'Your white skin arouses me': Inside the sinister Hitler-loving Korean sex cult luring young Australian girls into being 'spiritual brides' for a serial rapist

Daily Mail, UK/May 19, 2016

By Nelson Groom

A notorious cult which allegedly brainwashes young women into having sex with a serial rapist is luring potential members in major cities across Australia.

South Korean group Jesus Morning Star (JMS) - who praise Hitler and preach members will be purified by having sex with their leader - are believed to be recruiting in shopping centres and universities in Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne.

The quasi-Christian sect was founded in 1980 by Jung Myung-seok (JMS), who is serving a 10-year-prison sentence in Seoul for raping and molesting his followers. He is due to walk free in 2017.

The highly secretive group, also known as Providence, is believed to have spread to Australia through a number of front organisations, including fashion modelling classes and bible studies.

Members say they are groomed into following a 'doctrine' which enforces sleep deprivation and encourages severing ties with family in order to be 'spiritual brides' for Jung.

Former followers have told Daily Mail Australia of the devastating impact the cult had on their lives and said they were left psychologically and emotionally scarred after leaving.

Elizabeth, who chose not to give her full name for fear of reprisal, was a member of the JMS's Canberra fraction for 18 months.

'I was shopping inside the Canberra Centre in April 2011. A Korean woman came over and said she was holding a Christian art show. It looked good so I thought I would check it out.'

After meeting the group's local leader she moved in with them later that year and was subjected to the indoctrination process, which includes sleep deprivation and a restricted diet.

'We had to wake up at 3am everyday to pray because they said this brought us closer to god. It's a mind control technique: when you're deprived of sleep you can't critically think.'

Teachings centered on the 'Messianic' leader Jung, who was depicted as a living Deity who had been falsely accused and persecuted like Jesus Christ.

'They encouraged us to write letters to him like he was our lover. He wrote sexually explicit replies saying things like 'your white skin arouses me,' or 'your vagina would look pretty.'

The group then asked her to fly to Seoul to visit him in Daejon prison, where he was locked up in 2009 on charges of rape and molestation after several years as a fugitive.

'I spent 15 minutes with him and three other members. He blew kisses at us and knew all our names and how we looked from photos in his cell. It was very surreal.'

Elizabeth said she was told to recruit members by telling them 'you look pretty, have you thought of being a model?,' before inviting them to front fashion classes.

After months of sleep deprivation and regulated eating, she was hospitalised with an eating disorder in 2012.

'It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because when I got out I moved back in with my parents, who organised an exit counselor [Rick Alan Ross] to speak with me.'

'It was a devastating realisation to learn the truth. I was left mentally and physically broken.' 

Members of the Canberra faction are understood to have moved to Melbourne following scrutiny into their controversial practices.

Another woman, who wished not be named, said she was recruited in early 2014 inside University of Melbourne, where the group is believed to still be actively recruiting.

'They asked me to fill out a survey about the class we were in. It seemed friendly enough, so I agreed to meet for one of their classes.'

After attending one of bible studies she was initially struck by some of their bizarre teachings - such as a holy reading of Adolf Hitler.

'Part of the teachings explored the idea of God's punishment. They said the holocaust was his mark of atonement because Jewish people killed Jesus. They told us Hitler was a vessel from god.' 

She said girls were pressured to dress up for Jung and refrain from talking to the opposite sex so as to be 'spiritual brides' for him.

'I started recruiting for more members. I was told to look for virgins, and encouraged new members to wear white as much as possible to show Jung their purity.'

Eventually her parents staged an intervention, and she was deprogrammed by [Rick Alan Ross] a cult expert. But for some families, the warning signs come too late. 

One father said his daughter was recruited in Sydney Uni, and after being brainwashed by the group she was ordered to move to Western Australia.

'I only learned she had moved there when I saw her on one of their sites. It took a long time to pieces together the reality she had been told to move by the group.

Since his daughter was over 18 he could not seek the help of police to help track her down.

'I'm powerless to find her. I get a generic email from her every couple of months but aside from that we have no contact.'

He says he believes JMS still recruits at Sydney Uni and Broadway Shopping centre through a different front organisations. 
 
Peter Daley, a Canberra born University lecturer who now lives in South Korea, has spent over a decade researching JMS and writing about them online in the hope of raising awareness.

'JMS is dangerous beyond assaults from the leader. The sleep deprivation and the stress caused when members cut ties with their family is incredibly damaging to members health.' 

'And he is due out next year with no signs of rehabilitation. The numbers of girls that have visited him in jail suggest he is not going to change his ways any time soon.'

He said universities should be doing more to educate about the dangers of the group given they are known to target campuses.

'I think they have a duty of care to educate students about the dangers of the group. Many former members were recruited on their university campus'.'

A University of Melbourne spokesperson said they were not aware of the group but advised students who are involved to contact their Safer Community Program.

'We have an industry-leading Safer Community Program, and we have been very active in raising awareness of the program, and the support the University can offer students who experience situations like this.'

A spokesperson for Sydney University also denied being aware of the group but urged students to report groups misrepresenting their activities.

'Any behaviour by individuals or groups on campus misrepresenting themselves or their activities to students should be reported to Campus Security so that appropriate action can be taken.'

Daily Mail Australia has also contacted a spokesperson for Jesus Morning Star for comment.

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