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{{Short description|South Korean new religious movement}}
The '''Dami Mission''' ([[Korean language|Korean]]: '''다미선교회''') was a Christian religious movement founded in [[South Korea]] by Lee Jang Rim ([[Korean language|Korean]]: 이장림; [[Hanja]]: 李長林). The group received worldwide attention after Lee predicted that the [[rapture]] and end of the world would occur on 28 October 1992. After the prediction failed, Lee was convicted of defrauding his estimated 20,000 followers out of millions of dollars and sentenced to prison.

==History==
At the height of the movement before the date of the prediction, Dami Mission was estimated to have over 300 churches<ref name=no/> and 20,000 followers.<ref name=stir>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-28-mn-97-story.html |title=Apocalyptic Movement Stirs Social Crisis in South Korea|last1=Watanabe |first1=Teresa |date=September 28, 1992 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=December 27, 2012}}</ref> The majority were in South Korea, but there were also branches in [[Los Angeles]] and [[New York City|New York]].<ref name=no/>

==Prediction==
Lee proclaimed that 144,000 believers would ascend into heaven on 28 October 1992, and those left on Earth would face "seven years of war, famine and other scourges" that would kill all life on the planet and bring about the [[Second Coming]] of Jesus Christ.<ref name=stir/> The prediction was reportedly based on a 16-year-old boy's [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]].<ref name=sci/>

Lee wrote a book titled ''Getting Close to the End'' which outlined his prediction<ref>{{cite book |last=Abanes |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Abanes |title=End-Time Visions: The Road to Armageddon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urB1l-FH8-IC&q=lee+jang+rim |access-date=December 28, 2012 |year=1998 |publisher=Four Walls Eight Windows |isbn=1568581041 |page=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=John A |title=The Cost of Deception: The Seduction of Modern Myths and Urban Legends |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODvXAAAAMAAJ&q=lee+jang+rim+1992 |access-date=December 28, 2012 |year=2001 |publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers |isbn=978-0805423815 |page=151}}</ref> and the Dami Mission advertised in both the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' and ''[[The New York Times]]''.<Ref name=sci/>

===Initial reactions ===
It was estimated up to 20,000 Koreans believed they would be taken into heaven at midnight on 28 October,<ref name=no>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-29-mn-925-story.html |title=No Doomsday Rapture for S. Korea Sect |last1=Watanabe |first1=Teresa |date=October 29, 1992 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=December 27, 2012}}</ref> causing a "social crisis" in Korea.<ref name=no/> A woman who had been trying to conceive for three years aborted the seven-month-old fetus, believing she should not be pregnant during the end times.<ref name=stir/> At least four followers suicided in anticipation.<ref name=no/>

Chang-Young Mun, a 36-year-old man, died of [[malnutrition]] on September 8 after fasting for more than 40 days at a Dami Mission church in Los Angeles.<ref name=no/><ref name=stir/> He was one of 200 people taking part in the fast, and his death prompted calls for the Dami Mission church to be closed down.<ref name=no/> The civil authorities described it as a "dangerous cult" and other churches denounced it as "blasphemy".<ref name=stir/>

Police initially refused to investigate the church, citing [[freedom of religion]].<ref name=stir/> However, due to "social pressure", the church was investigated and Lee Jang Rim was arrested in September 1992<Ref name=no/> for fraud and illegal possession of $26,711 in American currency.<Ref name=stir/> Twenty-nine other people were charged with illegally passing out [[propaganda]]. Authorities put certain churches and evangelists under constant surveillance.<Ref name=stir/>

The [[Republic of Korea Armed Forces|South Korean military]] reported an increase in applications for early discharge and [[desertion]]s and announced that all material brought onto the barracks would be screened.<ref name=stir/>

Analysts tried to explain why so many well educated people could believe such a prediction. Han Wan Sang, a professor of social policy at [[Seoul National University]], said it reflected a deep despair among Koreans who are "troubled by a lack of progress in improving ties with North Korea and uncertainty over the domestic political situation."<ref name=stir/>

===October 28, 1992===
On October 28, 54 followers who were dressed in white clothing burned furniture outside the Dami Mission office in [[Wonju]]. Twenty followers in [[Busan]] left $22,000 to those who were expected to stay on earth following the rapture.<ref name=no/>

Even though their leader was in prison, 1,000 pilgrims still turned up to a Dami Mission church in [[Seoul]] on October 28.<ref name=no/> Police took measures to prevent [[Mass suicide|mass suicides]], including barricading windows and stairs to the roof. As midnight approached, 1500 riot police, 200 detectives, 100 journalists, plus emergency vehicles stood outside; plainclothes detectives were stationed inside.<ref name=no/> Ten minutes after midnight a boy shouted from a window: "Nothing's happening!"<ref name=no/>

No riots or further suicides were reported.<ref name=no/><ref name=sci>{{cite web |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/notes_of_a_fringe-watcher |title=Notes of a Fringe-Watcher: The Second Coming of Jesus |last1=Gardner |first1=Martin |date=January 2000 |work=[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |access-date=December 27, 2012 |archive-date=March 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315164951/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/notes_of_a_fringe-watcher |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Demise==
Lee officially disbanded the Dami Mission in November 1992, and apologised whilst he was in prison awaiting sentencing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-03-mn-1260-story.html |title=World IN BRIEF : SOUTH KOREA : Leading 'Rapture' Church Disbands |date=November 3, 1992 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=December 27, 2012}}</ref> On 4 December 1992, he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to two years in prison<ref name=swindle>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-05-mn-1389-story.html |title=Seoul Sect Leader Gets Two Years for Fraud |date=December 5, 1992 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=December 27, 2012}}</ref><ref name=ind>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/doomsday-preacher-jailed-1561574.html |title=Doomsday preacher jailed |date=December 5, 1992 |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=December 27, 2012}}</ref> because he had collected $4.4 million from his followers to purchase [[Bond (finance)|bonds]] that did not mature until after October 28.<ref name=swindle/>


In 2011, Lee, along with [[Dorothy Martin (prophet)|Dorothy Martin]], [[Pat Robertson]], [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet]], [[Credonia Mwerinde]], and [[Harold Camping]], who have also made predictions about the end of the world, were jointly awarded the satirical [[Ig Nobel Prize]] for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/sep/30/wasabi-fire-alarm-ig-nobel-prize |title=Wasabi fire alarm scoops Ig Nobel prize for Japanese scientists |last1=Jha |first1=Alok |date=September 30, 2011 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=December 27, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201111/ignobels.cfm |title=Ig Nobels May be not so Crazy After All |last=Lucibella |first=Michael |work=[[American Physical Society]] |access-date=August 6, 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Christian new religious movements]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic groups]]
[[Category:Judgment in Christianity]]
[[Category:1992 in South Korea]]
[[Category:Korean new religions]]
[[Category:Korean diaspora churches]]

Dami Mission - Revision history

imported>Damien Linnane: ce