Ock Soo Park
Ock Soo Park | |
|---|---|
| 박옥수 | |
 | |
| Born | June 2, 1944 |
| Occupation | Pastor |
| Known for | Founder and Senior Pastor of Good News Mission |
| Spouse |
Myung Soon Kim (m. 1971) |
| Children | Yeong Kook Park (son) Eun Sook Park (daughter) |
| Website | http://www.ocksoopark.com |
Ock Soo Park (born June 2, 1944) is a South Korean religious leader known for founding Good News Mission, a new religious movement often described as a Salvation Sect. He has also founded other organizations, including the Gracias Choir and Orchestra and the International Youth Fellowship (IYF).
Early life and founding Good News Ministry
[edit]Ock Soo Park was born in 1944 in Seonsan, and attended a Presbyterian church in his youth. After studying under western missionaries in the 1960s, he founded the Good News Mission in 1972. Over the following years, Park grew the church globally. Around 1986, the church began to hold "grand bible seminars" and evangelize internationally. In 1995, he founded the International Youth Fellowship, a global youth leadership organization affiliated with Good News Mission.[1]
Salvation Sect
[edit]Professors David W. Kim and Won-il Bang describe Good News Mission as a Christian new religious movement and Salvation Sect because the group believes in "one-time repentance of sins in the theological concept of justification" while sanctification is not required because all sins were forgiven during the crucifixion of Jesus.[1] The Presbyterian Church of Korea argues Park's groups are heretical and classifies them as a Salvation Sect.[2]
Good News Mission denies being a Salvation Sect.[3]
Ministry expansion
[edit]In 2000, Park founded the Gracias Choir, an orchestra and choral ensemble which travels with Park on his international tours.[4]
The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office imposed a fine of 5 million KRW by summary order on December 31, 2012, against Park for violating the Food Sanitation Act. He was accused of unlawfully profiting by promoting the product "Ttobyeol," manufactured by Woonhwa Co., Ltd., as a 'drug' capable of curing cancer and AIDS.[5]
In 2016 he was invited to preach a sermon at the "King's Prayer Meeting" in Swaziland (now Eswatini), which was broadcast by the national radio station.[6]
On May 11, 2017, Park Ok-soo was fined 20 million KRW by the Seoul Central District Court for violating the National Land Planning and Utilization Act and the Building Act. The Seoul District Court ruled that Park illegally expanded a structure by installing one or two containers in March 2012 without obtaining the necessary permits from the relevant authorities. Additionally, he was found guilty of violating the Building Act by converting the fourth floor of a church building for office use in January 2015. Consequently, a fine of 20 million KRW was imposed.[7] In July 2017, a separate fraud/scam case against Park and the Good News Mission ended in an acquittal by Supreme Court of Korea. The charge was that Park had sold stock fraudulently to church members and "raked in unlawful profits", but the Supreme Court held that "it is hard to regard Park as an accomplice".[8]
In 2024, Park met with the Chairman of the Kiowa Tribe Lawrence SpottedBird in South Korea. In 2025, the Kiowa Tribe's chairman and vice chairman served on the board of the Indigenous Leaders of North America, a nonprofit Park founded.[9]
Daughter's conviction
[edit]On May 15, 2024, a high school girl was rushed to a hospital by emergency services in Incheon after she collapsed with bruises and bindings on both wrists. She died four hours later and the National Forensic Service later announced her cause of death was pulmonary embolism and abuse leading up to her death was suspected. It was later revealed the girl was affiliated with Gracias Choir and had been living with the Good News Mission in the three months prior to her death.[10] During her time living with the group she was subject to constant monitoring, forced to copy the Bible, and forced to repeated climb stairs.[11]
In June 2024, the District Prosecutors' Office of Incheon charged Park's daughter, Eun-sook Park, for child abuse resulting in murder. Prosecutors alleged the girl died from being confined for a long period, tied up, and abused. The tight bindings caused blood clots and Park delayed taking her to a hospital.[12] In December 2024, Park was sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison.[13] At a second trial in September 2025, Park Eun-sook was sentenced to 25 years in prison for child abuse resulting in death. In January 2026, the Supreme Court of Korea upheld her conviction from the second trial.[14]
Acquisition of Gimcheon University
[edit]Gimcheon University, facing closure after receiving an E grade in the 2016 evaluation and experiencing significant management difficulties, including unpaid staff salaries and a shortfall in student admissions, transferred its management rights to the Good News Mission in 2021. The agreement included inheriting the Christian founding philosophy, job succession, 20 billion KRW in financial support, salary restoration, and management participation until the university is stabilized. Gimcheon University has not officially commented on the transfer to the Good News Mission, which is deemed a cult by the Korean church. The Gimcheon City Christian Council and local churches plan to raise awareness among residents about the cult's risks and the potential harm to the local image.[15]
On April 29, 2024, Gimcheon University amended its academic regulations to establish a "Department of Theology" for the 2025 academic year, aimed at training pastors from the Guwonpa (Salvation Sect). The university also has a Department of Theology in its graduate program to prepare pastors and theologians. Chairman Park Ok-soo announced at a press conference that the university plans to recruit over 500 foreign students annually through its missionary countries and provide financial support amounting to 20 billion KRW.[16]
Books
[edit]Park has published a number of books, through his publishing house Good News Publishing, or using self-publishing companies such as Kindle Direct Publishing and Tate Publishing & Enterprises. Titles include
- The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again (1997), ISBN 9788985422369
- Out from despair (2004), ISBN 9788985422758
- Repentance and Faith (2005), ISBN 9788985422826
- Cain and Abel: The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again (2005), ASIN B006K4BEZA
- Notes on Genesis 1 (2008), ISBN 9788985422963
- Notes on Genesis 2 (2008), ISBN 9788985422956
- Navigating the Heart: Who Is Dragging You (2013), ISBN 9781628543230
- Standing on the field of the heart (2018), ASIN B07K7NX3KP
- How I Became Free from Sin (2018), ASIN B07MR2M9LV
- Lectures on Offerings of Leviticus - A Four-Book Set (2019), ISBN 9788964430330
- It Is God That Justifieth (2020), ASIN B08DDG9LMB
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kim, Dawid W.; Bang, Won-il (2019). "Guwonpa, WMSCOG, and Shincheonji: Three Dynamic Grassroots Groups in Contemporary Korean Christian NRM History". Religions. 10 (3): 212. doi:10.3390/rel10030212. hdl:1885/204914.
- ↑ "[Major Resolutions of the Heresy and Cult General Assembly] Kwon Shin-chan, Lee Yo-han, Park Ok-soo (Guwonpa)/77th Assembly - 1992". The Presbyterian Church of Korea. 5 November 2002. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ "기쁜소식 선교회 "구원파 아니다!"". 굿모닝충청 (in 한국어). 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ↑ "25,000 fill Gocheok Dome to attend Gracias concert". The Korea Herald. July 11, 2017.
- ↑ Jung, Yoon Seok (12 March 2013). "구원파 박옥수 '식품위생법위반' 500만원 벌금" [Guwonpa's Park Ok-soo Fined 5 Million KRW for Food Sanitation Act Violation]. 기독교포털뉴스. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ↑ "IYF Founder Pastor Ok-Soo Park preaches at Swaziland National Event".
- ↑ Jung, Yoon Seok (22 May 2017). "기쁜소식강남교회 박옥수 씨, 2천만원 벌금형" [Park Ok-soo of Good News Gangnam Church Fined 20 Million KRW]. 기독교포털뉴스. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ↑ Kim, Yon-se (July 13, 2017). "Pastor Park acquitted of stock fraud charges". The Korea Herald. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ↑ Loveless, Tristan (February 25, 2026). "Toilets, t-shirts and tribal finances: Kiowa Legislature moves to impeach Chairman Lawrence SpottedBird". NonDoc. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
- ↑ Jo, Min Gi (1 July 2024). "기쁜소식선교회 박옥수 딸 '박은숙' 아동학대 혐의로 경찰 구속" [Park Eun-sook, Daughter of Good News Mission Leader Park Ok-soo, Arrested by Police on Child Abuse Charges]. 현대종교. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ↑ Kim, Jung Soo (25 July 2024). "기쁜소식인천교회 사망 여고생, 5일 잠 못 자는 등 가혹행위 당해" [High School Girl from Good News Incheon Church Dies After Enduring Five Days of Sleep Deprivation and Severe Mistreatment]. Modern Religion Monthly. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ↑ Jo, Min Gi (27 June 2024). "그라시아스합창단 단장 박은숙 아동학대살해 혐의로 구속 기소" [Gracias Choir Director Park Eun-sook Indicted and Arrested for Child Abuse Murder]. Modern Religion Monthly. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ↑ Kim, Jung Soo (25 July 2024). "기쁜소식인천교회 사망 여고생, 5일 잠 못 자는 등 가혹행위 당해" [High School Girl from Good News Incheon Church Dies After Enduring Five Days of Sleep Deprivation and Severe Mistreatment]. Modern Religion Monthly. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ↑ 이나라 기자 (January 29, 2026). "인천 교회 여고생 학대 사망, 대법 '아동학대살해' 확정…상고기각 결정" [The Supreme Court upholds the death of a high school student at an Incheon church as "child abuse and murder," and dismisses the appeal.]. incheonilbo.com (in korean). Retrieved February 21, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ↑ Kim, Tae Hyun (11 June 2024). "기독교대학 김천대, 박옥수 구원파에 넘어가…충격" [Christian University Gimcheon Falls to Park Ok-soo's Guwonpa: Shocking Development]. kdknews.com. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ↑ Oh, Myung Ock (19 August 2024). "세칭 구원파대학교 '김천대'... 학칙개정해 '신학과' 신설" [So-Called Guwonpa University 'Gimcheon University' Establishes New 'Department of Theology' After Amending Regulations]. Church and Heresy. Retrieved 20 August 2024.