01x08 - God of Manmin Who Went to Prison

[bunniefuu]

THE FOLLOWING EPISODE CONTAINS
DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE

WHICH MAY BE DISTURBING FOR SOME VIEWERS

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW
HAS EXPERIENCED SEXUAL ABUSE

RECORDING PROVIDED BY THE VICTIM
IN 2018

- [woman 1] You never thought it was wrong?
- [woman 2] No.

- [woman 1] You're always obedient?
- [woman 2] Yes.

It's not that weird.

[woman 2] Why isn't it weird? Do you
have to do everything he says, then?

Even having sex?

[woman 1] Pastor Lee is God.
It's okay.

If he says it's not a sin,
then it's not a sin.

[woman 3] "I do this because I love you."

[woman 4] Because he's God.

[woman 5] He wanted to see my breasts.
He asked me to undress.

[woman 4] And he told me to moan.

[Jeong-hye] He looked...
very closely at that part.

He just stared at it.

[Lee Jae-rock] Even if I have some flaws,

even if I kissed somebody,

and even if I laid next to them,

I believe that you will forgive me.

I have no shame in front of God.

I truly don't feel ashamed.

MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

IN THE NAME OF GOD: A HOLY BETRAYAL

GOD OF MANMIN WHO WENT TO PRISON

[New Age music]

[woman speaking Korean]

[interpreter] Our beloved members
of Manmin,

welcome to the pastor's castle.

Welcome!

[ceremonial music plays
under ominous soundtrack]

[birdsong]

Our Father is preparing
this wonderful place

for all the faithful believers of Manmin.

There are five levels to Heaven.

In the first one,
you stay in a place called Paradise.

PARADISE

The Kingdom of Heaven is the second.

FIRST KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
SECOND KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

The Second Kingdom is above Paradise.

Then the Third Kingdom.

THIRD KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

And at the very top is New Jerusalem.

NEW JERUSALEM

In Paradise,
you'll live in the fields forever.

MEASURE OF FAITH
FIRST LEVEL - PARADISE

The First Kingdom has buildings.

In the Second, you get to live in a house.

In the Third, you're given a castle.

And a palace waits for you
in New Jerusalem. Or so they say.

How thankful are we,
knowing we can enter the New Jerusalem.

Thank you so much, dear Father!

Thank you very much!

- [applause]
- [women] Thank you very much!

Were there any houses
you wanted to have for yourselves?

[man] Amen!

Yeah, it's a very big place.

The main castle is huge,
it's... millions of square footage.

There's an ocean, too, and a beautiful
lake that you will all love.

My goal in life was to end up there.
At the best place.

FORMER MEMBER OF MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

The closest to the Throne of God.

KIM MYEONG-JUN
FORMER MEMBER

Manmin took advantage of that.
It's called the Measure of Faith.

TEAM HARMONY
KIM MYEONG-JUN, BAPTIST

They turned your faith into a number.

They wrote it on a piece of paper
and gave it to you.

"Your faith is at 30%."

"Your faith is at 70%."

So that made people go crazy over it.

They also got very anxious.
People with a high Measure...

FOURTH LEVEL 02.90

...were basically like celebrities,
and moved up the ranks.

Those who don't get a high Measure
fall behind until... they're eliminated.

[man sighs]

[Myeong-jun] I was desperate
to get higher Measures of Faith.

So I started giving even more,
and also investing much more.

[man] Oh, yeah!

FOURTH LEVEL

I... I think I got to three percent
on the fourth level.

THIRD LEVEL

I was around 40%. The third level.

I was on the third level
with 60-point-something percent.

Getting to 60% on the third level
means you stand on the "Rock of Faith."

LEE KWANG-OH
FORMER MEMBER

I got that pretty early,
and I was so happy to get it quickly.

I think I was number 800
out of 15,000 people.

That was my rank in Heaven.

It was actually very impressive.

MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

[Jae-rock] If you have never been
to the Rock of Faith,

if you have never received
an acknowledgement,

even though I recognize your face,

there's a reason
why you haven't made it yet.

You need to find out what that is.

Now that I think back, only those people
who paid a lot would get high percentages.

That's the conclusion that I've come to.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL

MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

[Jae-rock] In a way,
this sermon is a continuation

of the previous sermon
that I gave about Hell.

If you don't pay your offerings,

I promise you that
the Lord will place a curse upon you.

[man] Amen.

I see it often.

If you get into a car crash

and break and shatter your bones,

or suffers a hemorrhage,

you see, it's always
because of the same reason.

It's obvious. It's because you didn't pay.

You have to pay your offerings.

[chanting]

[unsettling music playing over chanting]

Thank-you offering,
sanctuary-building offering,

charity offering, special offering.

During a Bible study,
during Feast of Harvest,

during Easter.

And there was also one during Christmas.

And a tithe,

based on your income before taxes.

[Jae-rock] Some people say
that they can't pay the tithe

because they're unemployed
and don't have income.

But every single person can pay the tithe.

Even young children have income
from New Year's, allowances,

other celebrations,
school celebrations and birthdays.

The parents can pay the tithe in
their child's name by using their income.

[crackling and squelching]

There are two ways to give money
to the Manmin Church.

Offerings and gifts.

Offerings are the money
you give in offering envelopes,

while a gift would be
money you give unofficially.

[Jang h*-ki] Offerings
are a separate thing.

Members pay offerings and gifts,

even if that means
they have no money to live on.

And yet, they always donate,

even if they go into debt.

He puts members
in competition with each other.

to see who can pay more.

"You and you.
You both got the first place."

"And you, that elder gets third place."

I think I must have paid
somewhere close to one billion won

over the course of 24 years.

I think my family paid
over a billion won too.

At the very least, it's 800 million.
But I think I paid over a billion won.

There were many people
taken advantage of financially.

JANG h*-KI, PRODUCER,
PD NOTE

These people dedicated their lives
to giving offerings to the church.

He's such an atrocious man,
who brainwashed them all...

...and then, sadly,
used that for his own gain.

[grasshoppers chirping]

[man] When you analyze it,
a lot of members of the church

had a very poor quality of life.

FORMER MEMBER OF MANMIN CHURCH
CHURCH EMPLOYEE

In terms of earnings,
it's probably fair to say

most of the church's members
were at the very bottom of the ladder.

Despite that,
they gave money to the church.

MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

How did that happen?
They had two jobs.

[woman] Hey, take this to that table.

[man] They worked hard
to earn the money for the offerings.

Eight hundred, ten thousand...

They didn't have much money,
and a lot of them went into debt.

You leave church after a service.

BYUN SEONG-KWANG,
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF PD NOTE EPISODE

But at Manmin Church,
the members line up and wait afterwards.

[cheering]

- [woman 1] Pastor Lee!
- [woman 2] Pastor Lee!

[man] Pastor Lee!

[woman 3] Our entire family supports you!

Thank you.

[Kwang-oh] If you grabbed his hand
and asked for a prayer, his car stopped.

A member might get a minute of prayer,
20 or 30 seconds.

Amen!

There's somebody in the car
who collects the money envelopes.

He's the director of planning.

As far as I know, a lot of people
paid thousands of dollars n offerings

to receive his blessings.

May Jesus lay his hand upon you in prayer.

MISSIONARY MEETING FOR BUSINESSPEOPLE

Show us the inspiration, influence,
and greatness of the Holy Spirit.

[all] Amen.

We pray that
you'll surround us with light.

[all] Amen.

There is a missionary gathering
for businesspeople,

those who give the most money.

We were invited to go.

While there, they collect around three
to five million won per person.

The tithe from August...

There were six or seven people who paid
nearly ten million won,

but now, we've got more than 12.

[woman] Amen.

- [man] I'll bring you joy, Father.
- [Jae-rock] All right.

[man] Let's go to the car
to receive prayers.

- [Jae-rock] Sure.
- [man] Over here.

- [Jae-rock] Okay.
- [man] Come on.

- Let's hug.
- [Jae-rock] Sure, sure. Sure.

I got a new car, Pastor.

- Where is it from?
- Germany.

Father, bless this car.

- Please bless this key as well.
- Amen.

Bless your light upon it.

- In the name of Jesus!
- [group] Amen.

Please, dear God, bless this car.

- [man] Amen.
- [Jae-rock] Amen.

[woman] You had to pay
to take a picture with Pastor Lee.

I don't remember the exact price.

It started out not being much.

But then, there were so many who wanted

to have their picture taken
with Pastor Lee,

they ended up paying
at least a million won per picture.

I'm sure I gave around ten million won
for a picture.

[Kwang-oh] These are the pictures
I paid for.

I had over 40 of those framed.

The total cost is easily
over 400 million won.

MANMIN CHURCH BOOKSTORE

Manmin Church had a store
called Manmin Bookstore.

BENEDICTION, EXTRA-LARGE FRAME
80,000 WON

They sold pictures of Jae-rock...

BENEDICTION, LARGE FRAME
50,000 WON

...key rings, notebooks,
all kinds of paraphernalia like that.

And people would buy these things too.

In a way, it's a really shrewd business.

The funniest one for me
was Muan Sweet Water.

These people put Muan Sweet Water

in these small spray bottles
to make it easier to use.

MUAN SWEET WATER

It was crazy.

You could spray it on
to get double eyelids.

It was also supposed
to fix broken washing machines.

[man] Muan Sweet Water worked its miracle
on a broken washing machine.

It was stuck. I was desperate.

I spent ages trying to open it,
then it opened with a click

right after I sprayed
the Muan Sweet Water.

The washing machine works well now.

Everything is fine now.

Everything is fixed.

[woman] The door wouldn't open
for over an hour,

but it unbolted with a click

right after it was sprayed
with Muan Sweet Water.

[barking]

[Myeong-jun] To Manmin Church,
Muan Sweet Water

is like a cure-all for the members.

They say there's this light,
and also this power,

and something magical in this common water
just because Jae-rock prayed over it.

PLEASE GIVE THIS WATER SPIRITUAL POWER...

So, they claim that the users can
experience some kind of miracle

if you drink it or put it on yourself.

They had a thing called "Mailbox"

where you could call
an automatic response system

and you could listen
to pre-recorded messages from Pastor Lee.

[woman] This is Manmin Central Church.

Press 10 to start your day
with Pastor Lee's prayers.

Press 20 to hear a prayer for recovery.

30 for a three-minute sermon.
Press 40 for a prayer for the sick.

Before my grandfather died,
he was hospitalized.

I wanted him to heal.

So, I remember I played Jae-rock's
voicemail prayers for the sick for him.

I remember it clearly.

[Jae-rock] Let me begin
the prayer for the sick.

Place your hand
on the place where it hurts.

If you're not ill,
then simply put your hand over your heart...

[man] He listened to it for a while,

then he looked at me
to take the earphones out.

Nevertheless, I made him listen
to the whole thing,

because I wanted him to listen.

I should have just talked to him
or gone on a trip with him. Yeah.

[sighs]

It's all about money in the end.

The church is denying it, but they had
an enormous amount of money saved up.

GOAL: 1.5 BILLION

SPECIAL TREATMENT PLAN
FOR HIGHER-PAYING MEMBERS

[man] With three million won, you could
meet him with others who paid the same.

If you paid more, you'd meet him
with people who paid that amount too.

It was like that.

If you paid the most,
you'd get a private meeting.

Those people paid over 100 million won.

[man] How did the church treat people
who paid that much money?

Well, those people were basically treated
as VIPs by the church associates.

There were people
dressed in beautiful hanbok.

They had special seats.

That made them the envy
of all Manmin Church members.

Those seats were not just for anybody.

They must have given a lot of offerings,
like, really a lot of money,

to dear Pastor Lee.

Honestly, back then, it felt pretty nice.

Because of that system...

FORMER MEMBER OF MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

...my dad paid millions of won
every year to the devotion worship

to have my sister sit at the very front.

If you gave more money,
you got the right to sit at the front.

[man] Why were those seats so important?

Because you were closer to Pastor Lee.

THOU SHALT NOT k*ll

Illnesses happen as a result of a sin,
as a punishment.

You'll never be ill if you don't sin.

Have you ever seen someone fall ill when
they've never sinned and are obedient?

- [crowd] Amen.
- [woman] Amen.

If you get a deadly illness,

it means that you committed a sin
so serious that death is the punishment.

He said to me,
"You won't get ill if you don't sin."

"If you're ill, you must have sinned."

He pushed us to believe that.

People thought that going
to the hospital reflected a lack of faith.

He was proud of that.

But in reality, there were illnesses

that could have been stopped
if treated in time.

But people just prayed,

and many of them ended up dying.

Tuberculosis lives in the Manmin Church.

It's actually a part of its history.

The members
of the Performing Arts Committee

are all in their 20s or 30s.

They all sing and dance together,
and as I said, they're all young.

They're all... always in the spotlight.

- [in Korean] ♪ Fruits of joy ♪
- ♪ Fruits of joy ♪

- ♪ I am changed ♪
- ♪ I am changed ♪

♪ His love saved me ♪

Sadly, many wonderful people ended up
tragically passing away.

My wife...

FORMER MEMBER

She passed away in 2006.

[TV theme music]

Hi, dear believers.
How are you all doing today?

After the 100th episode special,

God showed his great power
through our beloved Pastor Lee...

She was a really pretty girl.
She was in the Hallelujah Praising Team.

FORMER MEMBER OF MANMIN CHURCH

She was a very petite and slim girl,
with a feminine and beautiful voice.

[husband] She was brushing her teeth,

then she ran up to me
with toothpaste in her mouth.

She was bleeding.

I told her we should run to the hospital...

[sighs]

She had tuberculosis.

Faith was supposed to be our treatment.

She was on the praise team.

When we found out about it,

she said her treatment
was her faith.

She said, "I was supposed
to only love Jae-rock."

"And now I'm sick because I decided
to get married. I'm going to die from it."

She was considered a sinner.

If you get a deadly illness,

it means that you committed a sin
so serious that death is the punishment.

[husband sobbing]

[husband] Before she passed away, she...

was so very skinny.

And her lungs
had basically stopped working.

And she...

died a painful death.

[birds calling]

Aside from tuberculosis, there were
a lot of people who suffered from cancer.

When I found out the situation,
I thought,

"Is it really faith that prevents
these people from going to the hospital?"

"Unbelievable."

THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY

You know, I always talk about this
in the sermons.

People are affected by the evil spirits
because of adultery.

Adulterers

are possessed by evil spirits,
but they have no idea.

They keep committing adultery
because they have that spirit in them.

They can't stop.

They don't realize that they are under
the influence of evil spirits.

Lee Jae-rock was always
very emphatic about adultery

and relationships between men and women.

And he would always say,

"Because I don't have
any adulterous spirits in me,

I don't feel anything
when I see a naked woman."

[man] At one point, they began
separating the men from the women.

"Don't sit next to each other.
Don't be in the same space."

Men and women
couldn't talk to each other.

So, how did they communicate?

Well, you would talk to them
through someone else.

In my case, it was my sister.

I would tell the message to her,

and when the other person responded,

my sister would pass that message
on to me, and the chain continued.

There was an incident with
the letters of repentance in 2010.

"The members have too many sins."

"They lead sinful lives."

I did not think that such sinners
would be part of our church.

These are people who gave in
to their sexual desires.

And some of them also acted
in a very indecent

and totally improper manner.

They said, "If you write a letter
to Jae-rock about your sins,

they will be forgiven."

I have cried so desperately...

I cried so that not a single soul
would go to Hell, I...

[sobbing]

I didn't know it'd be this bad.

I didn't know that this pain
would make my life so... so unbearable.

Please show compassion for us,
and forgive us.

Your son begs you.

I'm begging you.

[woman] We had to confess
all our secrets.

LETTER BOX OF REPENTANCE

I had to remember holding hands
with somebody when I was seven

and what I did
with a man when I was 20.

Did I do anything else?

I had to remember everything
and confess it.

It was really hard.

[Myeong-jun] Once everyone wrote
their letters of repentance,

it became mandatory
for all church members.

If you didn't do it,

there was no way you could be sure
if you would be saved or not.

It was something that was very upsetting.

You keep committing those deadly sins.

Don't you feel bad for your pastor?

Is it really that hard to believe?

If you commit a sin,

you'll die just like it says in the Bible,

and there'll be no salvation,
I promise you.

This topic is kind of...

I feel bad talking about it.

This might really hurt someone.

Their family
is still having a really hard time.

He was a little bit...

LEE CHAN-HEE
FORMER MEMBER OF MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

...free-spirited.

He dated a lot of people.

He was a huge extrovert,
and a very friendly kind of person.

[singing in Korean]

PLEASE NOTE THIS FOOTAGE IS NOT RELATED
TO THE ACTUAL VICTIM

[man] He ran into several problems
with various women.

Jae-rock found out about it.

That ended up being, well...

a great disadvantage for him, honestly.

He told him once, "You can't be saved."

So he... cut them off.

He literally cut off his genitals.

You could see a physical difference.

He became feminine.

He was a bodyguard
and he loved to exercise.

He's skinny now.

He has no muscles, and no facial hair.

Such things shouldn't have happened
to anyone.

They were just extremely illogical.

And they didn't just happen
to one or two people.

[younger man] He had such blind faith,
he thought it was right.

"Where can I have it done?
I have to do it!"

I considered it.

And when I looked into it,
he even told me

where it was done and the cost.

He said it took five days
to recover from the surgery.

But it was ill*gal.

[traditional music]

[Chan-hee] Jae-rock was very sensitive

about things like dating somebody
from the Performing Arts Committee.

[woman] Like I said, there were
pretty girls from the church.

I think he thought
that those girls belonged to him.

But if they dated
or slept with another man,

he considered them tainted and filthy.

He had to have them for himself.

And so no other man could be with them.

"They're all objects, and they're mine."

Pastor Lee Jae-rock of Manmin Church

was accused of sexually assaulting
nine female followers...

[man] Police believe the assaults...

SEXUAL ASSAULTS AGAINST FOLLOWERS

...happened frequently, perhaps over years.

LEE ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS

APRIL 26, 2018
FIRST POLICE SUMMONS

[woman] You denied all the charges.
So there was no sexual intercourse?

[man] This is dangerous.
Please, he's walking here...

- [woman] You deny any sex?
- [man] He's hurt...

Go. Go. Could you just go?

[woman] Are you denying any intercourse?
Or just the sexual as*ault?

[Jae-rock] I deny everything.

[woman] Why did you call
female members at night?

[man] Just go.

They say they hated it when you asked them
for sexual intercourse.

- [man] Sir...
- [Jae-rock] I never did that.

[woman] You never did anything like that?

- [man] Excuse us, Choi.
- [woman] Don't you...

Don't you want to apologize
to your victims?

[man] Okay. Watch your leg, sir.

Be careful, sir.

I mean... it was unbelievable.

Completely unbelievable.

I thought,
"How can something this absurd happen?"

Honestly... who could have imagined
he was a sex offender?

I thought they were rumors.

Manmin Church and its members

do not acknowledge the claims
of Pastor Lee's sexual assaults.

We believe that such claims
will be revealed to be false.

First, stop all false claims!

- [woman] Stop them! Stop them!
- [all shout]

BE STRONG, PASTOR!
STOP THE FALSE CLAIMS

The church will prove
Pastor Lee's innocence.

[woman] We'll prove it! We'll prove it!

WE LOVE YOU, PASTOR LEE!

When we started gathering material
for the piece...

LEE MOON-HYEON, REPORTER
SOCIETY DEPARTMENT OF MBC

...we thought he was the leader of a cult
or something like that.

But what we never imagined
was that

we were actually dealing
with a dangerous criminal.

Another sexual as*ault victim
filed a lawsuit

against Pastor Lee Jae-rock
of Manmin Central Church,

who's being investigated
for sexually assaulting his followers.

Here's the story.

[Moon-hyeon] She says she was sexually
assaulted by Pastor Lee of Manmin Church...

The victim was like a leader
among younger members.

She brought in some evidence...

MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

along with some pictures
she took with Jae-rock.

All these sources helped a lot
during the investigation.

There, I learned things
like virtue, honesty, and love.

I loved learning that.
It was something good.

[Moon-hyeon] She was very specific
about the last time

she had been sexually assaulted by him,
and where it took place.

It was information that wouldn't be shared
with just anyone in the church,

so that's how I knew
I could trust her story.

She said she first received
a personal call from Jae-rock in 2011.

[ringing]

[Jae-rock] How are you?

[Moon-hyeon] She said she was ecstatic.
She was born religious.

Then, all of a sudden,
the man she was convinced was God,

this noble and holy man, was calling her.

TESTIMONY OF A FEMALE VICTIM
OF SEXUAL as*ault

[woman] I thought, "Maybe he wants to
discuss my Measure of Faith in private."

"Or maybe he'll assign me
a duty and a title."

[romantic music]

He said,
"Hey, can you come to the apartment?"

"No one knows about this place,
so please don't tell anybody."

So I left my house and took a cab there.

He was pretty careful.
He said, "Don't use a card. Use cash."

They wanted to prove their conviction,
and dipped into their savings,

withdrew the money in cash,
and put it in an envelope.

It was simple. Then they changed
into their clean, white clothes.

[witness 1] I felt so nervous
when I pressed the doorbell.

[bell rings]

I was praying on my way there.

Then even the way he poked his head out
was so shocking to me.

As I went in, I noticed there was
a large mattress right in the living room.

[romantic music continues]

All of the victims' stories
have great similarities.

They were all invited to his house.

[bell rings]

And he told them, "I am God."

"So, there's nothing wrong
with what happens here."

He said, "This is the Garden of Eden.
Therefore, you must be naked."

Those are the kind of things
he told the victims.

Then, the saddest thing,

the victims didn't really know
what was happening to them.

TESTIMONY OF A VICTIM
OF SEXUAL as*ault

[witness 2] I couldn't think straight.

"What's going on?"

"Is it okay for him to do this to me?"

"What is this? What's going on?"

"I see, this must be his Grace protecting
me from the other men out there."

I prayed for about a month,
and I guess at that point,

I just accepted the thought
that it must have been God's grace.

[thunder crashing]

[Seong-kwang] He wasn't God.
He was the Devil.

He used to say,
"You are in the presence of God."

And also, "Just by touching my body,
you'll be healed."

"You'll go to Heaven."

He was the Devil in sheep's clothing.

TESTIMONY OF A VICTIM

[witness 4] He unclasped my bra.

I was surprised
because he was so good at it.

[Jeong-hye] "Who owns your p*ssy,
Jeong-hye?"

He looked... very closely at that part.

He just stared at it.

He brought my face
closer to his genital area.

Then he said, "That's not right."

"Your teeth are hurting me."

While we were having sex,
he kept asking me if it felt good.

And he told me to moan.

"Good? Good?"

[witness 5] All of us had to pay attention

and keep watching
while he had sex with my friends.

[witness 4] He said we were too clumsy
and made us watch porn and practice.

So when his assistant played porn for us,
I would practice my moaning.

PLEASE NOTE THIS FOOTAGE IS NOT RELATED
TO THE ACTUAL VICTIMS

[witness 6] Those girls
were really pretty.

It was clear that he preferred girls
who were born religious like me,

because they were more naive,

and they'd never been touched by a man.

After he sexually assaulted us,

he gave each one of us
around three million won.

People suddenly started getting
nice cars and houses

That was fairly common. "Where did they
get the money to buy those things?"

[witness 4] He gave me an envelope
with a million won. It was all in cash.

TESTIMONY OF A FEMALE VICTIM
OF SEXUAL as*ault

[Jeong-hye] I used to get
two to three million won.

[witness 3] He wrote "4,500" in green ink
on a white envelope he gave me.

He gave me six million won.

It all came from the offerings.
That's where he got the money from.

I think he gave me two million won.

Five million at most.

I also paid offerings.

There were many times
when I would just return all that money.

I didn't know what to do with the money.

I didn't want to spend any of it.
For me, it didn't make sense to use it.

So I gave it back to the church.

After that, their Measure of Faith
would suddenly increase considerably.

A lot of the Performing Arts Committee
had really high rankings in the church.

I think there were 20 to 30 people.

So everything was connected.

You had to elevate your spirit,

but for you to achieve that,
you had to sleep with him.

Not only that, but he continued
to as*ault his previous victims.

We will not give in to
the unfaithful demands, dear Pastor Lee.

[all] Amen!

[woman] We're here for you!

[group] You can do it!

We love you with all our hearts!

The image of the pastor
that we grew up with never really changed.

Through all these years,
he maintained a kind and loving image.

We've only seen one side of him,

standing by the members of the church
through their ups and downs.

We just thought those women
were promiscuous.

That they liked to fool around with men.

FOR I AM A GOOD SHEPHERD,
I WILL SACRIFICE MYSELF FOR MY SHEEP

[man] "They were immoral. Sinners."

People spread rumors.

They'd say things at private gatherings.

They'd say they were dirty.

Some of the adults did know
what was happening to us.

But they still wouldn't leave the church.

That was because he said he was holy.

They said, "A simple human can't judge
this man's holy actions."

If one single person had spoken out,

none of this
would have lasted for decades.

I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted
so many years.

SECOND POLICE SUMMONS

- [Moon-hyeon] Do you admit it?
- Where are we going?

- [Moon-hyeon] Why did you do it?
- [Choi] Are you admitting it?

[Moon-hyeon] You're not gonna talk?

- Why did you call your members?
- [Choi] You think you're the Holy Spirit?

[Moon-hyeon] We kept asking
questions right up to the elevator.

But Jae-rock didn't say anything
to defend himself or anything like that.

And the people around him were trying to
shove away the reporters that were there.

I remember him seeming shameless.

- Move away, please.
- [Choi] Excuse me!

[Moon-hyeon] Why were they
in your room at night?

Tell us about April 12!

ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING
CHURCH MEMBERS

PASTOR LEE JAE-ROCK'S
SECOND POLICE SUMMONS

After that,
he continued to deny the charges

during the prosecutor's investigation.

During the trial,
he would just deny everything.

He claimed he had never assaulted them.

He hired very expensive lawyers

and pleaded not guilty
until the very end.

There was a very specific incident
that brought down Manmin.

An audio of a female member
began to circulate.

She was one of the most prominent
and active members of the church.

It's an audio of this person
talking to one of her friends.

In that recording, she's saying

that there was nothing wrong
with having sex with Jae-rock.

RECORDING PROVIDED BY THE VICTIM
IN 2018

[woman 1] Do you really think it's okay
he demands that from unwilling women

just because he's the Holy Spirit?

- You never thought that it was wrong?
- [woman 2] No.

[woman 1] So you're always
completely obedient?

[woman 2] Yes.

- It's not that weird.
- [woman 1] Why isn't it weird?

Do you have to do everything
that he says, then? Even having sex?

[woman 2] Pastor Lee is God.
It's okay.

If he says it's not a sin,
then it's not a sin.

[choral music]

When I listened to that,
I realized that it was all true.

I found my 20 years of faith
shattered in just two hours.

[producer] So, how did it feel
to have 20 years of faith shattered?

[choral music swells]

Uh, I guess it felt like... my mind...

going completely blank in a second.

It felt like my head was getting
slammed with a huge hammer.

I was so shocked
that I couldn't do anything all day. Yeah.

It was unimaginable.

You never think
that God could do something like that.

"Huh?"

I was stunned.

I felt like I had suddenly
been hit by a b*mb.

I mean, Jae-rock
was over 50 years older than them.

And he knew them all.

These were kids who went to his church

He prayed with them.

These kids first came to the church
carried by their mothers,

and he did unspeakable things to them.

At first, I almost went after him.

It was all completely outrageous.

[witness 2] To think he'd practically
raised those girls since they were kids,

and then did that to them when they were
just teenagers until their 20s...

He was in his 70s.
I don't even know what to call him.

Pervert? Degenerate?

I wonder what I would have done
in their place.

If Pastor Lee had called me to his room,

and asked me to do that.

To take off my clothes,
saying we were like Adam and Eve.

It may sound shocking,
but I think I would have obeyed him.

RECORDING PROVIDED BY THE VICTIM
IN 2018

[Jae-rock] I love you so much,
spiritually.

The body is a very important thing,
but I love you with my spirit.

[woman, tearfully] I know that.

[Jae-rock] If you don't like
physical love, I won't even consider it.

[woman sighs]

[Jae-rock] I won't consider it
if you don't like it.

I don't love you just because of that.

[woman] Okay. [sniffles]

[Jae-rock] All right.

I'll see you tomorrow.

- [woman, sobbing] Okay, thank you.
- [Jae-rock] Sure.

- I love you.
- [woman] Okay. Bye.

- [sniffling]
- [hangs up]

The day their God was destroyed
was May 3rd, 2018.

That was the day.

[camera shutters clicking]

[woman] We're here for you! Stay strong.

MAY 3, 2018
LEE JAE-ROCK IS ARRESTED

Do you admit it?

[dramatic music]

Do you deny the charges?

At the prayer meeting,
you said you don't fear the police.

What do you mean by that?

Pastor Lee of Manmin Central Church
has been arrested,

after being charged
with multiple sexual assaults.

[echoing footsteps]

[dramatic music intensifies]

[Myeong-jun] The day of his arrest,
it suddenly started hailing.

Almost as if God were angry.

[Kwang-oh] Manmin Church calls that day
the "Hail Incident."

All the members were furious,
saying he was being put through hardship.

MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH

[crowd clamoring]

[man] Disclose the truth! The truth!

[all] We want the truth!

WHY IS OUR PASTOR LOCKED UP FOR 15 YEARS?

[chanting] We want truth! We want truth!

PASTOR LEE WAS FRAMED

[group singing in Korean]

BRING OUT THE LIE DETECTOR

TRANSPORT

[man] There he is.

There he is, right there. You got him?

For many people, it was their first time
seeing him looking like a coward.

When he got out of the car,
he seemed wary to me.

They say he didn't have white hair
because he was God.

He was supposed to keep his black hair
even as he got older.

But he looked like a random old man.

[dramatic music continues]

DEFENDANT LEE JAE-ROCK SENTENCED
TO 16 YEARS IN JAIL

[woman] Dear Lord, keep us in your heart...

JANUARY 18, 2018
FILMED BY CREW OF PD NOTE

...as we wish Pastor Lee
a very happy new year.

Let's say "Happy New Year," and bow.

[all] Happy New Year, dear Pastor Lee!

SOME MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH MEMBERS
ARE STILL WAITING FOR PASTOR LEE JAE-ROCK

- [group shouting]
- [man] Our dear Pastor Lee!

- We miss you a lot!
- [woman] Come back to us soon!

LEE KWANG-OH, CORRECTION ADVISOR
AT SEOUL NAMBU DETENTION CENTER

I am currently Director of Corrections
at Seoul Nambu Detention Center.

I have authority in the detention center.

I visited the center in Daegu
in March 2021.

I wondered, what was the true nature
of this deceptive man?

How was his life in prison?

So, when I saw him,
I said, "Hey, Jae-rock!"

He glanced at me.

Just imagine how my heart was pounding
when I said his name.

[rapid heartbeat]

"You need to live a better life!
Aren't you afraid of God?"

That's what I wanted to say, but then...

he didn't recognize me.

Even in prison,
he was the leader of his cell.

He always has five million won
kept in custody.

He's eating well and living well.

[unsettling music]

ALL INTERVIEWS IN THIS DOCUMENTARY
USE REAL TESTIMONIES

TO PROTECT THE SUBJECTS' IDENTITY,
SOME INTERVIEWS HAVE BEEN REENACTED