The spread of Almighty God in South Korea is more terrifying than the COVID-19 epidemic

Picture: Almighty God Sect is located at the base of Boeun County, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea

On the grounds of doomsday theory, believers of "Almighty God" who force believers to obey collectively live in concealment and completely cut off contact with the outside world. The price of violating trust is cruel. This is the last conversation between Yoon Yongjie (pseudonym, 48 years old, Yangsan, Gyeongnam) with his wife in early January last year. Three days later, the wife did not come back either. The phone is also turned off. Yin reported missing. Although 1 year and 2 months have passed, the wife has not heard from him. Yin said: "An apartment purchased in the name of the owner is the property of our family, and even this was sold." His wife said that "The Church of Almighty God (Church of Almighty God)" made him abandon the family.

Photo: A newspaper advertisement published a missing person notice about a Chinese father looking for the daughter of Almighty God in South Korea, "Jeju Daily"

In June last year, the Jeju Regional Daily published an advertisement in which the Chinese Chen Hengjie (60 years old, in Dalian, Liaoning Province) went to South Korea to search for his lost daughter Chen Yang (33 years old). The daughter who worked as a gymnastics coach in China lost contact after she came to South Korea 6 years ago for better development. There was only a rumor that the search results fell into Almighty God. Chen said: "My daughter was very kind, and it won't hurt even if I put it in my eyes, but I haven't been in contact for 5 years in Korea. I hope he can know life and death." 

Why did they abandon their family? We traced the truth hidden in the deviated trust, the truth about the Chinese cult "Almighty God" that is spreading into serious social problems.

01. "The second coming of the Lord Jesus is a woman" has become the core propaganda point of Almighty God Sect

Almighty God is a cult founded in 1989 by Zhao Weishan (62 years old) who was born in the Chinese cult group Shouting Group. "Eastern Lightning" is the name they gave during their activities in Korea. Zhao Weishan distorted the Bible and referred to his second wife Yang Xiangbin as "the flesh of the Lord Jesus", "lightning that appeared in the east", and "Almighty God". He recruited believers and said that only Yang Xiangbin, a female Christian who believed in the resurrection as a woman, could be saved. Chen Long-sik (sound), President of the Association of Korean Christian Associations, said: "Any interpretation of Matthew Chapter 242, verse 27, the second coming of the Lord Jesus is a woman who came to the East (China), so it is also called Eastern Lightning. "

It is reported that they advocate "doomsday theory" and force believers to obey. And there are testimonies around that, if you don’t obey yourself, you will not hesitate to indiscriminate violence. In fact, in May 2014, a woman in her early 30s was killed by collective violence in a fast food restaurant in Shandong Province, China. The Chinese police said: "Five men and women asked for phone numbers for the mission of Almighty God, but they were rejected. Therefore, they called the victim women a'demon' and committed violence to their deaths." 

Chinese public security took this incident as an opportunity to determine that Almighty God is a cult organization that caused social chaos, and took measures to ban it. It is reported that Zhao Weishan, who is currently in the United States, is expanding his influence by targeting overseas believers from China. It is speculated that there are about 5 million followers of Almighty God in China alone. In the Asian region, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan are bases, and forces such as the United States and Canada are also spreading, but the number of believers is not yet known. 

The Almighty God Sect entered South Korea's densely populated areas in Ansan and Suwon, Gyeonggi Province in 2011, and recruited members privately. According to Pastor Jiang Kyung-ho, author of "The True Face of Almighty God", they published more than 600 full-page advertisements in major Korean daily newspapers in 2013 alone, turning their missionary activities into offensive advertisements. Pastor Jiang said: "The source of tens of billions of won in media propaganda expenses is covered with a veil of mystery." 

Picture: The Church of Almighty God in Guro District, Seoul, South Korea

02. Purchased Hengseong and Pyeongchang Youth Hostels as accommodation bases for the Church of Almighty God in Korea

In order to formally preach, Almighty God purchased a 5-story building in Guro-dong, Seoul, and established the Korean headquarters. The news publisher Jeong Yun-suk of the Christian portal said: "First, we prepared a missionary meeting place in Guro-dong, Seoul, and began to gather believers. Now we are buying entertainment facilities such as youth hostels in Gangwon-do and Chungcheong-do to use them as dormitories. Expansion power."

According to estimates from Korean church groups, there are more than 2,000 Almighty God followers in China. Current Affairs Magazine visited a youth hostel in Hedong-ri, Tunnee-myeon, Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon-do where they lived in seclusion on February 12 this year. Three closed-circuit televisions are installed at the entrance and exit. Vehicle isolation rods and access sensors do not allow outsiders to enter or leave. After bypassing the fork road and can't get in anymore, residents said that there are about 100 people living collectively here.

The youth hostel was acquired by Almighty God in 2016 and serves as the first base of collective life in Korea. Pastor Jiang said: "The believers here are studying the teachings of Almighty God under complete control, discussing the methods and objects of teaching activities, and are creating their own world." As foreigners began to enter the quiet villages, the residents The vigilance immediately became uneasy. Resident Li Yingfu (pseudonym, 48 years old) said: "Since a few years ago, many strangers have come here. They didn’t communicate with the villagers at all, and didn’t know what happened inside. After learning that the cult group had entered our village, everyone I feel very upset." 

According to the Association of the Korean Christian Association, Almighty God has purchased another youth hostel in Pyeongchang County and is currently in group accommodation. It was confirmed that the building, purchased for 3.6 billion won in March last year, was named the Chinese Korean goddess Quan. It can accommodate more than 1,000 people at the same time, and has a variety of facilities such as restaurants, lecture halls, swimming pools, sports fields, fitness fields, tennis courts, and outdoor performance fields. Zhuo Zhiyi, a professor at Busan Jangshin University, pointed out: "The Almighty God Church is expanding its base areas, and its domestic penetration is showing signs of becoming more and more organized."

The headquarters of Almighty Protestant Korea is located in Guro District, Seoul. In the 5-story headquarters building opened in the name of South Koreans, worship services are being implemented, missionary strategies, leadership education, and Korean courses for Koreans to acquire Korean nationality are being implemented. Therefore, it is presumed that Almighty God is taught in South Korea. Headquarters, but everything is covered up by secrets. Resident Lee Sang-dae (pseudonym, 68) said: "A few years ago, believers distributing flyers printed in Korean and Chinese occasionally came into view, but recently there has been silence around the church." The current affairs magazine asked for interviews several times. Attempt to make a call through the representative phone registered on the Almighty Protestant website. But in the end it was still not accepted. After the "Xintiandi Incident" last year, people's vigilance towards Almighty God Cult has continued to increase. Recently, it has been pointed out that Almighty God Cult seems to be more "cautious".

Picture: The Church of Almighty God base in Hoengseong County, Gangwon-do, South Korea

03. The establishment of church bases in remote rural areas has caused fear and anxiety among local residents

The Church of Almighty God has recently moved the stage of activities to the mountainous countryside, which is more secluded than the prosperous cities. Almighty God’s tax on real estate purchases in Boeun County, Chungbuk is extraordinary. According to reports from Eun-gun, the Almighty God Sect purchased 5,796 square meters of the Youth Town in Xinjeong-ri outside the mountain for 1 billion won in May last year. In addition, he also purchased 13 plots (21,411 square meters) in the surrounding area for 2,578 million won through the agricultural company Canaan and Goodland Co., Ltd. It is reported that the representatives of Canaan Company and Goodland Co., Ltd. are believers of Almighty God who are naturalized from China. The executives of the two legal entities have two Chinese directors respectively.

Almighty God Sect actively acquired land in the Boen area since 2018. In the last three years, 270,236 square meters of land has been purchased from Sanwai, Boeun-eup, Samsho-myeon, Suhan-myeon, and Tangu-myeon. 7.8 billion won was invested in land prices alone. The real estate they purchased included paddy fields, fields, woodlands, orchards, land, buildings, and so on. Aggressively purchase real estate at a price 20%-40% higher than the surrounding market price. The head of Jitangli (sound) outside Bianyang Xiushan said: "They farm their own land, are self-sufficient, and the scale of agriculture is also expanding. The Chinese cult organization Almighty God Sect covers the entire village, so local residents voluntarily submit to the local government. The opposition petition was filed, and so far, no results have been achieved." At present, there are more than 160 Almighty God followers living in training institutes and youth hostels in Boeun County, Chungcheongbuk-do. Resident Ye Shunji (pseudonym, 54 years old) said: "Although this is an incident in China, killing people on the grounds of refusing to preach, the heretical cult group covering the entire nearby village is itself terrifying."

The Chinese believers of Almighty God who were deceived to go abroad turned their attention to South Korea, where visa-free entry and religious freedom are guaranteed. According to the Ministry of Entry-Exit Foreigners Policy, the number of refugee applicants has soared from 1,574 in 2013 to 105,452 in 2019, a nearly 10-fold increase. If you apply for refugees, you can stay in Korea for 6 months. In addition, even if you lose the refugee claim, you still need to go through the High Court and the Great Court, and it will take 4 to 5 years until the final judgment is issued. You can stay in Korea during this period. It is estimated that there are about 2,000 Almighty God followers staying in Korea in this way. In this case, although many refugee intermediaries and judicial brokers have received criminal penalties, the proliferation of false refugees is still very prominent. The Second Division of the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Park Sang-ok) sentenced in January this year that it charged 2 million to 3 million won per person to refugee applicants and sentenced to 1 year’s imprisonment for the lawyer who made false refugee applications for 184 Chinese. , Suspended for 2 years.

As China’s largest festival, the "Spring Festival" is approaching, in January this year, the family letter sent by the local Chinese family to the followers of Almighty God who came to Korea was published. "I miss you very much. It is my wish to welcome the Spring Festival with my mother and father." "This is a letter from the father to his son Liu Yanan and his daughter-in-law Cui Haoyu." Their son also wrote a letter, "Liu When OO said that I missed Mom and Dad, my heart was very sad." "Sister, don't be obsessed anymore. "I won't change my mobile phone number. I must contact me "Brother in Yongcheng City, Henan Province" and so on. 

Pastor Jiang said: "As soon as believers enter the Church of Almighty God, they will abandon their family members. Moreover, if they are caught while trying to escape, they will often commit brutal acts such as indiscriminate atrocities and cannot escape at all." 

Cases of victims of Almighty God are also appearing in Korea one after another. Sun Mingshun (pseudonym, 51 years old, Busan) sighed: "When he was studying in the Netherlands in 2018, his son contacted Eastern Lightning on the Internet, and dropped out of school because of indulging in Almighty God." Jiang Hyongcheol (pseudonym, 56 years old, Daegu) He complained: "After my daughter was an exchange student from China for one year in 2017, she fell into apocalypticism. She seemed to be walking the wrong way. I was really scared." A 60-year-old parent who was a Christian believer posted a question on the Internet. Later, there have been instances of falling into the religion of Almighty God. Chen Rong-sik, the president of the Association of Korean Christian Missions, explained: "These are the contents of the consultations of the victims' families, and Almighty God is infiltrating into South Korea."

According to relevant sources, the Almighty God Sect that has penetrated into South Korea has also sent a red flag to South Korean society. Jesus of other Christian churches has no salvation, only severe punishment, and only by believing in Almighty God can be saved. Many people criticized that this is a distortion of the Bible, packaging Yang Xiangbin as the Second Coming Jesus, forcing people to believe and advocating the religious belief of salvation. Its violence endangers society, and its hidden preaching behavior is undoubtedly a cult. It was also pointed out that in the current era of pandemics, natural disasters, and climate issues, Almighty God’s doomsday theory encourages fear and is infiltrating and staining the souls of ordinary people. Although South Korea has issued a "cautionary alert" of Almighty God, dangerous transactions continue. Chen Rong-sik, chairman of the Association of Korean Christian Organizations, warned: "If the scale of Almighty God spreads in South Korea like China, it will suffer more from the issue of epidemic prevention and control than last year's'Xintiandi Incident'. Big."