The Cult Dossier · No. 087 · Apocalyptic / Doomsday

Shincheonji Church of Jesus

Shincheonji, Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony; SCJ

14 March 1984 – present · Gwacheon and Daegu, South Korea; worldwide

X. RUSSIA, KOREA AND SOUTH ASIA

Fully religious — Korean Christian-derived apocalyptic sect

Who led it

LEE MAN-HEE (b.1931), a Korean War veteran and former member of the Olive Tree movement and the Tabernacle Temple, who teaches that he is the PROMISED PASTOR — the one person who received the sealed revelation directly and can interpret Revelation.

What it worshipped and taught

Revelation read as a coded account of Lee's own life and of the Korean church landscape. Doctrine: 144,000 sealed members will become immortal priest-kings at the end, ruling with Lee, who will not die. Recruitment is famously covert — the practice known as HARVESTING involves members joining mainstream churches without disclosing affiliation, gaining trust, and gradually leading targets into Shincheonji Bible study centres under front names; the practice of taking over a whole congregation from within is called moving the mountain. Members' families are frequently deceived for years.

Who was in it

Lee Man-hee; Kim Nam-hee, a senior figure and rival; PATIENT 31, the member whose infection in February 2020 seeded the largest early COVID cluster outside China; the Korean Council of Churches; the family groups seeking members' return.

How it ended, or where it stands

Active internationally. Its founder, in his mid-nineties, was convicted of embezzlement in 2021, ARRESTED IN JUNE 2026 and INDICTED IN JULY 2026 over mass party enrolments. He is on trial, with his detention repeatedly suspended and restored on health grounds.

The dead

Indirectly linked to a major national COVID-19 outbreak

Of note

The most operationally sophisticated recruitment system currently documented. Its use of undisclosed infiltration of other churches is the specific practice that distinguishes it from ordinary evangelism, and it is the reason Korean mainstream churches treat it as an active threat.

Its timeline

14 March 1984 Founded at Gwacheon.
2011–2020 Membership rises from roughly 100,000 to about 245,000.
FEBRUARY 2020 THE DAEGU OUTBREAK. Shincheonji's Daegu congregation becomes the epicentre of South Korea's first COVID-19 wave; more than 5,000 cases, over half of all Korean cases at that point, are linked to the church, which is accused of withholding member lists.
FEBRUARY–MARCH 2020 AN UNUSUAL MOMENT OF VERIFICATION. Forced to hand member lists to health authorities, the church declares 245,605 MEMBERS IN SOUTH KOREA AND ABOUT 33,000 ABROAD — the closest thing to an audited figure it has produced.
1 AUGUST 2020 Lee Man-hee arrested and charged with obstructing the epidemic response and with embezzlement.
13 JANUARY 2021 ACQUITTED of the infectious disease charges; CONVICTED of embezzlement and unauthorised use of public facilities; three-year suspended sentence, later upheld.
2022 The church reports 317,320 registered members worldwide — self-reported and unverified.
2020–2026 Growth continues abroad through front organisations — HWPL, IPYG and IWPG. HWPL is the vehicle under which Lee met heads of state and signed peace agreements, and the photographs are used in recruitment. A former insider says HWPL TARGETS PASTORS TO RECRUIT WHOLE CONGREGATIONS. The church claims activity in AT LEAST 17 AFRICAN COUNTRIES, offering free Bible training.
2025 After the election of President LEE JAE MYUNG, religious bodies that had backed former President Yoon come under scrutiny, and the president publicly calls Shincheonji a 'heretical cult'.
24 JUNE 2026 LEE MAN-HEE IS ARRESTED, in his mid-nineties, accused of coercing at least 56,000 members into joining the conservative PEOPLE POWER PARTY between 2021 and 2024 to sway its primaries. A Seoul court refuses to review his detention.
14 JULY 2026 INDICTED IN DETENTION for violating the Political Parties Act and for obstruction of business; seven other executives are indicted, three of them detained. Separately he is indicted without detention over about 7.57 billion won in unpaid taxes.
21 AUGUST 2026 A bail hearing is held before the Seoul Central District Court's 27th criminal division; no decision follows.
31 AUGUST 2026 A special investigation into religion and politics ends with 32 people indicted — 16 from Shincheonji, including Lee, and 16 from the Unification Church, including Hak Ja Han (043). NOTE: whether this is law enforcement or the targeting of religious minorities by a new administration is actively disputed, including by scholars of religion.
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2026 IN AND OUT OF CUSTODY ON HEALTH GROUNDS. The court SUSPENDS HIS DETENTION from 31 August, extends it to 11 September, then REFUSES A FURTHER EXTENSION and he RETURNS TO CUSTODY at 6 p.m. that day. A fresh application brings a ONE-DAY RELEASE on 17 September. His bail application is still undecided.
AS AT 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 IN CUSTODY, ON TRIAL, NO VERDICT. A campaign group raised his detention at the UN Human Rights Council in September; the Korean courts have not ruled.

Its people

Lee Man-hee

the Promised Pastor

Founder, Shincheonji Church of Jesus · born 15 September 1931 · active 1984–present

A Korean War veteran and former member of the Olive Tree and Tabernacle Temple movements who teaches that he alone received the sealed revelation and can interpret the Book of Revelation, reading it as a coded account of his own life. Doctrine holds that 144,000 sealed members will become immortal priest-kings, ruling with him, and that he will not die. His organisation is distinguished by covert recruitment — 'harvesting', in which members join mainstream churches without disclosing affiliation and gradually lead targets into Shincheonji study centres, and 'moving the mountain', taking over an entire congregation from within.

Before the law. CONVICTED of embezzlement and unauthorised use of public facilities, 2021 (suspended sentence). ACQUITTED of obstructing the pandemic response. INDICTED IN DETENTION IN JULY 2026 under the Political Parties Act and for obstruction of business, and separately for tax evasion; trial pending.

Where things stand. ON TRIAL, IN CUSTODY, NO VERDICT — but the custody keeps breaking. Arrested on 24 JUNE 2026, aged 94 (born 15 September 1931) — AN EARLIER VERSION OF THIS FILE SAID MARCH — over the mass enrolment of members in the People Power Party, and indicted in July. he was let out again for ONE DAY on 17 September. A bail application filed in August was still undecided. He turned 95 on 15 September 2026. ANY STATEMENT THAT HE IS OR IS NOT IN A CELL IS GOOD FOR ABOUT A WEEK. This follows the 2021 embezzlement conviction. He had continued to lead the church throughout. Shincheonji has kept growing internationally regardless — notably across at least 17 African countries.

14 March 1984 Founds Shincheonji at Gwacheon.
1990s–2010s Growth past a claimed 240,000 members, with branches across Asia, Africa, Europe and the US.
February 2020 The Daegu congregation becomes the epicentre of South Korea's first COVID-19 wave; over 5,000 cases linked, more than half the national total at the time.
1 August 2020 Arrested and charged with obstructing the epidemic response and embezzlement.
13 JANUARY 2021 ACQUITTED of the infectious disease charges. CONVICTED of EMBEZZLING MORE THAN 5 MILLION DOLLARS in church funds and of organising unauthorised worship services. Sentenced to THREE YEARS, SUSPENDED FOR FOUR.
24 JUNE 2026 ARRESTED, aged 94, accused of coercing at least 56,000 members into the People Power Party between 2021 and 2024.
14 JULY 2026 INDICTED IN DETENTION under the Political Parties Act and for obstruction of business; separately indicted over about 7.57 billion won in unpaid taxes.
31 AUGUST 2026 The special religion-and-politics probe closes with 16 Shincheonji figures indicted, Lee among them.

Checked 2026-09-17 · living: health details are kept at home

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