Six South Koreans connected to Grace Road Group in Fiji still in Police custody

Six South Koreans who are connected to the Grace Road Group in Fiji are still in Police custody.

Fijivillage has received confirmation that three officials of Grace Road were taken in after a raid at the Grace Road headquarters in Navua.

One of the people taken in is the son of the founder of Grace Road Church.

The three other South Koreans had gone into hiding however they came forward to Fijian officials in Suva and Nadi.

All the six South Koreans are wanted for questioning by the South Korean government.

Police are not releasing any details at this stage.

The Immigration Department is also looking into the matter.

Minister for National Security and Defence Ratu Inoke Kubuabola had earlier said that the Fiji Police Force is currently investigating a possible case of modern day slavery involving a South Korean group acting under the pretence of a religious and business organisation.

The Fiji Police Force has already confirmed that they are investigating the allegations levelled against the Grace Road Church and Group after the arrest of their founder in South Korea.

Overseas media are reporting that the leader of a South Korean doomsday cult has been arrested for allegedly holding some 400 followers captive in Fiji by subjecting them to violence and barbaric rituals.

Founder of the Grace Road Church Shin Ok Ju

Shin Ok Ju, founder of the Grace Road Church, and three other cult leaders were arrested when they arrived at Seoul’s International Airport.

A South Korean police official has told the AFP that Pastor Shin and three others face charges of using violence in forcing followers to stay in Fiji.

They report that Shin, a doomsday prophet, convinced her followers to move to Fiji in 2014, claiming they would be safe there from imminent natural disasters.

The report alleges that once they arrived, their passports were confiscated and many were allegedly subjected to beatings and brutal rituals purportedly aimed at driving out evil spirits.

The reports also say that some followers who escaped the farm told journalists that those who attempted to leave the church were subjected to severe public beatings known as “ground thrashings”.

A former follower told a South Korean TV programme that a son beat his father 100 to 200 times at a ground thrashing session.

The report further claims that another follower was hit more than 600 times and he died after returning home.