earlier this year, Netflixis groundbreaking documentaries In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal shook audiences worldwide with the blunt and hard-to-understand stories of cult victims in Korea. Among the four cults shown in the series is the cult Aga Dongsan filed a restraining order ban the performance her episodes.
In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal introduced Kim Ki soon, the leader of Aga Dongsan. She was known for calling herself “Aga” (meaning “baby” in Korean) and often wearing extravagant dresses at events where she was the center of attention. The documentary revealed that she bought a farm where she forced cult members to work and had all members swear to be celibate while she sexually abused handsome younger men in the cult – who didn’t speak up because they thought it is a “blessing” to be “chosen” by the leader.
The sect believed the docuseries spread false information and called for the episodes to be banned or pay KRW 10.0 million (about US$7,580) in compensation daily if airing continued.
On May 24th, YTN reported on the court ruling – they rejected it and made the cult pay for the lawsuit.
Division 50 of the Civil Contracts Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Park Bum Seok) denied the injunction filed by Aga Dongsan against MBC and the director Cho Sung Hyun and ruled that Aga Dongsan and Kim Ki Soon should pick up the lawsuit.
– Judge Park Bum Seok
The court declared that the documentary no longer violated Aga Dongsan and Kim Ki Soon.
We came to the conclusion that MBC and director Cho Sung Hyun no longer own the rights to it In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayaland even if they have the videos, it is difficult to say that there is a risk of further human rights violations against Aga Dongsan and Kim Ki Soon.
– Judge Park Bum Seok
Meanwhile, director Cho Sung Hyun predicted that when the documentary was released in March, Aga Dongsan would file a restraining order against her, as the cult had once done the same SBS‘S Unanswered questions when they aired an episode about Aga Dongsan.
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