Category: Providence Church Korea

Korean leader Jung Myung Seok sexually assaulted 100 Taiwanese women? Taiwan Providence urgently declares 4 points: No female students have been victimized

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2023-03-08 21:14

Entertainment Center / Reported by Chen Ciling

“In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal” tells about “Korean cults” and uncovers Jung Myung Seok’s evil deeds.    (Picture / subtitle from Netflix)

The Netflix documentary “In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal” mainly speaks about “Korean cults” and introduces the deeds of 4 cult leaders. It sparked discussions as soon as it was released. Among them, there is a discussion that the new religious group founded by Jung Myung Seok (정명석), the Christian Gospel Mission, also known as Providence, has been sexually assaulting female believers. It is alleged that the victims are spread across many places, including Taiwan. In this regard, the Christian Gospel Mission Taiwan Providence Church issued a 4-point statement on the evening of today (8th), emphasizing that the female members of the Christian Gospel Mission have not been violated or selected to bathe together as reported by the media.

Taiwan’s Providence Church put forward a 4-point statement, refuting that the leader Jung Myung Seok had sexually assaulted Taiwanese women.  (Picture / Recapitulated from Jung Myung Seok – Our Life Tutor Facebook)

【Full Statement of the Christian Gospel Mission – Taiwan】

The Christian Gospel Mission – Taiwan began to devote itself to the local development of Taiwan in 2009. It has worked hard to study, try and practice in the fields of sports, culture, art, and public welfare. However, it has become the focus of public opinion because of Netflix and media reports. Violence is an act of harm and destruction. It not only harms individuals, but also harms the harmony and stability of the entire society. It is really unbearable to see church members face threats of violent words and bear many attacks because of reports. We are against any form of violence!

In response to recent media reports, the Christian Gospel Mission made the following statement:

1. The female church members of the Christian Gospel Mission did not report being abused or choosing to bathe together in the media. When Next Magazine published the report in 2001, when a hundred female college students were victimized at National Chengchi University, and in 2005, when Apple Daily published a report on the sexual assault of thousands of people, there were no such incidents, no substantive evidence and no victim testimonies presented. “Nearly 100 people were victimized” and “1,000 people were sexually assaulted” are the speculations of Next Magazine and Apple Daily. The School Safety Center of the Ministry of Education, in accordance with its responsibilities, stated in the letter No. 0940180806 dated January 11, 1995, that on October 15, 1994, the School Safety Center affiliated with high school vocational schools and tertiary institutions was asked to know whether any related incidents occurred on campus. So far, no school has reported any incident of victimization of students as described by the media.

2. Mr. Jung Myung Seok, the founder of the Christian Gospel Mission, was tried in South Korea courts in 2009. Due to disputes over the existence of witnesses and physical evidence, the Korean Civil Affairs Monthly published one article, “Jung Myeong Seok’s Cross: Why and for Whom?” (Article in Chinese)

I hope everyone can examine whether the trial of the case in 2009 is really uncontroversial. In the past 14 years, the Christian Gospel Mission has worked hard to show our accurate selves and our church life, and we want more people to know us not just through the claims in the media. However, because of the case in South Korea, we are constantly being questioned.

3. I hope that the media can respect the right of privacy and the freedom of religious belief of the faithful. Because the media went to the church without permission to take pictures and disturb the personal life of the faithful, it has seriously affected the rights and interests of the faithful. I hope that the public can give the faithful space with respect. This includes the recent concert held by the “Peace Symphony Orchestra and Choir” in order to promote social care, so that people who are alienated from society and themselves due to technology advances can feel the mood conveyed by the creator through music. Instead, the people involved in this choir are being stigmatized and threatened with violent attacks. I hope that the general public will not blindly follow such claims and arbitrarily forward speculative words to encourage the spread of violence.

4. The Christian Gospel Mission sincerely apologizes to the scholars and social figures who were implicated by this media report. I also thank scholars and social leaders for giving advice in academic exchange activities. I hope that everyone can respect academic exchanges and legitimate public communication, and not use public opinion to influence the lives of scholars and social leaders.

The Christian Gospel Mission is a legal religious organization deeply rooted in Taiwan. We hope that social rumors will subside and end, and we will continue to work hard for Taiwan. May God bless this beautiful island.

Video of Christian Missionary Society statement

Original Article in Chinese | Archived Original

Why did Netflix’s “In the Name of God” JMS Christian Gospel Mission Documentary Come Out?

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(Original article in Korean: 넷플릭스 ‘나는 신이다’ JMS 기독교복음선교회 편, 왜 나왔을까?)

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the religious organization “S,” that caused the second wave of spread of COVID in South Korea, became an issue. As a result, national resistance to heretical religious groups exploded along with resistance to Christianity. On the internet, I Am Jesus, a parody of I Am a Singer, which was a composite of religious leaders calling themselves “the Second Coming Jesus,” was circulating.

Among them was Pastor Jung Myeong-seok (founder of Christian Gospel Mission, so-called JMS). Why is President Jung Myung-seok, who has lived the life of a “religious/faithful bride of Jesus,” being treated as a “self-proclaiming Second Coming Jesus”? Is it because human nature seeks stimulation? Instead of the Word of God that resolves life’s problems, or wholesome and touching stories, the propagating power of stimulating rumors and criticizing content is much more overpowering. 

This time on Netflix, a documentary called In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal was aired and spread secondary and tertiary content, once again infringing on President Jung Myung-seok and CGM members. Hold on. Here you can just press the “Back” button, saying “Oh, this article was written by a JMS believer” or “You are a cult, so you shouldn’t speak,” but I hope you can read this until the end.

That “perspective” is repeated again

Actually, as a result of checking the main content of the program, I found out that the logic, flow, and information used to attack CGM are the same as before. Mr. K, the key figure of the opposing force who appears directly in the program, has continued to slander CGM with the same narrative since 1999 through SBS’ I Want to Know, MBC’s True Story Expedition in 2020, and JTBC in 2022. In President Jung Myung-seok’s sermon video, he distorted the audio and subtitles from “evangelize one out of ten [yeol-ai-ha-na jeon-do]” to “evangelize one woman [yeo-ja-ha-na joen-do],” and he did not hesitate to use only a portion of an audio recording of President Jeong Myung-seok to make a religious consultation with a [church] member in need sound like a sex crime.

And in 2023, through Netflix’s In the Name of God, using OTT (over-the-top) platform characteristics that are not restricted by broadcasting law, without hesitation, President Myung-seok Jeong and the CGM are portrayed in a sexual and provocative way.

This program is promoted by various media outlets as being objectively and credibly produced. However, it meticulously interprets the path that President Jung Myung-seok walked through one person’s one-sided logic and narrative, which is Mr. K’s. This path, which started with the Word of God that saves lives, is a history that Mr. K has never been a part of. Based on the malicious claims of those who left CGM and the one-sided allegations of the opposition, the broadcast only tarnishes this history as a “history that sexually seduces female believers.” It was done to the extent that I thought it was childish. There was no mention of how God’s words had resolved people’s life issues or how it solved Biblical questions. Instead, Mr. K himself is portrayed as an “apostle of justice who seeks to rescue those who had been harmed by President Jung Myung-seok.”

Video claims and contents: is all of it true?

On February 17th, CGM filed an application for an injunction to ban the broadcast, but the Court rejected it. “For past cases, they have cross-checked various materials such as videos and photos, and the part related to the ongoing criminal trial is in line with the plaintiffs’ statements since they have met and conducted interviews with the plaintiffs, so it is difficult to see them as false,” the Court described.

In the film, Mr. K’s argument, the tearful statements of the accusers, and the presented video and audio recordings of the female believers make people speculate, “President Jung Myung-seok really committed these crimes.” The reenactments also emotionally trigger the general public and induce them to believe that “this really happened.”

But are these allegations and contents true? It is unclear from where these materials were gathered, and whether they were really produced at the site where President Jung Myung-seok had allegedly violated the female believers. In particular, the full version and context should be clearly given for recordings that are offensive and shocking for viewers. Among the statements of the accusers in the actual film, there were many things that could be proven to be absolute lies. 

In the Name of God may end up as a source of stimulation and entertainment (or discomfort) for the public. However, CGM, which has been quietly preaching the gospel and spreading a sound view of faith, will be undermined, and the damage to its image and members will be severe.

Currently, President Jung Myung-seok is undergoing the first trial, and no decision has been made yet. The process from the prosecution of Ms. M in 2022 to the arrest and trial of President Myung-Seok Jeong was not easy from the standpoint of CGM’s opposition. Although I cannot reveal the specific trial process and the circumstances of the accusers here, there were sufficient grounds to prove that Ms. M’s claims were false. Meanwhile, the accumulated negative public opinion led to the arrest of President Jung Myung-seok. In the Name of God is the culmination of that. The accusers, including Mr. K, appear to be trying to agitate public opinion on a global scale through In the Name of God in order to lead the trial in their favor.

It is often argued that broadcasting should be fair. However, it is difficult to come up with such good broadcasts. This is because the broadcaster’s circumstances, characteristics, and financial logic have no choice but to come into play. In particular, fair broadcasts are no fun. In a reality where few people seek the Word of God, to have content encompassing CGM’s wholesome nature and image that differ from its opposition’s claims would be meaningless from the standpoint of OTT, which pursues profit. In order to make content that sells well to the public, there is no choice but to compose content that is stimulating and R-rated.

In the Name of God is a concoction of CGM opposers who cause trouble for CGM and try to justify themselves by any means beyond logic, Netflix’s pursuit of profit, broadcast producers’ desire to succeed through an OTT platform, and the general attack of Christianity which condemns CGM as heretical. Anyone who consumes content should keep in mind that there will be a certain number of hidden agendas.

[Writing | G. jams ]

* This blog collects organized material on the main issues appearing in Netflix’s In the Name of God.

Some of them can be fully explained, but some have not been made into content due to the safety of CGM members. 

[CC Herald] My Hometown Wolmyeongdong, the Valley of Signs

Special interview by Chungcheong Herald Correspondent Kim Gwang-mu / Reporter Kwon Seong-ha, with CGM President Jung Myung Seok.

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Reporter Kwang-moo Kim, 15 July 2021

Interview with the President of Christian Gospel Mission Jung Myung-seok

‘Wolmyeong-dong’ in Jinsan-myeon, Geumsan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do is a holy place where 1.1 million people from 73 countries make pilgrimages every year in search of faith.

[Special interview with Chungcheong Herald Correspondent Kim Gwang-mu / Reporter Kwon Seong-ha]

“Sometimes he appears shining like a star.. At other times he appears as soft as the moon.. At other times he appears as dazzling as the sun.. He told me to write a poem. He made me a poet”

– From the poem ‘Who made me a poet’

It started with a saying that sounded like a legend. “There are so many beautiful flowers over that mountain.”

The young poet’s heart was filled with overflowing dreams. Secretly, I ran out of hope, gasping for breath. The poet’s life flowed like a river, and flowed like a drop of water on a blade of grass. As the snow melted and flowed on a spring day, the clouds flowed by. The place where the poems flowed is Wolmyeongdong, a mountainous village in Geumsan, Chungcheongnam-do.

The original name of Wolmyeongdong is ‘Dalbitgol’. Even though it was a mountainous area where less than ten households lived, the moon was exceptionally bright. 月明洞 is the name of the village in Chinese characters.

The beautiful flower that the poet dreamed of bloomed as the ‘gospel’ in Dalbakgol.

Wolmyeongdong (144-1 Seokmak-ri, Jinsan-myeon, Geumsan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do) is a mysterious place. At first glance, it looks like any other mountainous area with a thick pine forest. However, when viewed from the sky, it looks like “Miwon Ja” took off her jacket exposing her red skin and navel.

Buildings such as stones and trees, water and waterfalls, lawns and temples evoke a passage from Dr. David Hawkins’ Homo Spiritus.

“It’s best to just keep doing your job and leave the rest to Providence. Then, God takes the last step.”

Another name for Wolmyeongdong is the Natural Temple. This is what the people of the Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) call it.

As Dr. Hawkins personally saw and wrote, Wolmyeongdong’s huge three-story building is beautiful and majestic. It is mysterious to see megaliths, which are likely to weigh several tons, standing vertically. Did God really move it?

President Jung Myung Seok (76 years old) said, “To say so would be a lie. Mowing grass in the valley, making volleyball courts to play with, and making potato fields have become training centers that come from all over the world. God works in secret. However, he gave only the words to make it beautiful, magnificent, and mysterious. I entrusted it to famous landscaping experts and they did the landscaping for my home. It was beautiful and grand, but it was not mysterious to anyone looking at it. So I asked him to stack several tons of stones vertically. Then he shook his head and left. It has been raining for a full week, and in prayer, I heard the words, ‘You should build it up.’”

Wolmyeongdong’s huge three-fold image is beautiful and majestic. It is ‘mystical’ as if the gods had moved it to see the megaliths, which are likely to weigh several tons, standing vertically.

“I didn’t know how to build it, so it kept falling apart. As amateurs, we only knew how to put stones on the soil, so there was no way it could be done. But after it collapsed five times, it was built on the sixth. Even though the rocks have collapsed, our hearts have not. It was accomplished as God’s Providence had envisioned. So, in the end, God moved it.”

I was curious about the word “Providence”. It seemed to mean something beyond the principles and laws that govern our lives and phenomena in the natural world.

“Providence is God’s will. My humble hometown, my humble and pitiful hometown was created according to the plan (as it is now) because of God’s will. Now, everyone who sees it admires it, and a lot of people come to see it. I am stunned when I see everyone (laughs).”

In fact, Wolmyeongdong is a training center that gathers all kinds of missionaries.

For over 10 years, President Jung Myung Seok and his followers took shovels and carried soil and stones to complete the project. The paths in each valley of the training center are all paths created by God’s will.

At that time, President Jung said, “To pave the road (길) is to pave the way (도). It is difficult to make a road on a mountain, but how difficult would it be to create the ‘true road’ of life?” This proverb is still being talked about.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1.1 million people visited Wolmyeongdong training center annually. Devotees and visitors naturally come into contact with Geumsan’s special product, ginseng.

In fact, the memories of the three World Geumsan Ginseng Expo held in 2006, 2011 and 2017 are vivid in the minds of the people of Geumsan. At that time, a whopping 30,000 members of the Christian Gospel Mission from home and abroad traveled all over the Ginseng Expo.

At the 2019 Geumsan Ginseng Festival, many believers promoted the effect of ginseng and purchased it. The economic ripple effect estimated by the Geumsan-gun Office amounts to 100 billion won. It was also beautiful, majestic, and mystical that the people of Geumsan were the same.

Professor Max Weber’s ‘Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism’, who emphasized that religion has a great influence on the protection of individual freedom and property rights, comes to mind.

The Christian Gospel Mission in Wolmyeongdong is active not only in revitalizing the local economy, but also in community service activities to relieve the suffering of Geumsan residents, such as recovering from various floods.

Wolmyeongdong is very similar to Christian Gospel Mission. For about 10 years, CGM’s founder President Jung Myung Seok was imprisoned, but CGM grew bigger.

He spread the gospel to 73 countries around the world, including Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, and established megachurches in 200 cities across the country. This is unusual in the context of the decline of the Christian generation in Korean society.

The answer was concise. It is explained that this is because they preach and follow God’s ‘Absolute Word’ as it is. He also cited an increase in the number of logical young believers.

“People see the same thing differently. Even when Judas Iscariot died, some say that he was hanged, and in other Gospels, his intestines burst and he died. The same is true of the old debate about heresies. The Bible is 90% parables. Even if a new religion emerges, God is the same. Whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, it is God’s will that Jesus was born and preached the gospel, and that is the Word of the new age. If those words are right for the times, then we have to follow them. However, many religious leaders and theologians failed to do so. It is said that teaching according to the Bible is wrong. The younger generation is different. Religion and science must match. If God said it took only 6000 years to create the heavens and the earth, would the youth go to church? Students believe that something is true only when it is logical. It is difficult for the younger generation to accept the saying that salvation comes only by believing in the church. Everyone can be saved, but it is God’s Will that we are saved according to our deeds. God is not the only God of religion. He is the God of science, philosophy and art.”

In the same vein, this is the design that Wolmyeongdong and the training center will show the future. It is CGM’s calling to create a platform to develop the talents of the younger generation based on their faith.

God is not only a God of religion, but a God of all fields of society, culture, and art.

In fact, in Wolmyeongdong, various cultural and artistic activities such as Korean traditional music, orchestra, musical, theater, cheerleading, jazz dance, martial arts demonstration, and magic show, as well as sports club activities such as soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, table tennis, swimming, skiing, horseback riding, and mountain climbing are held throughout the four seasons. Volunteer activities such as cultural arts volunteering, visiting Kkottongnae, and volunteering at facilities for the disabled, are also plentiful.

“While serving in the Vietnam War as a soldier twice, I contemplated the essence of religion and the eternal truth at the boundary between life and death. Religion is a life, not a theory. It is listening to the Word and putting it into practice by loving God. I think the mission of Wolmyeongdong and the training center is to convey to the world the victory of faith in Korea that has been achieved through pastoral activities for the past 43 years. We will make Wolmyeongdong, which God envisioned, into a world-class park that embodies the world of religious harmony and peace. This is why people from all over the world come to Wolmyeongdong to believe in God.”

Christian Gospel Mission is putting God’s love and word into practice through various volunteer activities.

Original Article in Korean | Archive |  Chung Cheong Herald

An American’s Testimony of Pastor Jung Myung Seok

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Shaun McMillan, a professional animator and game designer from the United States of America, shares a testimony of Pastor Jung Myung Seok, whom he calls teacher or “son saeng nim” in Korean.

Despite tribulations, why did Shaun believe in Pastor Jung’s teachings about the Trinity and why does Shaun continue to preach the word of Providence in his daily life?

Hear his heartfelt story.

Testimonies of Ordinary Members

Taiwan’s EB TV network featured the testimonies of ordinary members in CGM (Christian Gospel Mission).

Through the Word of God, numerous members testified of how they were transformed into unanticipated successes through the teachings and personal example of Pastor Jung Myung Seok.

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Taiwan’s BC TV network featured the testimonies of ordinary members in CGM (Christian Gospel Mission).

Through the Word of God, numerous members testified of how they were transformed into unanticipated successes through the teachings and personal example of Pastor Jung Myung Seok:

An unassuming man from a humble village background, achieved the nation’s Outstanding Electrical Engineer of the Year award.

A boy who lived in poverty later became a management consultant in the nation’s coveted Taiwan 101 at the age of 21.

An indigenous Taiwanese scholar from the Luantian tribe who testifies about his participant observation of Providence and Pastor Jung Myung Seok.

A female doctor who was healed of a rare immunity disease that debilitated her, after the prayers and personal guidance of Pastor Jung.

These testimonies reveal the truth of God’s working through Pastor Jung’s life, and the untruths of malicious media portrayals on CGM and Pastor Jung that exist today:

#providence religious movement, #providence church korea, #providence 30 lessons #jung myung seok

[SETN News] CGM Celebrates Mother’s Day

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Taiwan’s SETN news network broadcasted a heartwarming feature about Chinese Christian Youth Association’s (Christian Gospel Mission (Taiwan)’s youth arm) celebration of Mother’s Day in 2009.

CGM’s children dressed up in cute animal costumes and performed for their mothers, followed by a personalized message of thanks to their own parents. CGM also organized outdoor activities for the families, such as a spring onion picking session in Yilan County. Through faith in God, families – the fundamental building blocks of society – are strengthened and unified. This then contributes to a strong and virtuous society.

Hear the testimonies of some of these families who are part of the Christian Gospel Mission, founded by Pastor Jung Myung Seok (turn on english subtitles on youtube):

CGM’s Peace Medical Corp in Action!

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Christian Gospel Mission (Providence)’s Peace Medical Corp was established in 2005, focusing on the fundamental values of medical care, practicing Christ’s spirit of loving lives, and conveying love and peace through medical care all over the world.

In this featured video, CGM’s Peace Medical Corp reaches out to special needs children in Harmony Home. These children have severe development challenges, which prevents them from communicating in a normal way even as they grow up. Despite challenges to earn the trust of these children, through regularly visits and a display of love for them, the children have began to trust the medical volunteers and have shown significant improvement in their social abilities.

Even then, it is easy for medical volunteers to perform these acts because of obligation or simply as a routine. The volunteers breakthrough these keeping in mind the teachings of Pastor Jung Myung Seok, who has taught them that “The fundamental element of medical care is to love life. It is to restore the value of lives.” Therefore, the volunteers treat each life as a unique and irreplaceable person, and are reminded of the fundamental element of medical care that Pastor Jung Myung Seok has taught.

The featured video (to view the english translation, turn on subtitles on youtube):

[Headline News] Christian Gospel Mission: “We actualize God’s ideal world on the Earth.” Pg 128 and 129

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hln-1
The Sixth Global Peace United Cultural Convention

Spreading only God’s truth to the Earth

Within 27 short years of ministry, Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) has become a worldwide organization with 200,000 members from 400 churches throughout the nation and 50 overseas nations. A staff of CGM shared their secret to success: to remember that religion is not a theory but a lifestyle.

He also mentioned a distinct characteristic of CGM, “We have a goal: By actualizing God’s perfect truth and His Will of love, let’s make our world into a world of peace. And, with that goal, we have a theory of lifestyle and action: Instead of considering Heaven as a Utopia in a very faraway place that we go to only after we die, we can actualize it, God’s ideal world, here on this Earth. Based on that theory, we are carrying out religious activities.”

A small circle that is drawn with limited knowledge cannot reach a big circle that is drawn with vast knowledge. Furthermore, we cannot even begin to imagine what is beyond the small circle with the limited knowledge. In order to reach the big circle, where God’s ideal world unfolds in reality, CGM Chairman Jung read the Bible from cover to cover about 2,000 times, and he said that during the 30-year process of an extreme life of prayer and through the vast Word of Biblical truth, he realized the truth of God that completely unites religion and ideology.

The foundation of the new interpretation of the Bible – The 30 Principles

Since the Bible is the Word of God, it is beyond our comprehension. Unless God enlightens human beings, we cannot understand it through our own efforts or study. Chairman Jung advocates the foundation of the new interpretation of the Bible, The 30 Principles, which targets mainly young people or college students; CGM is evangelizing with the creed, “Take action upon the Bible and make it your lifestyle.”

One of the 30 Principles, “the Seven Steps of the Law,” explains that all the existing worlds are created strictly and absolutely according to the laws, and emphasizes that these worlds cannot be sustained if they don’t adhere to the laws. It says, “There is a law called the vein of ore in the mineral kingdom, there is a law called physiology in the biosystem, there is a law called physics in the physical world, there is a law called geography in the earth system, there is a law called principle in the system of the universe, there is a law called psychology in the world of human beings, and there is a law called the truth between God and human beings, whereby if people don’t adhere to that law, they will be unable to exist.

In particular, if the law of truth that exists between man and God is violated, the relationship between human spirits and God will break. Since human beings lost the truth, they ended up living in chaos, and because they didn’t know what the truth was, they came to ignore the law and weren’t afraid of God’s law and customs. Therefore, true freedom comes when human beings become one with the Original Being of truth. All mankind can become one with each other within the absolute truth.”

The staff member said, “CGM is an organization that takes action on the Word only out of love for God and because we want to resemble His nature. In addition, we consider culture and art as a gift from God to His beloved ones, so we put a lot of effort into culture and art activities as an expression of thanksgiving to God. Also, each member develops their talents according to their individuality and gives glory to God in various ways.”

Taking action on love and peace everywhere in the world

In 1978 when Chairman Jung started his ministry in Seoul, he bore the first fruit of lives in 1980. From that point on, CGM established Korean College Students MS Ministry in 1982, registered with the Korean Jesus Presbyterian Methodist Order in 1983, founded the Korean Jesus Presbyterian Methodist (Truth) organization in 1986, and appointed Chairman Jung as the director. In 1989, it was restructured as the World Youth College Students MS Union, and in 1996, it was re-organized and run as the International Christian Union.

In October 1999, with the theme, “The ministry that prays, the ministry that becomes one through the truth, and the ministry that has advanced to the world,” it was reconstructed as Christian Gospel Mission, which has been operating until now. They have 400 churches in 22 regional districts throughout the nation and have branched out to 50 foreign nations with a total of 200,000 members worldwide. They are expanding their religious influence as a worldwide ministry.

The founder, Chairman Jung, has been particularly supportive of loving lives and the peace of mankind, not only amongst next-door neighbors but also amongst various nations, beyond global ideologies and religions, with the mentality upon which he had founded CGM: “With love alone, peace will come.” In addition, he received great reviews for developing a cultural movement towards a healthy mind and body, as well as for fostering the appropriate guidelines for proper youth development and the healthy family model, while advocating household peace.

CGM sets building God’s Kingdom as its goal and has the vision and new challenge of sharing this with the world. To establish the new era, where the whole world will become one, CGM is embarking on a mission to raise and dispatch many missionaries to foreign countries, and through that, take the lead in not only in faith, but also in actualizing the world of peace by spreading the beautiful side of Korea throughout the world.

In the past, Korea learned Christianity from the West, but now, conversely, CGM is accelerating to spread the new Word and God’s plan to the developed western countries.

headline-news-cover
Headline News Cover June 2005, Christian Gospel Mission News On Bottom Left

Headline News June 2005 Page 128, 129  Original Article | Translated

2013 Seoul Literature Award: Poet Jung Myung Seok

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Seoul Literature Publications

Report No. 305-2014-0000036

2013 Seoul Literature Award Winner: Poet Jung Myung Seok

Jung Myung Seok 2013 Most Beautiful Person Seoul Literature Prize Winner.jpg

Poet Jung Myung Seok has never given up his life of composition, even in his current most inadequate environment, but has sublimated his misfortunes into happiness by challenging himself endlessly with hope. That is why the board committee of The Most Beautiful People of 2013 from Seoul Education Broadcasting highly appraised his passionate creative writing activities and nominated poet 1178 Jung Myung Seok as The Most Beautiful Person of 2013. His heart for life beats and surges like a wave throughout his compositions and within the merit of his missionary works.

The Selection Committee of The Most Beautiful Person of 2013

How he was nominated: This year poet Jung Myung Seok published two volumes of the series, Poems of Inspiration– The Woman of Poetry and Speaking Through Poetry. Since he has a wide circle of readers, both of his books made records as weekly bestseller at Kyobo Book Centre. Despite being imprisoned currently in Daejeon prison, we found that his fervor for literary creative writing has transcended his confinement; he has been writing almost as many pages as one book every week.

There are many people who have different views towards Jung. However, from a literary point of view, the diction Jung uses in his poems is unique, and at this time when poetry is already being considered a dead literary genre, Jung has engrossed himself in only writing poetry instead of essays or novels and has written thousands of poems thus far. Among those poems, he selected some of his works and published them into two books. In the future, we hope that more budding poets will be born from many other places so that poetry will resurrect again from its current state of depression in Korean literature. With that anticipation, we have nominated poet Jung Myung Seok as The Most Beautiful Person in 2013.

Furthermore, Jung has established a very special theory on psychoanalysis. In contrast to Carl Jung’s theory of dream interpretation, he has proven the reality of dreams empirically. His theory is known as the soul entity theory, which uses psychoanalysis to interpret the way dreams reflect reality. Although dreams reflecting reality is already widespread, his theory of psychoanalysis is revolutionary. In his theory, dreams are the reality of the soul entity; just as we have a physical body in the physical plane, the soul entity of the brain surely exists.

Who is poet Jung Myung Seok?

Who is poet Jung Myung Seok? He was born in 1945, the year of the rooster. At that time, Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. Around the time when Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin were making an agreement on the 38th parallel at Yalta on the coast of the Black Sea in the Soviet Union on February 4, 1945, a boy was born in Wolmyeongdong (Dalbar-gol), Seokmak-ri, Jinsan-myeon, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. At that time, the district was not called Chungcheong Province but Jeolla Province. Poet Jung Myung Seok was the third son of Jung Pal Seong.

What kind of hope was there during the colonial period? Even at birth, Jung faced death. Because of his lack of immunity as a baby, he stopped breathing due to a certain disease. His mother-in-law kept nagging his mother to bury him quickly because it was an ominous sign, but his mother felt sorry for him. When she looked at her baby’s face, thinking that would be the final time she would ever see him, at that moment, he suddenly opened his eyes.

“Since he is still alive, let me have him for one more night…”

During that time, he had become unresponsive. His mother thought he had died after suffering from his high fever, so she laid him down at the corner of the room and covered him with a cloth. His mother was waiting for night to come so that she could try burying him discreetly at the back mountain. She wanted to see her son for the last time, the one whom she had given birth to with labor pains after 10 months, so she peered through the blanket. At that moment, he suddenly opened his eyes again. He wasn’t even crying. Jung spent three days like that. This miracle happened as his swelling subsided. That’s why his mom named him Myung* Seok because he seemed to have many lives. This is the childhood story of poet Jung Myung Seok.

(Translator’s note: Myung(命) is a Chinese character and means a life. However, later he changed his name to Myung(明), which means bright.)

Could the reason all his poetry is directly connected to life perhaps be because of what had happened in his childhood? Since he had experienced death at such a young age, during his adolescence, he often pondered deeply in solitude about life. Later on, while serving in the Vietnam War, he realized the value of life, the futility of life, and the fundamental world of God through first-hand experiences. He was able to live because of his mother’s love, which had compelled her to peer through the blanket to see her son’s face one last time, and so his affinity towards lives also stems from love.

The reason Jung’s poems are so good lies within their earnestness. His unquenchable earnestness towards what he is yearning for is carved deep into his poems like markings. When you see a flower, you can know about it by its fragrance. In the same way, all his poems give off a certain fragrance. Vol. 3 of his Poems of Inspiration titled, The Woman of Poetry, contained truly beautiful pieces. In order to understand the poet Jung Myung Seok, just as a work of art tells something about its author, reading his poetry yourself is the fastest and the most genuine way to get to know him.

Within Korean literary circles, there is a history book of literature known as The Encyclopedia of Korean Poetry. Poet Jung is officially registered in the 2011 edition of The Encyclopedia of Korean Poetry. On page 2717, readers can learn about him in a more detailed and genuine way. The fact that he is on page 2717 goes to show that The Encyclopedia of Korean Poetry is a very thick history book of literature. It presents 100 years of Korean poetry history.

The Encyclopedia of Korean Poetry was published by EJP Books, and Jung is in the 2011 edition. This book includes poems written by 3,500 poets who represent the history of Korean poetry from 1908 to 2010. The encyclopedia showcases ten of Jung’s poems; some of which include The Terrain of the Heart, Life, Good and Evil, Our Love, Operation, A Never-changing Heart, and Hope.

When you read his poem called Happiness is on Its Way, you can see how he depicts a deep aspect of life with simple yet meaningful diction.

Happiness is on Its Way (Full-version)

In life’s winter, where blizzards blow, there Happiness goes,

Even in a bone-aching life of anguish and suffering,

Happiness still goes on that thorny road.

Not permitting itself to just anyone,

It heads toward the path of pain, of man’s struggle.

Hope, also, not wishing to live with just anyone;

Seeking the one who endures, it goes.

Happiness and hope are surely abstract nouns. We cannot touch them and they don’t have specific forms. However, poet Jung describes happiness and hope as entities that exist and that are living. Happiness and hope are not abstract to Jung. He personifies them as entities that have a specific form. We wonder, how earnestly did he want happiness and hope to the point that he would portray their looks with such diction? When we look at his style of speech, the way he connects the verb, seeking, to the abstract nouns, we catch a glimpse of his bold transcendence of the existing grammatical rules in poetry. Of course, modern poetry is also highly influenced by free verse, so it is not bound by grammatic structure either.

Once again, we’d like to ask, who is poet Jung Myung Seok? Hearing from Jung directly about who he is would be the most genuine approach. However, written words are an expression of one’s heart. An art piece reflects the thoughts of its author, and an author speaks through his work. Likewise, Jung speaks directly through his work, one being The Woman of Poetry. What more words are needed? Who knows? During the times of our deepest despair, perhaps you will also be able to draw hope like finding an oasis in a desert through the words of his poetry.

Original | Archived | Translated

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