South Korean preacher arrested after stranding her cult in Fiji
Shin Ok-ju held as former members of Grace Road Church tell of violent beatings
A South Korean cult leader has been arrested after abandoning 400 of her followers in Fiji.
Grace Road Church founder Shin Ok-ju and three other senior members of the group were arrested at Incheon International Airport on Sunday, according to a statement by police in Gyeonggi province.
Shin is accused of confiscating the passports of 400 of her followers, stranding them in Fiji, as well as overseeing a tyrannical regime in which members were forced to labour on rice farms and inflict savage beatings on one another.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As leader of Grace Road Church, Shin preaches an apocalyptic brand of Christianity which has been “pinpointed by major Korean church denominations as heretical”, Korean Christian newspaper The Kukmin Times reports.
In 2014, Shin began prophesying a disastrous famine, encouraging her devotees to found a new colony on far-flung Fiji, which she said would offer them the best chance of survival.
Hundreds left their homes and travelled 5,000 miles to the South Pacific island, where they were “ordered to live together in a small community under the supervision of ‘guardians’ handpicked by the pastor”, the Korea Times reports.
Guardians forced members to take part in a ritual called “threshing ground,“ in which they were told they had to beat each other or face God's punishment.
A former member of the cult told a TV interviewer that one young member “had to hit his father more than 100 times”. Another followed sustained serious brain damage from injuries inflicted during one of the bloody ordeals.
A handful of members have been able to escape the community and raise the alarm with South Korean authorities, but the vast majority remain in Fiji.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
6 scenic white water rafting destinations to get your heart racing
The Week Recommends Have a rip-roaring time on the water
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Dangerous substances in Lunchables are raising concerns over children's health
In the Spotlight High levels of lead and sodium were recently found in the snack packages
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Fired art
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
Modi opens contentious Ram temple at one of India's 'most vexed religious sites'
Talking Point Indian PM kicks off re-election campaign by affirming Hindu nationalism, while Muslim minority feel pain of history and threat of future
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
South Sudan and the ‘Pilgrims of Peace’
feature LGBT rights likely to overshadow religious leaders’ visit to African nation
By Arion McNicoll Published
-
Pope admits that priests and nuns watch porn
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By The Week Staff Published
-
How Salman Rushdie exposed fault lines between the West and Islam
feature Stabbing of The Satanic Verses author has stirred debate about censorship and religious violence
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Unification Church: who are the Moonies?
feature Man who killed former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe cited grudge against the global religious movement
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Russian religious leader providing ‘spiritual cover’ for Vladimir Putin’s war
Why Everyone’s Talking About Patriarch Kirill I facing EU sanctions over support for Ukraine invasion
By The Week Staff Published
-
Jackie Weaver did indeed have ‘no authority’
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By The Week Staff Published
-
An ancient demon spirit may be loose in Japan
Speed Read
By Grayson Quay Published