The news of that day has passed, but its meaning remains with us today. "That Day, Today" reads the present through the records of the past.
Six years ago today, on Oct. 3, 2020, South Korea's top court finalized a prison sentence for a cult leader who had injected perilla oil into followers' buttocks, claiming it would make them younger, and extorted money from them under the guise of various investments.
The Supreme Court's third division, presided over by Justice Kim Jae-hyung, said it upheld a lower court ruling sentencing the defendant, identified only as A, to four years and six months in prison on charges including fraud and violating the Medical Service Act.
A, the leader of a religious organization, stood trial on charges of taking about 300 million won (about $210,000) from members between 2013 and 2018, telling them the money was for investments in an energy generator and for appraisals of treasures.
In November 2011, A founded a religious group called Jeongdo by stitching together Christian, Buddhist, Islamic and Confucian scriptures, calling himself "Hanalnim" to draw in followers. A collected appraisal fees from members, saying he had inherited from his father ceramics and other treasures once held by Japanese nationals during the colonial period and could turn a profit on them once they were appraised.
A also extorted money from followers as investment funds, claiming to have the technology to build a "perpetual generator" that required no energy supply.
The bizarre acts did not stop there. A sold powder made from ground ginger and garlic, passing it off as a treatment for dementia and Parkinson's disease. A also faced charges of violating the Medical Service Act by having followers consume infants' urine and feces and by injecting perilla oil into their buttocks, again claiming it would make them younger. On one broadcast, A said newborns' excrement was an elixir of youth.
The trial court found A guilty on all counts and imposed the four-year, six-month sentence. A's lawyers appealed, arguing that A genuinely believed a "perpetual generator" was possible and that the medical procedures were performed at the victims' request, but the appellate court rejected the appeal.
Both the appellate court and the Supreme Court upheld the ruling, finding no misapplication of the law regarding deception in fraud, criminal intent to defraud, unlicensed medical practice and the manufacture of unapproved drugs.
