K-pop heavyweight Park Jin-young denies preaching for religious cult

A photo of K-pop heavyweight Park Jin-young posted on JYP Entertainment Center / Yonhap

K-pop heavyweight Park Jin-young, commonly known as JYP, the founder of the entertainment company of the same name, strongly denied Wednesday a local report that he preached at a meeting affiliated with a controversial church.

A local entertainment news outlet reported earlier in the day that Park was seen delivering a sermon in front of members of the Korean Evangelical Baptist Church, one of the three sects of Guwonpa, or Salvation Sect.

The church, which is widely seen as a cult, was founded by Yoo Byung-eun, who was also chairman of Semo Group, the now-defunct predecessor of the operator of the ferry Sewol that sank on April 16, 2014, leaving more than 300 people dead.

“Are you calling a meeting to study the Bible that I paid for a meeting of Salvation Sect?" he wrote on Instagram. "Around 100 people gathered to listen to my lecture about the Bible and only a few members from the sect attended. And you still call it a Salvation Sect meeting?"

In the long post, he strongly denied the claim that he has deep ties to the religious sect and emphasized the innocent nature of his "Bible study meeting."

“Since four years ago, I have been studying the Bible twice a week with my friend. We have gotten more people to join the meeting, and now we have about 30 people."

Local media reported that Park led the congregation of the Salvation Sect for seven days in March in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul. It also posted a related video and audio files along with the report.

Among the congregation were K-pop businessman and actor Bae Yong-joon, as well as Byeon Ki-chun, a former president of Chonhaiji Co., the main shareholder of Chonghaejin Marine Company, which operated the ferry Sewol.

The rumors surrounding his ties with the now-bankrupt Chonghaejin first surfaced when the Sewol sank off the southwestern coast four years ago, as his wife's uncle is Yoo Byung-eun. At that time, Park also strongly denied any involvement in the company as well as the controversial church.

On Wednesday, Park threatened legal action if the report turned out to be groundless. Actor Bae Yong-joon also refuted the report through his agency. Bae said it is true he has been studying the Bible with Park but claimed it has nothing to do with Yoo's church. (Yonhap)