This group is aggressively recruiting among the foreign community in South Korea (it is a South Korean group) and also Orange County. In OC they are targeting newly arrived South Korean immigrants and students. Both Mannam and the Serving Group assert that they are merely secular groups that seek to provide people with the opportunity to help others and make friends. It seems innocent enough.

In order to understand some things about this group, some connections need to be made. First, the name Mannam. The central figure in ShinChonji is Man Hee Lee (or Lee Man Hee in Korean) and Mannam's chairperson is Kim Nam Hee. The word Mannam is an amalgam of their two names (Man + Nam). The significance of this is that both parts also are represented in Chinese by characters that mean "light"...a word that occurs again and again in both Mannam and Shinchongji literature and PR events. The one phrase that is.oft repeated is "When light meets light...there is VICTORY!" This is repeated on the SJC and Mannam sites with onsessive fervor. I believe the reason for this is to acclimatize initiates the to the key concepts of their beliefs without discussing them specifically.

More later...I am mobile now so I'll contnue later.

The reason I've posted about this site is because of another site concerned with cults is also evaluating this group: [www.jmscult.com]

Korea, like the US is fertile ground for con-men and people with questionable motivations to establish profit-seeking entities disguised as churches. The effort to warn people about them or at the very least inform them, particularly in Korea is a little difficult. The laws regarding what can be said about a private individual, company, or organization like ShinChongJi go a long ways in their bias towards protecting the rich and powerful (and frequently corrupt). Essentially, anything damaging you say...even if it's true...can the basis for legal action against the author. So, for that and other reasons, posting about this group and others is difficult because they retain a vigilant legal staff and various English-speaking underlings to subvert any attempt to give a perspective (other than their own) on their group. To this end, my very long and I thought, potentially informative thread on Dave's ESL Cafe...a popular online forum for English teachers in Korea, has bent to the will of SJC and deleted the thread in question. SJC has a very big event coming up in September and they are very keen to get a lot of foreign faces in their literature, websites, and what have you. The reasons for this are speculative...but some believe that by associating foreigners with this group will lend credibility to their cause among the Korean public, which has been warned extensively about dealing with this group...which has been publicly (on the news) been labeled as a cult.

There is some mention of them in Orange County as Man Hee Lee appeared at the Crystal Cathedral to promote himself as the one true messenger of salvation and possibly the subject of temporal worship, adoration, and financial contributions.

I'm curious what dealings, if any, people have had with either Mannam, The Serving Group, or ShinChongJi in the US or other countries (apparently they made an appearance in Germany not so long ago). Cults like this are quite aggressive in acquiring new members from the recently emigrated Korean families and students...and they have dogged my footsteps here in Korea for the last two and half months. I cannot leave my house without encountering small groups of attractive young women or well-spoken young men who smile and invite people to join their activities.

My objection to this group and reasons for suspecting them to be a cult are the following:
-they actively attempt to deceive people about their connection (that of Mannam to ShinChongJi), even when their literature and websites make quite a clear connection between the two
-the allegation that they are a cult has been made by a variety of groups in Korea...including the staff of a university which published warning about the group in their school newsletter. It should be noted that some of the groups warning of this group and possible cult status are competing denominations, some are merely orthodox protestant churches.
-they seem to target people for recruitment who might be considered vulnerable: foreigners, students, young people
-according Korean posters there are pending legal actions against the group for a variety of crimes including harassment, kidnapping, assault, and sexual assault.

Clearly this deserves more research and mostly likely conclusions will have to be postponed, but my initial impression was not good. Please post if you have additional or different information.

If you know someone fluent in Korean, then some of this stuff could really use some reliable translation. My wife is Korean, but won't get involved.

anti sites
[www.ilbe.com] summary of PD수첩(MBC)
[cafe.naver.com] anti신천지 christian site
[antiscj.cbs.co.kr] anti 신천지 site by CBS(christian Broadcasting System)
[cafe.naver.com] site of 신천지 victims

[m.blog.naver.com]

Korean network, Christian Broadcasting Service (possibly biased)

[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]

One appears to be about the group exercising undue influence on a group or teen, the other is something in regards to solicited donations and illegal activities.

OC blogger discusses Man Hee Lee's visit to the Crystal Cathedral: [www.orangejuiceblog.com]

Warning in school newsletter (scroll down): [www.handongtoday.com]

Hey paprTiger,

Nice to see you you!

And this is an amazing situation here in Korea. I've been observing cults here for almost ten years and I've never seen anything like this. In the past when I've encountered a group and shared information about it online I could expect to know personally perhaps a couple of people who had heard of it, encountered it, or know someone who had.

Wth Shinchonji and their Mannam Volunteer Association, it's hard to find someone (and by that I mean en expat) who hasn't at least been multiple time approached. And the group has already entrenched itself in the lives of quite a few expats through their offerings of free language classes, free movie screenings, free picnics, free buses to free festivals with free food, free martial arts classes, free everything and anything. The goal seems to to get as many people to attend an event in Soul on Sept 16 at the Olympic Stadium. It's been advertised under several names. but the foreign community seems to be waking up and the news is spreading that Mannam is a part of the Shinchonji cult.

I've got to head off for work.. Here's where I've tried to keep on all the latest news.
[jmscult.com]

And Zac on his blog here is really finding the dirt on these guys. He has four of five posts up exploring different aspects of the cult and the ties between the cult proper and the front group Mannam both in Korea and the US:
[www.scroozle.com]

And I think the most amazing thing I've read on all this is an easy from a Korean university student which shows the group's defense of "cultural misunderstandings" is just nonsense. Her account of her inadvertent attendance at a major Shinchonji event - they attached themselves to Independence Day celebrations - is the best account of a major event in English so far: [www.englishforums.com]

A couple of recent responses from Mannam. Wow...

Here is what's happening in Anaheim. Promoting Shinchonji event in the news.
[www.anaheimconnected.com]

When a group is offering a wide variety of classes, events, meals, services, all of which it says are free of charge---

Always, always ask: Where did the funds come from and manpower to stage these events?

It costs money to print posters and literature

Space has to be rented or donated for classes and for events

If in a park, at least in most parts of the US, someone has to go to the effort of getting a permit.

Food has to be purchased

Someone has to cook it

Someone has to transport the musical instruments and stage props

When am I expected to pay back?

In Asia there is a network of obligation and exchange of goods. A sense of obligation.

Eventually one is expected to pay back.

Because at some point, you, the one seemingly benefitting from these free events--someday you are going to be paying & donating labor.

Always insist on knowing, WHEN DO I PAY FOR THIS? Where is your money and labor coming from? Ask for financial records?

If they call you a cynic or suspicious person---get away.