Please be aware this episode contains scenes of gore and mutilation. Parental discretion is advised. For many, the idea of joining a cult might seem almost as remote as the prospect of going to space. Nonetheless, there is something undeniably magnetic about the notion of cults. A testament to our fascination with them can be seen in the popularity of cult related documentaries and news stories, which we devour with the same dark enthusiasm we have for serial killers and true crime.
Perhaps we feel drawn to them like the way some people who, despite being afraid of heights, find themselves drawn to the edge of cliffs, not because they fear they will fall, but because they fear they might jump. In French, they call it lapel d vide, the call of the void. I would never join a cult, we might think, congratulating ourselves on our own relative lack of gullibility. I would never be caught under the spell of a megalomaniac like
Jim Jones or David Koresh, we casually reassure ourselves. But what if submitting to cultish behavior was about more than simply following a charismatic leader. What if all it took for someone to be considered a member of a cult was to unthinkingly submit themselves to prevailing orthodoxy, to something we might otherwise take for granted as normal. In Shirley Jackson's classic nineteen forty eight horo novella The Lottery, residents from an unnamed fictional village in New England practice and
annual ritual. Despite all other aspects of their existence. Appearing friendly and mundane, the ritual betrays a sinister adherence to group think at the heart of society. I won't spoil the story for anyone who hasn't read it, but needless to say it is well worth the read. James Demonico's twenty thirteen dystopian thriller The Purge deals with a similar concept, as does Robert Hardy's nineteen seventy three folk horror masterpiece
The wicker Man. What makes the artistic representations of cult like behavior such as these so terrifying isn't that we're forced to imagine a world in which their scenarios are alien or outlandish. On the contrary, each story heightens the normalcy of everyday life to emphasize how plausible our collective descent into violence actually is, how the maintenance of our liberal way of life in the Western world might ultimately require it, and how each of us is complicit in
turning a blind eye to its prevalence. In her twenty twenty one book Cultish, The Language of Fanaticism, American linguist Amanda Montell describes the twenty first century utilization of cult like language to inspire consumer devotion to everything from multi level marketing schemes like Amwaycore, Avon, and Neutralite to fitness societies like Soul Cycle, CrossFit, and Peloton. She suggests that the prevalence of online communities has facilitated the spread of
fringe ideas and conspiracy theories like QAnon. What all these groups seem to have in common is the promise of individual betterment through adherence to an ideology, while frequently perpetrating financial manipula on its members at the same time. Ultimately, Montell's thesis is that we shouldn't be so quick to judge when we hear stories about people's involvement with cults. Many of us already adhere to cult like behavior without even realizing it, and have the potential to be swindled
just as comprehensively as anyone else. More alarming is the fact that once we've already drunk the cool aid, as they say, Montell shows that escalation can lead seamlessly to acts of self sabotage, the committing of crimes, and even murder. Sometimes the cult has insinuated itself so completely into the life of its subject that it isn't immediately clear whether
a crime has been committed at all. The line between what's acceptable and what constitutes strange or abnormal behavior becomes so blurred that the perarameters of reality itself seemed to shift and upbraid. For one South Korean man in twenty eleven, this lack of clarity appears to have led to one of the most baffling acts of self mutilation in recent history.
You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McLean Smith. By all accounts, Kim John Bong was a quiet, unassuming man, someone who shied away from the trappings of the modern world. He worked hard and cared for his family, but always seemed to be yearning for something more, as though he were waiting for something meaningful to save him from the unrelenting grind of life. Something cosmic and world shaking something
that might write him into history, he hoped. Many Koreans of the fifty eight year olds generation, Kim's upbringing was marred by political strife and civil unrest. Kim himself was born in nineteen fifty three, in the immediate aftermath of the Korean War, when the division of the country into North and South produced a psychosocial sense of displacement that
would take years to rectify. Against this backdrop, Kim's childhood and early adulthood would have played out under the shadow of military coups, presidential assassinations, popular uprisings, and government crackdowns. His parentage and schooling would have struggled to cut through
against all the uncertainty of the future. With so much of Korean society up for grabs, the young man's identity was ripe for molding by the first source of promise to offer him salvation, a clear sighted path out of sad.
The chaos following the division of the country in nineteen fifty three, South Korea was a powder cake waiting to ignite with the formation of the rigidly totalitarian state to the north with its atheistic doctrine, and the more capitalists right leaning state to the south, many conservative Christian movements fired for influence and control among those who felt confused by it all. Out of this turmoil, in nineteen fifty four, the Unification Church was established. Its followers became known as
Mooney's after its founder Sun May Young Moon. Despite its somewhat traditional Christian leanings, the church is often referred to as being cult like in nature, with between one hundred and fifty and three hundred thousand members in South Korea today, the Moonies are known for their leader's radical claim to be the embodiment of the Second Coming of Jesus, as well as for their mass wedding ceremonies for him and opposition to left leaning ideology, and significant influence over Korean
business and politics. Kim Junbong would have been a teenager during the Mooney's aggressive global expansion in the mid nineteen seventies. From what little we know about him, it seems that it was during this period in his life that he became an active member of the wider Christian community. As Kim grew older, married, and settled down, he became involved with a number of fringed religious sects. Kim's family became
deeply concerned about the people he was associating with. One such example was sole based Master Jarrok Lee, founder of Careers man Mint Central Church. In twenty eighteen, Lee was convicted on multiple accounts of sexual assault and rape against several members of his own congregation. Like the Moonies, the man Min Central Church became notable for its founder's claim that he was sinless and exempt from dying. As Kim's devotion to this extremist sect deepened, so too did his
suspicions of any idea to the contrary. Working under the apprehension that he was now part of a beleagued minority subject to persecution and ridicule, Kim began fervently promoting the faith. He started to leave home, sometimes for days or weeks on end, supposedly to undertake missionary work, the details of which were never made entirely clear to his family. Over time, Kimjin Bond's wife and children started to notice that their address in Mungjong had become a target for crank phone
calls and mysterious visitors. When word of their father's involvement with the man Min's Central Church spread throughout the community, Kim's children were ostracized by their peers at school, but all this seemed only to harden Kim's devotion to his church and justify his commitment to the cause. Worryingly, what Kim's family were not aware of was that their father was now regularly volunteering himself for some of the church's
most extreme missions. Members within the church were hardened to have found in Kim a devotee who was so committed to their cause that he started to neglect all other facets of his life. He seemed uninterested in developing himself professionally. He spent days away from home and stop looking. After his appearance, his hair grew matted and his beard unkempt, and in what his colleagues regarded as his utter abjection and self humiliation, he reminded them of a modern day
Jesus Christ. And then in May twenty eleven, Kim Junpong disappeared. It's a clear sunny day in early May twenty eleven. Three men are hiking in the mountains near Mugong in southern Korea. They're on the hunt for the perfect spot to establish a b colony. As they step further and further away from the city, the men revel in the serenity of the landscape that morning. Something about the Saobak
Mountains seems to exude an extra note of tranquility. Perhaps it's simply the lack of traffic noise, one of the men observes. Or perhaps it's the fact that there seems to be so little noise of any kind, neither insect nor animal, which was odd given the vast array of vegetation surrounding them. The men trudge on and soon arrive at the edge of an abandoned granite quarry. One of the men has brought a flask of coffee and suggests they stop for a break before continuing on their journey.
They head down a steep pathway for a short while until they spot the perfect outcrop of rocks to set down their packs. One of the men talks excitedly about the recent trip he took with his church group to Japan. Then he suddenly notices that the other two aren't listening to him. Both have stopped dead in their tracks. Aren't you coming, he says, not stopping for coffee, The man's
companions say nothing. Transfixed by something in the middle distance, he follows their gaze toward the outcrop, where he then seeks what appears to be three large crucifixes that have been erected on a rocky plinth. Drawing closer, he pushes aside the branches of a laurel tree to get a closer look. Given the remote location and mountainous to Reign, he couldn't help thinking that the Bazaarre scene before him
reminded him of Christ's final resting place at Calvary. Remembering that he has brought his small leather bound copy of the King James Bible, he flips it to Matthew chapter twenty seven, verse forty five. Then he reads it aloud, and about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Then one of the other men points toward the cross in the middle. Only then did the first man appear to notice the strange effigy that had been placed on it.
As the three men draw closer to the middle cross, they hear the sound of buzzing. The place is teeming with flies because it isn't an effigy that has been placed on the cross, it's the body of a man that appears to have been crucified. The smell hits them first, the warm, putrid meat stench of death and day's old human waste. One of the men recoils and vomits on the ground. Another, all color drained from his cheeks, begins to babble incoherently to himself. He points meekly toward one
of the figures hands. It's been bound with rope and nailed through the wood. There's blood, he manages, almost in a whisper. Up close, they can now see the dark brown streak caked into the grain of the crucifix's crossbeam, and the crown of thorns on the dead man's head that dig into the flesh. At the top of his skull, A thick black puddle of congealed blood as formed around the cross's base. Strikingly, the man is dressed modestly as Jesus had been, in a makeshift loincloth, with his hands
and feet bound tightly to the wood. One large casing nail has been driven through both feet, and there was a nail driven through the palm of both hands. As he looks upon the terrible scene, the Christian among the men can't help remembering how the chapter from Matthew finished when it became clear to all who were present that
the life of their Lord Jesus had finally expired. He recites it out loud, so when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, truly, this was the son of God. When police arrive later, more details come to light. The full bulk of the dead man's weight is held in place by two crudely fastened pieces of plywood, while the tools that were used to construct the crucifix and crucify the man have been
left at the base of the pedestal. The man's car is found in a layby leading up to the site. The police trace it back to its owner, and from there the dead man's identify is confirmed. It was, of course, Kim Jun Bong. After an extensive investigation, the police concluded incredibly that Kim Jen Bong had apparently acted alone, much
to the astonishment of his family and anyone else. Following the story on the news, many voiced their concern that it would have been simply impossible for Kim to carry out the operation by himself. The logistics alone were enough to confuse anyone. Questions began to be asked about how someone could physically withstand the pain of such a procedure, but also how had he been able to nail one hand at the crossbeam before nailing the other without a
hand to hold. Then, in order to nail both feet to the cross, Kim would have needed to hammer the nail through the bones of both feet without passing out. There was little to no evidence of painkillers in his system, and the rapid advancement of blood loss from his wounds would have meant that Kim would likely have needed to complete the act while simultaneously losing consciousness. Either way, if Kim had managed to crucify himself, it would have required
superhuman levels of strength and endurance. Then something new came to light. Kim had been in communication with one of his church's senior clerics in the days and weeks leading up to his death. He outlined a desire to emulate his Lord and savior, Jesus Christ by making the ultimate sacrifice. He seemed to suggest also that a real life crucifixion would send a message that would be hard for society to ignore and that if that was what it would take, he could be the man to do it. But the
question remains did he do it alone? Not only did the senior cleric that Kim jn Bong had been in contact with not to do anything to prevent him from carrying out his ambition, something was about to emerge that turns the entire case on its head, because, as it happens, this senior cleric was one of the three men that discovered the body, the one with all those Matthew quotes
readily to hand. Perhaps he had genuinely been stunned to come across the body, or perhaps he had smiled radiantly at the thought thought of his disciples ultimate sacrifice and the tacit power of his own guiding hand that had led him to that shocking end. We will likely never know. Surprisingly, Kimjn Bond's gruesome act didn't remotely discourage his compatriots. In fact, he came to be regarded as a martyr within his sect.
His example inspired others in the group to continue his faith spreading mission and served for them as just further evidence of their own persecution. His death was viewed as a necessary, albeit extreme method of spreading Christ's teachings, and the attention it drew to their cause likely served as encouragement to inspire new recruits. Since Kim's death, there have been a number of commemorations and memorials established by devotees
of his faith, including staffatues, plaques, and annual events. Like other modern day Christian martyrs Ireland's Matt Talbot in nineteen twenty five Matthew Iaiga in twenty fifteen, his asceticism serves as a stark counterpoint to the frivolities of modern life, offering an alternative vision of what it means to give oneself wholly to a faith, regardless of what society at
large dictates. The opportunity to somehow escape or better yet, transcend modern life are essential to the appeal of the cult. The rejection of modernity in favor of so called traditional values like self sacrifice and humility are often used to
justify the cult's existence. This, in turn, must be safeguarded from outside corrupt, meaning members are encouraged to gradually shut themselves off from anything that threatens these ideals, from family and friends to the concept of their social standing and even their entire sense of self. The growth of mass media appears to play a significant role in modern day cults, first the newspaper, then radio and television, and now the Internet.
It is perhaps no accident that with the further atomisation of the so called civilized world, many people have started to seek more radical alternatives to the pressures of information overloadd and personal attainment. And with atomisation comes alienation. Though you may well have found your tribe, for many, modern life is an unceasing grind, in which we are continually surrounded by people, be they are colleagues, fellow mutas, or the hundreds of people that might read your socials on
any given day. And yet how many of these people do we actually have a meaningful connection to. It is little wonder that movements like Heaven's Gate, the People's Temple, Agricultural Project better known as Jonestown, or even the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or Isilfa short have
proliferated the way they have. Why they often fall apart, however, is because more often than not, they center around one singular figure, as earth bound and human as anyone else, and often not quite as without ego as they might like you to believe. One example of this would be Charles Manson, of course, whose so called family committed murder during the late nineteen sixties, but the Asia Pacific region
is not without its parallels. The twentieth of March nineteen ninety five, a group known as I Am Shinyiko or ALEF for short, committed the worst act of Japanese domestic terrorism in the country's history when they killed fourteen people and injured over one thousand others on the Tokyo Subway. The incident became known as the Saren gas attack after members from the group dropped two newspaper packages laced with the deadly nerve agent on the busy Chioda line of
the city's underground. Their hope was that it would start a war, from which they believed armageddon would come, and with that a cleansing of the entire world to start anew als. Leaders were caught and eventually brought to justice, but much like Kim Jin Bong, their example inspired as much as it horrified. Numerous copycat incidents have been foiled by police in the years since, and the group's core message continues to spread in the darker corners of the Internet.
It's tempting to dismiss Aleph's acolytes as deluded drones, or the members of Heaven's Gate as gullible fools for truly believing as they did that an alien spaceship hiding behind the hail Bob Comet would take their souls to a better place as long as they ended their own lives first. We might look upon these and other examples of cults as warnings about the danger of Messiah figures who seemed to offer easy solutions to all the travails and complexities
of the modern world. But perhaps more than anything, what the success of these cults demonstrate is simply the power of a good story. So if we don't like the stories that others telling, and we're tired of watching people for for them, perhaps the only real solution is to come up with a better one. This episode was written by James Connor Patterson and Richard McLain Smith. James as
a brilliant writer and poet. His debut collection of poems titled Bandit Country, Exploring the hinterland between the North of Ireland and Republic, was shortlisted for the twenty twenty two T. S. Eliot Prize and is out now to buy. Do check it out. Thank you as ever for listening to the show. Please subscribe and rate it if you haven't already done so. You can also now find us on TikTok at TikTok dot com. Forward Slash at Unexplained Podcast. Unexplained as an
Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music, were also produced by me Richard McLean Smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show.
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