Who Is She? JMS Cult’s Second-In-Command Leader May Be Just As Dangerous As Jeong Myeong Seok

With the recent buzz that Netflix‘s docuseries In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal has created, people involved with the cult JMS, also known as Christian Gospel Mission or Providence, are coming under the spotlight.

In the docuseries, victims testified their personal experiences and traumas during their time at JMS and exposed the crimes of the leader, Jeong Myeong Seok. He brainwashed his followers to call him “Messiah” and manipulated them so they would not refuse his words and actions—no matter how questionable. Evidence showed that he sexually assaulted tall and beautiful women, and he created a cycle where these women lured more beautiful women into the church for him to have sex with, acting as enablers.

One of the biggest enablers is Jeong Myeong Seok’s right-hand woman Jeong Jo Eun, who joined JMS in 1998 as a high school student and worked to become the cult’s second-in-command. According to multiple former JMS members, Jeong Jo Eun began her JMS activities at the Myeongdong mission group, which focuses on evangelizing to tall women with nice bodies. In the Netflix documentary, she is often referred to as “J unnie.” 

Recently, a video of Jeong Jo Eun speaking at a church service in the Bundang area was posted on JMS’s official YouTube channel. In the video, Jeong Jo Eun admitted Jeong Myeong Seok’s sex crimes and emphasized that cleaning up past mistakes as soon as possible is essential.

It’s a little difficult and scary, but we must be courageous and look at the truth… If there is a past mitake, the best opportunity to clear it is now. Overlooking it and being silent are acts that sink the ship of history. The judicial institution will proceed fairly in accordance with evidence and legal procedures.

Jeong Jo Eun then claimed that she tried her best to prevent Jeong Myeong Seok from committing sex crimes by not letting women get close to him.

I even shouted at my teacher (Jeong Myeong Seok), who I respect the most in the world… I prevented women from getting within a 3-meter radius next to the teacher.

She added that she had drifted apart from Jeong Myeong Seok and was constantly stopped from saying this for the past year.

I was so distressed that I screamed at the teacher and became someone who treated him recklessly. I have grown distant from the teacher and our relationship fell apart and changed. Now I’ve become someone who got the teacher arrested.

This claim, however, appeared to be the opposite of everything Jeong Jo Eun had stood up for before, which was why it was not a surprise when former JMS members said these claims were far from the truth; in fact, they testified that she was the “devil” that directed the victims to Jeong Myeong Seok. One former JMS member said:

She’s the one who sent victims to Jeong Myeong Seok… When women were selected, they had to go through a personal interview with Jeong Jo Eun as the last round. If she secretly calls you in secret and pass, you went to Jeong Myeong Seok.

Former JMS members also testified against Jeong Jo Eun, stating that in the past, she helped the cult leader escape from the law. When Jeong Myeong Seok needed to flee the country, Jeong Jo Eun was thinking of studying abroad but canceled her plans when the cult leader asked her not to go and stay with him. She escorted him around numerous countries since 2002 and gained the cult leader’s trust.

Another JMS member testified that she even heard Jeong Jo Eun defend and protect her leader. When people showed up at Jeong Myeong Seok’s vacation house to arrest him, Jeong Jo Eun was heard cursing at them and saying, “You’re going to be in trouble if you dare touch my teacher.”

After gaining the cult leader’s trust with her loyalty, Jeong Jo Eun was hand-picked by him to become his replacement while he was in prison for ten years in 2008. During that time, Jeong Jo Eun gave lectures and preached about Jeong Myeong Seok’s “greatness” at JMS churches nationwide, causing the cult to grow despite the absence of its leader.

In a recent anonymous post, a former JMS follower of seven years claimed that Jeong Jo Eun seemed like a qualified successor of JMS because of her preaching skills and dedication.

First of all, she’s so good at preaching. She’s so good at rallies and prayers. I thought she was an amazing woman while Jeong Myeong Seok was in prison for ten years, she traveled the nation teaching, preaching live, and building prayer conditions. Also, Jeong Myeong Seok said that he is nothing without Jeong Jo Eun, and that she is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and such, so they were sort of a win-win relationship.

The former member then expressed her disbelief at Jeong Jo Eun’s sudden confession.

Anyways, if you listen to the transcript, Jeong Jo Eun says that she tried so hard to prevent Jeong Myeong Seok’s sex crimes. (Uh, is it enough to just prevent it..? You told us that no such thing happened) But now she can’t hide it because she has a guilty conscience and wants to reveal the truth. (What?)

She also explained how the church is responding to Jeong Jo Eun’s confession and how to tear JMS apart.

And the church is saying that her statement is a one-sided position. In other words, they are claiming that Jeong Myeong Seok is innocent and Netflix is a hoax. JMS becomes the strongest when there is no division and everyone supports Jeong Myeong Seok. Therefore, internal fighting is the pathway to ruining JMS.

She then expressed her anger and frustration at Jeong Jo Eun, who used to proclaim that the cult leader had no sins.

Everyone might have a different stance on Jeong Jo Eun, but to me it’s just hilarious. I can’t count how many times Jeong Jo Eun preached in tears saying that the leader was innocent… But it turns out you already knew everything, but couldn’t say anything because you were afraid that JMS would collapse? The leader did hundreds of thousands of things that were the oppposite of the doctrines he preached, but you couldn’t say anything because you were afraid JMS would collapse? Do you know how many people joined JMS because of you? I think it’s obvious she’s going to set up a second church and her own world like the Aga Dongsan group did.

The former JMS follower lastly expressed the urgency of an investigation for Jeong Jo Eun: “Now that Jeong Myeong Seok is being investigated, it’s Jeong Jo Eun we need to worry about.”