SEOUL – Local religious cult Baby Garden has filed for an injunction against the streaming of two episodes of Netflix’s documentary series In The Name Of God: A Holy Betrayal, featuring its leader Kim Ki-soon.
The eight-part series presents four Korean religious cult leaders – Jeong Myeong-seok of Christian Gospel Mission, better known as Jesus Morning Star (JMS); Park Soon-ja of Odaeyang Church; Kim Ki-soon of Baby Garden; and Lee Jae-rock of Manmin Central Church – who claim to be saviours of humanity.
Global streaming platform Netflix said it confirmed the pseudo-religious group’s request with the Seoul Central District Court on Monday.
“As the court reviews the injunction filed by the religious cult, please understand that we do not have any additional information to offer with regards to the case,” a Netflix official said.
Baby Garden filed for the injunction, claiming that the fifth and sixth episodes of In The Name Of God: A Holy Betrayal contain false content and personal insults.
The religious cult added that if the broadcast continues, it must be paid compensation of 10 million won (S$10,300) per day.
Baby Garden is the second group featured in the documentary series to have filed for an injunction to stop the release of the series, following JMS.
JMS’ request was denied by the Seoul Western District Court in early March, which ruled that the series does not include false claims and is backed by a considerable amount of objective and subjective data.
The Seoul Southern District Court in 2001 granted Baby Garden’s injunction request against the airing of an episode of local broadcaster SBS’ investigative series Unanswered Questions as the Supreme Court in 1998 had found Baby Garden’s leader Kim Ki-soon not guilty of murder charges in 1998.
“There is a small possibility that the episodes about Baby Garden may be banned as the religious cult had stopped SBS’ broadcast in the past. I hope many people watch those episodes to see how cruel and scary religious cults can become,” series director Jo Sung-hyun said in a press conference on March 10. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
