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When In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal hit Netflix in March 2023, no one predicted, the series would cause such an uproar in South Korea. It forced open a conversation the country had long avoided. The series focused on four religious cults, but the one that rattled viewers most was JMS, the Christian Gospel Mission. Two years later, Netflix returns with The Echoes of Survivors: Inside Korea’s Tragedies, an eight-part follow-up, with two of its episodes revisiting the case.
Jung Myung Seok’s story is no less than a crime thriller. In 1999, a South Korean channel exposed his alleged sexual crimes. Soon after, Jung flew overseas and stayed between China and Hong Kong like a ghost while Interpol hunted him down. In 2007, he was finally arrested in China and deported back to South Korea. A year later, courts convicted him of sexually assaulting his female followers. But here is the most terrifying part. Even a decade behind bars didn’t break JMS, his followers kept the cult afloat. When Jung walked free in 2018, his followers were waiting with the same enthusiasm. He returned not as a disgraced criminal but as a messiah who had “suffered for the faith.” He even wore a GPS ankle bracelet, yet his crime never stopped.
From 2018 to 2021, new survivors gathered the courage to speak up. Maple from Hong Kong and Amy from Australia collected evidence, used by the OTT platform that left no room for denial. Their stories became the heart of In the Name of God, leading Korean authorities to act again, and Jung was indicted again, this time to 23 years in prison. His second-in-command, Jung Jo Eun, also faces seven years in prison. The Echoes of Survivors this time focuses on what made JMS so resilient. How was Jung able to hide his crimes for so long? And why did so many institutions, from police to entertainment space, broadcasters, seem complicit in protecting him? It alleges that JMS members working inside law enforcement, even today trying to protect Jung from investigation.
The JMS recruitment strategy was quite precise. The cult preyed on the young, ambitious people, particularly the university students. JMS wasn’t just after blind followers, it wanted influencers. The most notable name to surface was Kyoungyoon of DKZ, a rising K-pop idol who was forced to publicly accept his association with the cult when In the Name of God aired. Right after the series, fans uncovered that his family’s café had ties to JMS. At first, his agency tried damage control, but watching the situation get worse, Kyongyoon himself stepped up and revealed he was born into a JMS family. The K-pop star confessed he was brainwashed and apologised to the victims, assuring fans he had cut ties.
Beyond Kyoungyoon, online forums buzzed with rumours of other idols, actors, and entertainers tied to JMS. Most shot down the claims, others stayed tight-lipped. At the time, the Korea Times ran a piece on how the Netflix show had roiled Korea’s entertainment industry. Kim Do-hyeong, the anti-JMS activist featured in the doc, claimed that a well-known producer and even staff at big channels like KBS and MBC were involved. “I heard there are some followers in MBC too,” director Jo said during a press meet. “They can be anywhere. But if they don’t cause harm to society, tracking them down turns into witch-hunting. The real fault lies with those who build a religion and lead people the wrong way.”
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