningstar.
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Students flocked to him, athletes, art majors, idealists, all drawn to his message for purity and self -discipline.
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So when a young Korean man, Mr. Kim, was told that he'd be working directly for Pastor Jung, he was thrilled.
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His job was to handle pastor's overseas mail in Hong Kong.
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For months, Kim sorted through fan letters and donations, until one day, a long poster tube arrived.
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Curious, he opened it.
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But inside were hundreds of photographs, nude portraits of women he recognized from the church gatherings, smiling awkwardly in risky positions.
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Kim froze.
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These were the same followers who had been told that SEX was a sin, and the desire itself was evil.
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In that moment, he realized that the rumors he'd heard
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that Jung coerced his female followers under the guise of spiritual love weren't lies from the devil, they were true.
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Kim took the photos back to Korea and uploaded them to the internet so other members could see what he had seen.
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The files spread rapidly and became known as the Hong Kong X -Files.
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Within weeks, shocked believers abandoned JMS.
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As the scandal broke, South Korea's mainstream media began investigating.
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At the same time, a professor named Kim Do -yun and a group of former members formed Exodus, a watchdog movement to expose the church's abuse.
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Jung fled abroad, moving through Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China.
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For nearly a decade, he preached from hiding, all while the accusations multiplied.
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In 2007, Chinese authorities finally arrested him in Beijing.
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Witnesses from the Ministry of State Security later said that the self -proclaimed messiah instantly changed demeanor, dropping to his knees, wailing,
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I'm just a small pastor, please forgive me.
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The man who claimed to be the second coming, now begged like a little kid.
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When he was extradited to South Korea, his followers emptied savings accounts to fund his defense and intimidate witnesses.
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Some followers received blank checks as settlements.
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With one survivor later testifying that JMS bodyguards filled the courtroom benches, glaring at anyone who dared to speak.
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During trial, Jung denied ever calling himself Messiah, a betrayal that shattered his disciples.
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But the church didn't die.
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While he sat behind bars, JMS quickly rebranded and expanded overseas.
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Members claimed Jung was imprisoned, just like Christ, suffering for their sins.
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Even from prison, he demanded letters, hundreds of them.
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Female followers were told to send bikini or nude photos as proof of devotion.
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Two of those women later became known publicly as Liz from Australia, but mainly Mabel.
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Mabel joined JMS around 2012, believing Jung was a divine teacher, wrongly condemned.
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When he was released in 2018, at age 73, she was among the first to meet him.
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He wore an electronic ankle monitor, a court requirement, and compared it to the nails that crucified Jesus Christ.
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Wow.
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Mabel soon became one of his chosen.
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She later told investigators that Jung repeatedly assaulted her, telling her each time that it was God's love.
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During one attack, he ordered her to get on all fours like a cat, and she said that she felt so filthy afterwards that she begged God to let her love him properly,
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because she believed that resisting was sinful.
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In late 2021, another survivor urged her to escape, but before leaving, Mabel recorded an assault, capturing Jung's voice as he forced her to say that she loved the Lord.
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That recording became the cornerstone of the next prosecution.
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As on March 16th, 2022, on Jung's birthday, Mabel returned to Seoul to hold a press conference.
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She was pale, trembling, and shadowed by JMS members who had followed her all the way from Hong Kong.
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Reporters recall her whispering, not even God can stop me from doing this.
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Then she told the world that Jung Myung -suk was not the messiah.
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The press conference and Netflix's later documentary ignited international outrage, and by October 2022, Jung was arrested again,
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leading all the way up to January 2025, when the Supreme Court sentenced him to 17 years for serial sexual assault.
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But at the age he is now, it's thankfully unlikely that he'll be walking out of prison in 17 years, marking the end of his reign of terror.
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In the decades after the Korean War, a charismatic preacher named Sun Myung Moon claimed he had received a revelation.
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Jesus had appeared to him on a hillside in North Korea
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and told him to complete the work left unfinished at the crucifixion.
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In 1954, he founded the Holy Spirit Association, or the Unification Church.
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Followers called him and his wife, Hak Jahan, the true parents of mankind.
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To prove their devotion, believers handed over money, property, and even the choice of whom they would marry.
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By the 1970s, the church had gone global.
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Lavish compounds in South Korea and the US, a newspaper, fishing fleets, construction companies, but what defined it all was their mass weddings.
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Thousands of couples, often strangers, lined up in white gowns and identical tuxedos inside Olympic stadiums, all matched personally by Moon.
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He said these blessing ceremonies would purify humanity's bloodline.
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All the way in Japan, the church grew faster than anywhere else.
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Its missionaries framed donations as acts of repentance for Japan's colonial rule of Korea.
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For many families, that guilt became a lifetime of payments.
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Victims' groups later called it spiritual sales,
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where families were pressured into buying overpriced marble vases or ancestral tablets that were said to cleanse the families of sin.
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Over decades, the sums reached hundreds of millions of dollars, with some Japanese followers losing their homes, inheritances, and marriages.
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One woman told NHK that her mother donated everything, saying, I'll go to hell if I stop.
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On July 8th, 2022, that hidden grievance exploded into world headlines.
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During a campaign event in Nara, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead.
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The shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, didn't flee.
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He told police his target was not politics, it was the Unification Church.
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His mother, he said, had given the sect all of the family's money, leaving them bankrupt.
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Yamagami believed Abe's longtime ties to the church affiliates made him symbolically responsible.
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In the months that followed, Japanese media uncovered years of collaboration between the ruling party politicians and church -linked organizations.
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Survivors who had fought the church for decades finally were able to speak openly.
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One told reporters it took a bullet for people to listen.
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In the summer of 2023, a quiet suburban home in Lawrenceville, Georgia, 30 miles northeast of Atlanta, hid something unimaginable beneath its floors.
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Se Cho, a 33 -year -old South Korean woman who had once gone to church seeking peace after trauma, was dying in the basement of a family that called themselves the Soldiers of Christ.
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The Lees were a devout immigrant family, with the parents, a local pastor and his wife, Mi Li, and their sons, Chun Ho, Chun Nan, and Chun Yang,
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they worshipped at home, running military -style training sessions in their basement chapel.
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Friends thought it was harmless, but prosecutors would later call it organized torture.
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When Seicho moved in, she was told fasting and prayer would cleanse her soul.
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Her initiation quickly became a 40 -day ordeal, with hours of forced prayer, no food, and beatings for speaking or asking for water.
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Text messages later recovered by police showed the brothers chatting casually about her screams.
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When someone wrote that Se was begging for food, one replied, if she screams again, beat her.
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Detectives would testify that the group filmed so much of it, videos of Se standing on her head, hands bound, being with a belt,
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others showing her plunged into a tub of iced water.
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It's no surprise that on August 19th, 2023, Seicho's body finally gave out.
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Eric Hun, another member who had a Jun similar abuse, was forced to dispose of the body.
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Weeks later, he checked into a hospital, complaining of pain.
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From his hospital bed, he asked his stepfather to retrieve something from his car.
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The man was confused, unable to find what his son was asking for, but when he opened the trunk, he was hit by the smell of decay.
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Inside, wrapped in a magenta blanket, was Seicho.
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Police traced the car back to the Lees, and upon entering the basement, they realized it reeked of bleach.
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But luckily, carpet fibers still tested positive for blood, the so -called prayer room becoming a crime scene.
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All six residents, Chen Hou, Chun Nan, Chun Yang, Mi Li, Honey Li, and cousin Kan Li, were arrested and charged with felony murder,
327
false improvement, tampering with evidence, and concealing a death.
328
In court that October, defendants sat expressionless.
329
They offered no apology, only the claim that they had been following God's word.
330
The judge denied bond, and investigators later revealed that another victim, Eric Hun, had been beaten,
331
shot with airsoft guns and forced to transfer thousands of dollars to a Korean account before they allowed him to leave.
332
Money that prosecutors alleged helped the Lee's buy a new home.
333
Even after Say's death, chat logs show the leaders discussing recruiting another woman, possibly a Georgia Tech student, to train.
334
Horrifying how close they were to torturing another victim.
335
I will tell you about the case of the criminal murder case.
336
The summer sun lay heavy over Yongging, just south of Seoul.
337
It was August 29th, 1987, when authorities pushed open the attic door of a modest craft factory building, where they would find 33 bodies.
338
Among them was 48 -year -old Park Soon -Ja, known to her followers as Benevolent Mother.
339
Park was the leader of the cult.
340
She led a tiny faith community and fronted it as a business called Odayyang Trading Co.
341
To outsiders, it appeared as a weaving and craft enterprise, but to insiders,
342
one devout to remember recalled that life was about waiting for the end of the world and giving everything we had.
343
When the bodies were discovered, police said the victims had been dead for up to two days, and that the crime scene looked less like a religious gathering and more like a m - One policeman told reporters,
344
it really looked like a side pact.
345
The victims were tied and gagged.
346
Investigators found Park had led her followers with apocalyptic warnings.
347
The world was impure and it would end soon, and only the five oceans could wash it clean.
348
Which was the meaning of her cult, Odae Yang, roughly meaning five oceans or something.
349
When police began investigating Park's financial situation, everything became clear.
350
She was estimated to be in the millions of dollars in debt.
351
But basically, she was in a ton of debt and decided that she wanted an out.
352
According to the survivors, Park's two sons stu -ed all the people in the cult and then turned the rope on themselves.
353
According to the survivors and all the information, it seems to be a murder driven by the cult's enormous debt.
354
Before the world knew the name Yoo Byung -un, he was already infamous in Korea's cult files.
355
He preached that true believers were already saved, and that absolute loyalty to him was proof of grace.
356
Decades later, investigators would connect his business empire to one of the worst disasters in modern Korean history.
357
In April 2014, the Suol ferry left Incheon for Jeju Island carrying 476 people, mostly high school students.
358
However, it never arrived.
359
Due to how overloaded the ship was, it capsized, 304 people.
360
The ferry's operator, Chonghua Jin Marine Company, was owned by Yu's family.
361
Survivors testified that the crew ordered students to stay where you are, while they themselves escaped.
362
The captain later received a life sentence for homicide by negligence.
363
When police searched for Yu, they discovered the Salvation sect's fingerprints everywhere, with Choj members shielding him, funding shell companies, and laundering money.
364
In July 2014, after a 40 -day nationwide manhunt, Yu's mummified body was found in a rural field clutching a liquor bottle.
365
The coroner said he'd been dead for weeks.
366
Years earlier, another scandal had tied Yu's sects to the Odayyang mass deaths of 1987, where 33 followers were found bound and gagged inside a factory.
367
So.. so this salvation sect...
368
I don't know if I'm reading this wrong, but I think this one and the last one are actually connected.
369
Very weird.
370
Maybe the previous one was an offshoot of this cult.
371
Kind of creepy.
372
In 2018, Seoul police arrested Pastor after four of his followers died within months.
373
claimed he could heal cancer and chronic illnesses through prayer alone.
374
He ordered congregants to throw away their medicine, promising that faith would reboot the body.
375
Families later told reporters that he forced patients to fast and pray while their conditions deteriorated.
376
Some filmed the pastor striking their chests, shouting, be cured in Jesus' name.
377
When the victims died, he told their families they had failed the test of belief.
378
Prosecutors charged with gross negligence and medical fraud, and his church now dissolved, still uploads clips insisting the death swear martyrs proving faith.
379
In 2011, a woman calling herself Prophet Yeon -young began sending messages on Kakao Talk, Korea's biggest chat app.
380
Her chat rooms were named stuff like Heavenly Army Training Ground.
381
She claimed the rapture would occur before 2013 and recruited spiritual soldiers through group texts and voice calls.
382
Members were told to cut off contact with family and wire money for heavenly preparations, with some even selling property to join in, like a lot of these.
383
Police raided 14 homes in 2013, seizing cash, ledgers, and phones full of apocalyptic countdowns.
384
The prophetess was charged with fraud and coercion, with journalists later called it Korea's first smartphone cult.
385
Seems like a lot of these, if they're asking you for money, they're probably goddamn evil.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 385 sentences and 5843 words to shadow. The speech runs for 38:11. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 73% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| follower noun | /ˈfɒləʊə(ɹ)/ | One who follows, comes after another. |
| pastor noun | /ˈpæs.tɚ/ | A minister or priest in a church. |
| spiritual adjective | /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/ | Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul. |
| survivor noun | /sɚˈvaɪvɚ/ | One who survives, especially one who survives a traumatic experience. |
| ritual noun | /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.u.əl/ | A rite; a repeated set of actions, especially in religious contexts. |
| sect noun | /sɛkt/ | An offshoot of a larger religion or denomination. |
| prayer noun | /pɹɛɚ/ | A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity. |
| fraud noun | /ˈfɹɔːd/ | The crime of stealing or otherwise illegally obtaining money by use of deception tactics. |
| merit noun | /ˈmɛɹɪt/ | A claim to commendation or a reward. |
| donate verb | /ˈdoʊˌneɪt/ | To make a donation; to give away something of value to support or contribute towards a cause or for the benefit of another. |
| donation noun | /doʊˈneɪʃən/ | A voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause. |
| investigator noun | /ɪnˈvɛs.tɪˌɡeɪ̯.təː/ | One who investigates. |
| reporter noun | /ɹɪˈpoɹ.tɚ/ | Someone or something that reports. |
| divine adjective | /dɪˈvaɪn/ | Of or pertaining to a god. |
| recruitment noun | /rɪˈkruːt.mənt / | The process or art of finding candidates for a post in an organization, or recruits for the armed forces. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| hand over verb | To relinquish control or possession of something to someone. | |
| give out verb | To utter, publish; to announce, proclaim, report. | |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| lead up to verb | To set in motion; to act as a causal or preparatory event or sequence of events. | |
| pass down verb | To hand over, pass through or transfer to a lower level, next generation, etc. | |
| sort through verb | To look through (a collection of documents, facts, etc.) to make sense of them or put them in order. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if you subscribe, you will gain · if they refuse to join, will perish |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being approached · were equipped · was approached |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | woman who said · man who was · sect, which was |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 37 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: gathering /ˈɡæð.ɚ.ɪŋ/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, withdraw /wɪðˈdɹɔ/, theology /θiˈɒ.lə.d͡ʒi/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: donation /doʊˈneɪʃən/, revelation /ˌɹɛv.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, salvation /sælˈveɪ.ʃn̩/, manipulation /məˌnɪp.juˈleɪ.ʃən/, exploitation /ˌɛksplɔɪˈteɪʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: investigator /ɪnˈvɛs.tɪˌɡeɪ̯.təː/, revelation /ˌɹɛv.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, ceremony /ˈsɛɹ.əˌmoʊ.ni/, psychological /ˌsaɪ.kəˈlɑː.d͡ʒɪ.kl̩/, prosecutor /ˈpɹɑ.səˌkjuːˌtəɹ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like follower, pastor, spiritual.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.