About Jung Myung Seok
Jung Myung Seok was born in 1945 in the village of Sukmak-ri (also known as Wolmyeongdong). Wolmyeongdong is located in Geumsan, South Korea. Jung Myung Seok grew up in poverty at a time when the Allies liberated Korea from 40 years of Japanese occupation. Additionally, he was the third child in a family of seven children.
Jung Myung Seok is the founder of Providence Church. Providence Church started in South Korea from 1978 and has spread to over 40 countries. In addition to being a pastor, he is a poet, painter, composer, calligrapher, architect and soccer enthusiast. People know him for how he integrates the love of God into his sermons, books, poems, artworks and music. Jung Myung Seok established Providence Church in Korea on the foundation of absolute faith in the Holy Trinity.
His Teachings
From his early 30s, Jung Myung Seok has been teaching about the Holy Trinity and the Bible. He bases the crux of his teachings on the idea that God is a real being. He teaches that God is a part of our everyday life, and the great love we can show God is to put His Word to practice. At the core of his teaching, he believes people gain salvation when they come to truly believe and love the Holy Trinity. In essence, what he preaches is that God created people so that we could love God in return.
His Trials
Providence Church grew rapidly beginning in Korea throughout the 80s and 90s. However, from 1999, the media made accusations of sexual misconduct against Jung Myung Seok. Nevertheless, for 10 years, accusers could not produce any evidence to support their accusations. But mainstream media published those allegations without fact-checking.
According to recent investigative reports, those allegations originated from a few people who sought to defame him, motivated by personal interests and greed. In 2007, the Chinese police held him in prison for 10 months to investigate the allegations in detail. The result was that the allegations lacked substance, so the police acquitted him of all charges. Thus, the Chinese authorities agreed to extradite him back to Korea.
In 2008, Jung Myung Seok was tried in South Korea and convicted to a 10-year sentence. There was a shortage of evidence to support the accusations. The decision was made under much public pressure, fueled by negative media attention. The judge decided in alignment with that pressure. He was released in 2018 after serving his 10-year sentence.
In 2024, he was sentence to 17-year imprisonment, once again in a highly controversial trial fraught with great efforts by a few individuals to control public opinion. Just like in previous trials, this trial was characterized by dramatic and contradicting verbal testimonies from the accusers, a mastermind behind the scene (Kim Do Hyung), serious manipulation of social sentiments (Netflix, media), and no concrete evidence except for a fabricated audio clip.
His Works
During his 10-year imprisonment, Jung Myung Seok continued to testify to people about God through the tip of his pen. The number of pens that he had used up amounted to over 4000. He wrote not only 1000s of sermons and proverbs, 100s of poems and songs, but also responded to 70,000 letters to help church members and to assist with administrative matters. Additionally, he prayed numerous hours a day for all people of faith, all nations, national security, politicians, the economy, the media, arts and culture, and injustices in the world.
Even after he was imprisoned again in 2024, Jung Myung Seok continues to focus on developing the beautiful Wolmyeongdong Natural Temple further, while writing the Sunday and Wednesday sermons and daily proverbs. He also maintained his ascetic life of prayer, spending countless hours on his knees at several set times per day.
Related Pages
Sequence of Events / News Releases of the Jung’s Trials