The Supreme Court has ruled that major Korean denominations’ criticism of Shincheonji, Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), for breaking up families, propagating conditional, time-limited eschatology, presenting its leader as Jesus’ reincarnation, and other such actions, cannot easily be viewed as falsification of facts. It is expected that this Court ruling, which recognized much of Shincheonji behavior as anti-society, will be an important reference in future lawsuits related to heretical cults or pseudo religions.
On November 23, the Supreme Court 2nd Bench dismissed in entirety the appeal of the Shincheonji side in its lawsuit requesting compensation for damages allegedly suffered due to parts of Christian Broadcasting System (CBS)’s 8-part documentary “People Lost To Shincheonji” (aired in March~April 2015, top photo is a trailer capture, provided by CBS). In June 2015, claiming that CBS had distorted the facts, Shincheonji filed a lawsuit against CBS and three cult specialists who had appeared in the documentary, requesting 3.1 billion won in compensation; and an additional lawsuit demanding correction and retraction via CBS news.
With regard to 21 other instances in CBS broadcasts where Shincheonji was said to cause family breakups, to pretend its leader was Jesus reincarnated, etc., the Court said it was hard to regard these as falsification of facts. The Court further ruled that in eight instances of news broadcasts that included the expressions “camouflaged international events,” “pseudo religious, anti-nation, illegal organization,” and “Shincheonji promotes home-leaving, breaks with morality,” it is possible request a broadcast retraction of them, regardless of their accuracy.
Park Gi-jun (Law Firm Wooam), the lead lawyer for the CBS defense, said, “The ruling this time will provide a concrete basis for future lawsuits related to Shincheonji.”
Reporter Gu Jachang (critic@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Full Story in Korean:
신천지의 가정파괴·조건부 시한부 종말론 유포… 대법원 “허위사실로 보기 어렵다”
Related Article:
Massive Rallies by Shincheonji Aim to Disparage and Defame Korean Church
Supreme Court Rules on CBS “Shincheonji” Reports: “Hard to view them as false”
2017-12-04 17:21
