Melbourne university students target of ‘toxic’ South Korean religious group

Former members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus have exposed how the South Korean group loiters in halls at Melbourne universities to entice recruits into “a toxic, abusive relationship”. Read our special investigation.

Like most university students, Ruth had big dreams.

In 2018, the scholarship recipient was pursuing a degree in medical science at the University of Melbourne with the goal of becoming a doctor.

But it was a seemingly innocent invitation from her high school best friend in 2019 that sparked what she has coined an “abusive relationship” that changed the trajectory of the bright future she envisaged and instead saw her dreams crushed as she spiralled into a depression, dropped out of her studies and seriously considered taking her own life.

“(My best friend) said, ‘Ruth, my Bible teacher wants to meet you. I told them how passionate you were about God’,” she said.

Ruth didn’t know her friend was a devoted Christian and was confused by the invitation to meet her Bible teacher. But after constant pressure, she agreed to meet him.

“(The Bible teacher) asked me questions and I became more curious … he then invited me to Bible study,” she said.

Ex-members have opened up about their experiences at SCJ. Picture: Jason Edwards

As a devoted Christian, Ruth wanted to study the Bible so saw the invitation as an opportunity to pursue her interest.

The Bible study classes were at first a few hours a week, before growing more intense as the year went on.

“At the end of 2019, I graduated. We had to sign (a contract) agreeing to not betray the Kingdom of Heaven,” Ruth said.

But what she didn’t realise was she was being indoctrinated into the Shincheonji Church of Jesus (SCJ).

The South Korean pseudo-religious group was established by self-proclaimed messiah Lee Man Hee, 92, in 1984.

More than 1000 Victorians follow SCJ, despite Australian authorities not recognising it as a church.

Former SCJ members have likened the group to a cult, with its followers believing Hee has Jesus’ spirit “dwelling inside him”.

They’re also awaiting “Judgement Day” where 144,000 believers will become high priests, while the remaining true believers will be immortalised.

A year after meeting the Bible teacher, Ruth had started to notice odd behaviours from other church members.

“They were using all kinds of manipulation (tactics) so we would cut out friends and family,” she said.

“(Older members) would chaperone you so you wouldn’t get ‘poisoned’ by social media or the news.”

When Ruth became a fully devoted member in 2020, she was tasked with recruiting new members, also known as “fruits”, and later became a Bible teacher.

“By 2021, I started to experience burnout because we only slept for a few hours each night,” she said.

“At 6.30am you wake up for prayer and morning education, then at 9am you attend Bible study with your recruit and after you finish with them you have an evangelising session.

“Then you have to meet up with another fruit later that day, before meeting again at night for prayer.”

By the time Ruth finished her SCJ commitments, it would be after 1am.

“Sometimes you have three hours of sleep, or four — but that’s a luxury. If you miss a meeting you get punished, and if you’re sick they say it’s a punishment from God,” she said.

Former SCJ members have revealed what goes on inside the Melbourne branch of the Shincheonji Church.

Constant sleep deprivation and depression eventually defeated Ruth, causing her body to break down.

“My uni reports were going down, I gave up on study. I thought there was no point for me to become a doctor because I’m going to the Kingdom of Heaven,” she said.

“But then I realised I couldn’t keep doing this work. I started feeling meaningless and thought ‘what’s my future?’.”

Ruth’s health deteriorated and she struggled to get out of bed over a six-month period.

“I was not eating and had just a few sips of water. I was admitted to the emergency department because I was suicidal,” she said.

Ruth confided in her mum, a wellbeing co-ordinator, and doctors and sought help to get better.

During this process, Ruth thought “the real God would care about my wellbeing and health and would want me to be healthy, not dying”.

“That’s when I thought ‘if this is heaven, I don’t want to live in this kind of heaven’. This realisation helped me make the final decision to leave SCJ by myself,” she said.

But leaving the church wasn’t easy, with Ruth describing the process as “torture to my heart”.

“I felt like a stupid person. It was like a toxic, abusive relationship. It was modern slavery and I lost $20,000 … but I forgive my friend because she was a victim, too.”

Ruth is now studying to be a teacher and shared her story to raise awareness about the group that almost made her take her own life.

It comes as a Herald Sun survey of more than 50 current and former SCJ members found recruiters were loitering in university halls and thoroughfares searching for their next recruit.

Responses indicate that the University of Melbourne was the main hotspot, with nine respondents reporting they were approached by recruiters at the leading tertiary institution.

There were more than seven reports made about RMIT, making it the second most frequented university for recruiters, followed by La Trobe University, Australian Catholic University and Monash University.

Shopping centres, train stations, social media and dating apps were other locations where SCJ members confronted possible recruits.

Most respondents were aged between 15 and 25 years old when they were targeted.

Another former SCJ member, Gloria, told the Herald Sun she had only just moved to the city when she was approached while walking through Melbourne Central in April 2019.

“I thought it was normal for Melburnians to be this friendly so I joined their Bible study,” she said.

“I assumed it was a normal mainstream Christian Bible study, until later on when I was brainwashed, they revealed they were SCJ.”

Gloria was recruited while walking through Melbourne Central in 2019. Picture: Jason Edwards

Gloria was a member of the church for four and a half years, and left after she grew suspicious of the group’s intentions in 2022.

“I noticed there were doctrinal changes and witnessed teachers not caring about members’ wellbeing,” she said.

After leaving SCJ, Gloria started an online support group for both current and former members as well as parents of those involved in the church.

“I hope people change their perspective about those who fall into cults as there’s so many misconceptions that victims are gullible, stupid or weak,” she said.

Several former members have likened SCJ to a cult and are educating non members about the

warning signs in case they find themselves as the next target.

Cult Consulting Australia director and counsellor Raphael Aron said while many different factors form a cult, the main trait was their power to rob followers of their individuality and ability to make their own choices.

“People going into a cult would … find themselves in a relatively short period of time being dictated by an agenda, and ultimately compromising their opportunity to make choices in relation to anything,” he said.

“That can be work, it can be a career, it can be relationships, it can be family connections, it can be anything, all these sorts of things, are potentially the targets of cult leaders.”

When asked whether SCJ was a cult, Mr Aron said the organisation resembled the model of what happens in a cult.

“The reports that come to us certainly display strong cult-like tendencies and we have real serious concerns about them,” he said.

Mr Aron added while it was often difficult to leave such groups, Cult Consulting Australia offered a counselling program to help victims understand getting involved in a cult wasn’t their fault and to help restore their life after leaving.

Australian Catholic University and Swinburne University also have support services in place with specific knowledge on SCJ, which students can access.

“The safety and wellbeing of students is our number one priority and we have a proactive, university-wide approach to educate and protect our community,” a Swinburne University spokeswoman said.

While the University of Melbourne, RMIT and Victoria University have received no complaints about SCJ, students are advised to be cautious of unsolicited groups and can access student support should any issues arise.

The Saturday Herald Sun made multiple attempts to contact the Shincheonji Church of Jesus for comment but did not receive a response.

SCJ recruiters frequent Victorian universities, especially targeting students at University of Melbourne, RMIT, Monash and La Trobe. Picture: Jason Edwards

How SCJ recruits new ‘fruits’

When Shincheonji Church of Jesus evangelists are taught how to approach new “fruits”, they’re told to always go in pairs.

“They recruit people largely under false pretences of ‘making friends’ and are instructed step-by-step on how to convince people to agree to come to classes,” a former member said.

Step one is to strike up conversation, whether it be by asking for directions or insisting their target participates in a survey

Step two is to find out as much as possible about their target including their age, where they live, their religion, if they’re a student, their hobbies and how long they’ll be in the state.

But the final and most important step is to get their target’s phone number.

From here they can coerce their new recruit into “bible study” and officially kick off their journey into the Shincheonji Church of Jesus (SCJ).

A young man and woman appeared to be following these instructions at RMIT University’s final O-week day last Thursday, when they caught my eye.

The pair, who matched the description of SCJ recruiters, had failed to get the number of a male university student when the woman said to her accomplice, “we need a new method, we have to go in with a softer approach”.

They were walking towards another student when they then looked in my direction.

I said I was looking for the Open Day stalls giving them a chance to make their move.

“Come with me, I show you,” the woman said before tugging at my arm.

As I thanked the pair for their directions, the woman started to ask me personal questions.

“Are you German? Are you more Christian or Catholic? Where do you live?” she asked.

The woman repeatedly called me “cute”, before asking more questions about my hobbies and if I was studying at university.

A former SCJ member later told me this was known as “love bombing”.

After five minutes of talking I told the pair I had to leave.

“It was such a lovely conversation, so unexpected, do you know any good cafes around,” the woman said in response.

She tried to keep the conversation going and recommended a local cafe where she suggested we meet up.

But my suspicions were confirmed when she asked for my phone number.

I declined to give her my contact details, so she gave me her mobile number and name instead.

These details later helped me confirm, with the help of a former member, that I’d just met a member of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

If this encounter happened to me in just five minutes of being on campus, imagine how high the risk would be for vulnerable university students.