South Korea

24 profiled groups with documented operations in South Korea — 7 Extreme-band, 10 High-band, 7 Moderate or below. Presence here describes documented operations, not a judgement about South Korea or its communities; many listed groups also operate elsewhere.

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Christian

Shincheonji Church of Jesus / Lee Man-hee

South Korean apocalyptic Christian movement founded 1984 in Anyang by Lee Man-hee (born 1931). Approximately 300,000 baptised members and millions of associated 'Bible students' globally. Centred on Lee's claim to be the 'promised pastor' who uniquely interprets the Book of Revelation. Globally notorious after the February 2020 Daegu COVID-19 super-spreader event that produced South Korea's first major outbreak. Lee convicted 2020 of obstruction of disease-control investigations; acquitted of embezzlement charges on appeal 2021.

Christian

Grace Road Church / Kwon Shin-chan (Fiji)

Korean apocalyptic Christian sect founded 2003 by Shin Ok-ju (born 1962) in South Korea, with subsequent global expansion. From 2014 Shin and approximately 400 followers relocated to rural Fiji on the basis of a 'flood prophecy' that South Korea would be inundated. Documented forced labour at Fijian agricultural and industrial sites, beatings of disobedient members, and exit prevention via passport confiscation. Shin extradited from Fiji to South Korea 2018; convicted October 2019 of multiple offences including child abuse and false imprisonment (6-year sentence; extended on appeal).

Christian

Providence / Christian Gospel Mission (JMS, Jeong Myeong-seok)

Korean Christian-derived movement founded by Jeong Myeong-seok (1980). Leader convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault in 2009 (10y) and again in 2024 (23y). Subject of Netflix's 'In the Name of God' (2023).

Christian

Manmin Central Church (Lee Jae-rock)

Seoul-based Korean Pentecostal sect founded in 1982 by Lee Jae-rock, who claimed to be sinless and capable of healing miracles. The Christian Council of Korea declared Manmin a heretical group in 1999. Lee was convicted in 2018 of raping eight female members and sentenced to 15 years.

Christian

World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) / Heavenly Mother Zhang Gil-jah

South Korean apocalyptic Christian organisation founded 1964 by Ahn Sahng-hong (1918–1985). Identified Ahn as the 'Second Coming Christ' after his death. From 1985 led by Zhang Gil-jah (born 1943), identified as 'Heavenly Mother God'. Approximately 3 million claimed members across 175 countries. Multiple deceptive-recruitment lawsuits in the US and South Korea 2014–2024.

Christian

Salvation Sect (Guwonpa) / Yoo Byung-eun (Sewol ferry context)

South Korean Evangelical Baptist Church / 'Salvation Sect' (Guwonpa) founded in 1962 by Kwon Shin-chan and Yoo Byung-eun. The Yoo family controlled a sprawling corporate-religious empire whose subsidiary Chonghaejin Marine operated the MV Sewol — the ferry that capsized 16 April 2014 killing 304 (250 of them schoolchildren on a class trip). Yoo Byung-eun was found dead in June 2014 while a fugitive; sons Yoo Dae-gyun and Yoo Hyuk-kee subsequently convicted on embezzlement charges.

Christian

Unification Church / Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) / Moonies

Korean-origin global new religious movement founded in 1954 in Seoul by Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012). Distinctive doctrines include Moon as 'True Father' completing Jesus's incomplete mission, mass arranged 'Blessing' weddings of strangers (4,000+ at first big event in 1982 at Madison Square Garden), and intensive 'Heavenly Tribute' financial extraction. Approximately 1–3 million members at peak (1980s); ~100,000–300,000 today. Daughter Hak Ja Han leads since Moon's 2012 death; son Hyung Jin 'Sean' Moon leads breakaway Rod of Iron Sanctuary Church. Massively scrutinised in Japan post-2022 after Abe assassin attributed motivation to family's UC financial ruin.

New Religious Movement

World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG)

Korean-origin Christian movement founded by Ahn Sahng-hong (1964) believing him to be the Second Coming. Current 'Mother God' is Zhang Gil-jah. Aggressive global recruitment using initial cover as 'Bible study' or community-service group.

New Religious Movement

Hyung Jin 'Sean' Moon / Sanctuary Church / Rod of Iron Ministries

Sun Myung Moon's youngest son Hyung Jin 'Sean' Moon (b. 1979) heads the Sanctuary Church / World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, a 2015+ splinter from the mainstream Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) led by Hyung Jin's mother Hak Ja Han. Distinguishing features: AR-15-rifle 'iron rod' weapons-as-sacrament doctrine, the February 28 2018 'Cosmic True Parents Coronation' ceremony with crowns of bullets at the Newfoundland Pennsylvania compound, financial intertwining with brother Justin Moon's Kahr Arms firearms-manufacturing company, and post-2018 Q-adjacent / January 6-adjacent political activity. Sarah Posner's 2018–2024 *Type Investigations* + NYT + Vice + AP coverage is the canonical journalistic record.

New Religious Movement

Unification Church successor groups

Post-Sun-Myung-Moon (d. 2012) Unification successor groups, including the Hak Ja Han-led Family Federation and the Sean / Hyung Jin Moon-led Sanctuary Church. Inherit core control patterns of the parent organisation.

Christian

University Bible Fellowship (UBF)

Korean-origin campus-focused Christian missionary organisation founded in 1961 in Gwangju, South Korea, by Samuel Lee (Chang-woo Lee) and Sarah Barry. The organisation built an international campus-targeted missionary apparatus and operates as a closed-discipleship structure under appointed shepherds. Documented internal patterns include intensive one-to-one 'shepherding' relationships, leadership-directed marriage practices, financial expectations on students, and family-displacement reports across the long-running ex-member testimony archive.

New Religious Movement

Japanese Unification Church successor branches (post-2022 Abe)

Japanese branches of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, post-2022 Abe assassination. Subject of Japanese government dissolution petition filed 2023.

Christian

Dami Mission / Lee Jang-rim (historical)

Korean 'Mission for the Coming Days' movement led by Lee Jang-rim, which fixed the Rapture for October 28, 1992. Tens of thousands across Korea and diaspora communities prepared — some leaving jobs, schools, and families, with military desertions and at least one reported suicide in the ferment — before the date failed under live television coverage. Lee was convicted of fraud after authorities found collected funds invested in bonds maturing after the supposed end.

Christian

Olive Tree movement (Park Tae-son / Jeondogwan)

Park Tae-son's Olive Tree movement (Jeondogwan, formally the Korea Christian Revival Association) was the largest of South Korea's post-war messianic revivals — at its late-1950s peak it claimed membership in the hundreds of thousands to millions and built self-contained 'Zion' factory towns where believers lived, worked, and worshipped. Park progressed from healing revivalist to 'Olive Tree' and 'Righteous Man of the East' to, ultimately, declaring himself God incarnate in his later Cheonbukyo phase. The movement combined faith-healing commerce, communal economic capture, and harsh treatment of critics, and served as the incubator for the next generation of Korean messianic leaders.

Wellness / Multi-Level

Dahn Yoga / Body & Brain (Ilchi Lee)

Korean-origin yoga and brain-training network founded by Ilchi Lee (1985, Korean operation; US 1991). Subject of Julia Siverls (2003) wrongful-death lawsuit and ongoing US civil litigation over staff conditions and financial demands.

Christian

Word of Faith / Prosperity Gospel networks

Word of Faith and Prosperity Gospel networks (Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, T.B. Joshua, much of TBN's flagship roster) blend Pentecostal worship with explicit teaching that financial gifts to the ministry produce divine wealth.

Christian

Broader South Korean high-control Christian movements (umbrella)

Umbrella entry covering a documented pattern of high-control Christian new religious movements within South Korea, where post-1945 mass Protestant conversion, post-Korean-War cultural disruption, and the historic Korean shaman-and-prophet tradition combined to produce one of the highest global concentrations of Christian NRMs. Several specific named Korean NRMs within this pattern are profiled separately in the catalogue. This umbrella covers the pattern at the genre level; it does NOT generalise to the broader diversity of Korean Christianity.

Other

Daesoon Jinrihoe (Korean new religion)

Korean new religion derived from Kang Il-Sun's Jeungsanism (founded 1969 by Park Han-Gyeong). Distinctive cosmology centred on cosmic 'reordering of heaven and earth' (Daesoon). Substantial financial demands documented for senior members.

Christian

Yoido Full Gospel Church (Cho Yong-gi lineage)

Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul is one of the largest single congregations in the world (~480,000 members at peak). Founded by Cho Yong-gi (David Yonggi Cho) in 1958, the church pioneered the 'cell-group' Pentecostal model exported to Korean diaspora and missionary churches worldwide. Cho was convicted of embezzlement in 2014; the founder-family succession dispute is ongoing.

Other

Korean Shamanism (Mu, mainstream)

Korean Shamanism (Mu) mainstream tradition. Female mudang priestesses; substantial historical and continuing role.

Buddhist

Zen Buddhism (mainstream)

Mainstream Zen Buddhism (Japanese Soto, Rinzai, Korean Seon, Vietnamese Thien, Chinese Chan) is a low-CLCI reference point with voluntary practice and recently strengthened safeguarding in Western centres after 1990s–2010s teacher misconduct revelations.

Buddhist

Won Buddhism (Korean)

Korean reformist Buddhist tradition founded by Sotaesan Park Chungbin (1916). Distinctive 'Il-Won-Sang' (One Circle) symbol. Mainstream low-control.

Christian

Mainline Methodism

Mainstream Methodism (United Methodist Church, World Methodist Council) is a low-CLCI Christian tradition with democratic conference governance and broad theological inclusion.

Buddhist

Pure Land Buddhism (mainstream East Asian)

Largest Mahayana sub-tradition globally. Devotion to Amitabha Buddha and recitation of the nembutsu / Buddha-name. Mainstream low-control reference point.

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Complete list of 24 group profiles