Centers for Apologetics Research (CFAR) - International Countercult Ministries

include International Youth Fellowship (IYF); International Mind Education Institute (IMEI); Good News Corps (GNCorps); Good News Medical Volunteers (GNMV); Mahanaim/Mahanaim Cyber College (teaching “Good News Theology”); Gracias Choir; World Christian Leaders’ Workshop (WCLW); Christian Leaders Fellowship (CLF); Minister of Youth World Forum (MYWF); Good News Broadcasting System (GBS); Mindset Reformation Movement (MRM); Tomorrow Global Leaders Collective (TGLC); Police & Corrections Forum (PCF)

include Navigating the Heart (2013); Repentance and Faith (2005); The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again (1988), The Faith of Resurrection (2005), Who Are You Who Is Dragging Me? (2012), Notes on Genesis 1 (2008)

include Good News Newspaper, The Good News, The Special Seed, Tomorrow, Kids’ Mind

include Good News TV/GNN Broadcasting Station (South Korea); GBS TV (Kenya)

Good News Mission (GNM) is one of a small cluster of Korean groups known collectively as the “Salvation Sect” (or guwonpa in Korean). Since 1985 and as recently as 2014, at least seven mainline Protestant denominations in Korea have issued formal condemnations of GNM—together with its fellow guwonpa groups—as a heretical cult. • Park mostly conveys his error through frequent use of storytelling and the twisting or misapplication of Scripture. For instance, in his book Repentance and Faith (p. 21) he claims that the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable left with his father’s money so he could run his own business and prove himself successful. In The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again (p. 12) he misquotes John 8 when he asserts that Jesus told the woman caught in adultery “I do not condemn you. You have no sin.” • Park teaches that salvation can only be obtained by repentance of the heart’s condition. Confessing to God that you have sinned “is not repentance.” Instead, you must realize “I am a seed of sin. There is no fruit I can produce other than sin…The core of my heart is dirty…That is true repentance” (Repentance and Faith, 29). “We should not be confessing, ‘I stole,’ ‘I murdered,’ ‘I lied.’ We need to confess that we are humans by nature who could only sin” (The Secret of Forgiveness, 145). Repentance only happens once in a person’s life because s/he won’t have any sin to repent of, thus they do not need to seek forgiveness (The Secret of Forgiveness, 114). • Once a person repents of their heart condition, “Jesus will come to you and He will cast out the filthy and dirty parts of the heart of old” (Repentance and Faith, 38). This means Jesus will cast out “evil, filthy, lustful, and deceitful thoughts” resulting in a “peaceful, and warm heart of faith and joy will arise” (ibid). • Park is correct in explaining that sinful actions come from the heart (see Matt. 12:34-35, Mark 7:21-23). Still, it is also appropriate to consider actions as sin. Paul called sexual immorality sin (1 Cor. 6:18) and said that if you cause your brother to stumble, you sin against him and Christ (1 Cor. 8:12). James labeled partiality as sin (2:9) and taught “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (4:19).

There is a persistent pattern of religious and legal conflict, together with allegations of manipulation and deception, that should cause anyone to regard Park and his sect with extreme caution. Controversy has erupted in various countries where Park and Good News Mission have sought to mount crusades and other public events, including Fiji and India. Press accounts and statements by former participants in GNM-affiliated groups allege a pattern of objectionable conduct, such as deceptive recruiting; pressure and manipulation; seeking to convert already professing Christians; grandiose claims and promises; exaltation and near-worship of Ock Soo Park. (Note that his online biographies laud him as "Mind Education Expert" and "the best mind educator of the age.")

Since at least 2007, Park and Good News Mission and IYF have sought to win the favor of government and institutions of higher learning across the developing world and especially in Africa. Through invitations to international conferences; offers of training, partnerships, and business investments; and promises of medical breakthroughs, Park and GNM have gained a foothold with various heads of state in Africa. Many news reports link Park and GNM with Unhwa Biotech, a company producing "Ddobyul," which Park and associates have allegedly claimed can cure cancer and HIV/AIDS, leading to serious counterclaims by those saying that some have died by taking the Unhwa drugs instead of conventional treatments.

Argentina, Austria, Australia, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

include Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, English, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog

www.todaygh.com/fake-aids-drugs-flood-market
www.kukmindaily.co.kr/article/view.asp?page=&gCode=7111&arcid=0008906678&code=71111101
www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/nyregion/traveling-to-volunteer-but-it-wasnt-what-they-expected.html
www.telegraphindia.com/1101123/jsp/northeast/story_13206969.jsp
https://web.archive.org/web/20160527070424/www.nagalandpost.com/ShowStory.aspx?npoststoryiden=UzEwMTg1Njg%3D-ITV3kfEFmyQ%3D
https://web.archive.org/web/20160116012446/www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=336991
https://web.archive.org/web/20180701111726/www.kbs.co.kr/2tv/sisa/chu60/view/vod01/1857223_75915.html

www.byamukama.com/iyf-mind-education-or-mind-control
www.byamukama.com/beware-iyf-camps-part-1/
www.byamukama.com/beware-iyf-camps-part-2/
www.web.archive.org/web/20190425225751/www.truth-that-matters.com/iyf.htm
www.esfes1025.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/what-led-me-out-of-good-news-mission/
text2cloud.com/2014/05/the-good-news-cult
www.web.archive.org/web/20150223170714/https://text2cloud.com/2014/05/the-good-news-cult
www.web.archive.org/web/20190413003405/pentalogos.blogspot.com/2014/07/about-good-news-mission-gu-won-pa.html

www.goodnews.or.kr
www.goodnewsmission.net
ocksoopark.com
www.iyf.org
iyfusa.org
imei.or.kr/rb
www.biblecrusade.com
clfworld.com/en
www.clfusa.org
www.bibleseminar.kr
www.tglc.eu