Korean "No Face” Billionaire Mysteriously Linked To PILE of 32 Dead People In Attic

Badabing, badaboom. June of 2014, something very, very. strange happened in South Korea. A man without a home was found dead in. an apricot orchard. He's wearing an. Italian-made jacket, like a suit jacket, a very nice jacket. He was found outside. this orchard of apricots with this book. next to him, an empty bottle of shark. liver oil, which is commonly used as a. health supplement in South Korea. Well, not commonly, just sometimes.

Oh, it's like the Yeah. pills? Yeah, but it's like shark liver. It's. not recommended. Most people don't use. it, but it's kind of in like a niche. health sphere. People use it. Along with. several empty bottles of alcohol nearby. him. Just dead in this apricot field. The fact that his body was so badly. decomposed and the way that he was. found. There were rumors that he was so. decomposed that his head was separated. from the rest of the body. Now, the police said that they were. pretty certain that they were dealing. with a man that was without a home. But.

once they ran some tests, they realized. they could not have been more wrong. The. dead body in the orchard belonged to a. billionaire. But not just any. billionaire, the nation's most wanted. man. There was currently a $50,000. reward for anyone who knew even just. information about this billionaire's. whereabouts. And this apricot field was. just 1.5 miles away from his holiday. home. So, it makes sense. It's the. billionaire, right? But the authorities.

said, "No, no, no, we we searched inside. his holiday home. We found two suitcases. filled with cash that totaled to about a. million dollars USD. Both were hidden. behind a fake wall that led into a panic. room. He must have hidden here while we. were searching the place a week prior. and and that makes sense, but it doesn't. make any sense why he was dead. Did he take his. Was he killed? Was there foul play? His. death was so mysterious, it led. conspiracy theorists to believe that he. was still alive. Maybe he faked his.

death. Maybe this was a decoy body in. place of the billionaire and that. billionaire is out on the run. I mean, if money can buy freedom, he's got all the money in the world. And. as mysterious as his death is, his life. was even more mysterious if you can. believe it. This billionaire was known. as the billionaire without a face in. South Korea. He was incredibly elusive, reclusive, incredibly private, but he. held art exhibits all around the world.

at places like the Louvre. He had a gala. thrown in his honor at the Palace of. Versailles. He had his art displayed at. the Grand Central Terminal in New York. City. He was connected to some of the. biggest politicians, government. officials, business owners. And at one. point, he owned the domain www.god.com. Mhm. Wow. And yet, not many people knew. his name. See, you know what this. reminds me of? Where people are like, you think Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk run. the world? There's a whole set of. billionaires we probably don't even know.

exist that are not in the public eye, that CNN and Fox don't write about, and. those are the people that are making. moves. This is kind of reminiscent of. that. Nobody really knew his name. Nobody really even talked about him. He. fell under the radar up until his death. But it seemed like he was connected to a. lot of dark stuff. Firstly, he founded a church that is. accused of being a cult. He was. connected to two of the biggest. tragedies in South Korean modern. history. One from a few decades ago.

where 32 bodies were found dead. entangled in an attic, just tied up. together. And more recently, the. billionaire was connected to the company. that owned this Sewol Ferry, the boat. that sank killing over 300 people at the. very least. I mean, directly and. indirectly. And he was actually on the. run from being investigated because of. this Sewol Ferry incident when he was. found mysteriously dead. Okay. Yeah. So, today we're going to be. talking about the first tragedy, the 32.

bodies in the attic. But on Wednesday's. episode, this upcoming main episode, we're going to do a deep dive onto this. Sewol Ferry tragedy. And with these two. episodes, you're going to see how one. billionaire was suspiciously, mysteriously linked to both cases of. mass death. I mean, it feels straight out of one of. those. crazy conspiracy horror movies or no. sleep stories, but it really happened.

As always, full show notes are available. at rottenmangopodcast.com. But one source for this case was the. Netflix documentary that we also used. for the JMS cult. It's called In the. Name of God. Now, it's the Five Oceans. episode and you can tell throughout the.

entirety of the episode. that Netflix is hinting at stuff. They're hinting at a lot of connections. between the Five Oceans incident and the. billionaire, but they never really flat. out say what that connection is, probably for the reason that I'm about. to read you a legal disclaimer, okay? For legal reasons, I have been advised. to say that before we get started, two. things to remember. Yoo Byung-eun, the. billionaire in today's case, is not the. de facto owner of this Sewol Ferry. He's.

connected in certain ways, but he is not. the de facto CEO and owner. And the. Evangelical Baptist Church, which was. created by this billionaire, is not. legally connected to the Five Oceans. tragedy, the 32 bodies in the attic that. we're going to be discussing today. Even. if we make any sort of connections. between these two entities or these two. people, does not mean that it's an. insinuation of liability and guilt or. otherwise. Which also leads me to say, if anything.

happens to me, I'm kidding, but I'm only half kidding. because I talked to my parents about. this family, this billionaire family, and my dad was like, "Yeah, they're. really scary. Good luck. Goodbye." And. he hung up on me. I'm like, "They're not listening to my. calls, Dad. Like, that's Wow. Maybe they are, yeah. Cuz they're an. international family. Well, your dad. really loves you, huh? Yeah, he has no care in the world for. me. He's like, "Got two grandkids. I'm. like the least of his worries now." So, let's get started before I get more.

white hairs on this head. The Five. Oceans incident. August 29th in 1987. So, we're going back, but trust me, it's. all going to come back together to 2014. And I would not be discussing this case. if it wasn't related to what's going to. be talked about on Wednesday. August. 29th of 1987 was an incredibly rainy. day. A homicide detective by the name of. Detective Sam gets a call to head to. this tiny little factory out near the. mountains. He wasn't really told what.

was going on. Nobody was like, "You need. to get over here. We've got 32 bodies in. an attic." He's just told, "Rush through. the rain. I don't care what it takes, you get here ASAP." So, he drives. through the rain. He's got his sirens on. and he knows that the factory is. belonging to a company called Odaeyang, otherwise translated to Five Oceans. So, I'm going to be calling them the Five. Oceans company. Now, when the officer. steps inside this factory, all the lights are off. It's like almost. an abandoned factory. It doesn't look.

like it's being used anymore. He notices. that there's a bunch of people gathered, other detectives that were closer to the. scene. There's reporters gathered. There's news footage of this that is. constantly I I would not post it on here. because I don't think it's appropriate, but. there's a lot of crazy news footage and. it's in the Netflix doc and you can even. hear one of the reporters saying, "I. mean, there's no way we're going to air. this anyway.". It's that bad. The the scene? Yeah. So, there's news.

cameras everywhere, news anchors. I. mean, just a mess. He notices that the. ceiling, so he's in the factory. cafeteria, and he notices that the. ceiling has already started to be. disassembled. There's workers there. taking apart the ceiling so that they. can have this giant hole. And he's like, "Why do we need a giant hole? What's. going on?" There's this ladder leading. up to this hole. So, he grabs a. flashlight and he starts climbing up. this ladder because he's the head. detective of this case now. He pokes his. head through the ceiling into the attic.

and it's just one big open space. It's. not big, it's not tall, it's not. furnished, it's unfinished. It's what. you imagine an attic would look like. And he shines his flashlight around. And he said in his decades of being an. officer, even after this case, he had. never seen anything like that. He pans his flashlight and he sees. 32 bodies, all dead, all stacked up on top of each other, tangled apart, like just it was very,

very unsettling. The site wasn't just. this pile of bodies. It wasn't like this. dumping ground with a mountain of. bodies. He said it felt almost. methodical in a sense, which made it. even more unsettling. There were two piles of bodies that were. kind of diagonal from each other. So, one pile of bodies here with like 12. people, another pile with 19 bodies. And. then in the center, almost directly in. the center of these two diagonal piles, was a man hanging from the ceiling.

There was a rope around his neck. It's. just the whole thing is strange. Everyone had their wrists and ankles. tied. Their nostrils and mouths were. stuffed with some sort of cotton or. toilet paper. In total, it was four men, 28 women, and. a total of 32 people dead in this attic. I mean, this is the biggest mystery that. South Korea had seen in jeez, I don't. know how long. Like how do 32 people die. in one place at the same time? There was.

no natural disaster. It wasn't some sort. of disease, no fire, no earthquake. It. just doesn't even make sense. The detective said the one thing that. kept getting to him throughout the. entire investigation is how do 32 people. lay there next to each other hear their. neighbor dying? They themselves are dying. Nobody tries to stop it? All 32 people. just let it happen is kind of how the. scene was set up. He understand. So more. puzzling is the man in the center of the. attic was hanging from his neck, but the.

mysterious part was he was on his knees. The attic ceiling is not that tall. So. you could presume that he died by. hanging himself, but he was on his knees. so he could have just stood up. Mhm. So he chose not to stand up. Which. is pretty rare, right? Human. saying even yes, even though let's say. you make the decision to. you're like I don't want to be here. anymore. But even in the last moments. typically people might freak out and. their self-preservation kicks in, their. survival mode kicks in. And he was on.

his knees. He could have just stood up. He's saying that's very very uncommon. So the main question that investigators. had was I mean of course what everyone. was thinking is this a mass. is this some sort of murder. event that happened or is this just mass. murder? Did someone kill these 32 people. and the killers are on the run right. now? Cuz that's a whole different type. of investigation. So they're trying to. figure out who are these people. Would. someone out there even want these people.

dead? And all of these answers lies in. one person, one woman amongst the 32. It. was a 48-year-old woman by the name of. Park Sun-ja. We're going to call her. Park. She's at the center of this case. She is the one person in that attic that. every single other 31 people are. connected to. She is the middle of the. web. Is she the one hanging? No. So. she's not hanging? No. She's in the. pile? Yes. A man was hanging. He worked. in the factory. He was a factory manager. was hanging. She's just in one of the.

piles. What makes it even stranger is that. three of her kids, all three of her. kids, were in the attic and dead. The. only person that survived from her. family was her husband who was not in. that attic. So they find the husband immediately? Oh yeah. And he's saying I'm a victim. My whole family died so why are you guys. questioning me? I'm telling you this gets very very. thick and crazy and I need you to. understand the whole event before we get. into the ties with the billionaire. because it's so unexpected. You're going. to listen to this think oh this sounds.

like a cult story, but trust me. I never even knew where this was going. So she's found dead in the attic along. with her three kids. The police. immediately start investigating her. because she is the special link amongst. all of them. So let's dig into Park. Sun-ja and a little note left behind. Now these are the only clues that the. police have initially is Park Sun-ja, the woman in the center, and a little. torn note. So there were torn pieces of. paper all over the attic just.

as if someone ripped it apart and threw. it around. So they picked up each one, they went back to the station, they. start piecing it together, and it's a. note. There's writing on the front and. the back and the most important part. reads keep your mouth shut. She's already unconscious. Five people died in only 4 hours. Just stay quiet. I planned this out. Endure it with his guidance. I think everyone will die today. What kind of note is that? This I mean. so strange. There's actually another. note that's found, but we're going to.

discuss that later. So who is Park and. what is this whole event? Park is a CEO. of a massive company in the local area. of Taejon. Now when this whole case starts. unfolding it actually started with an. investigation from the police, an. investigation of fraud. So this couple comes into the police. station like a week before the bodies. are found. And this couple they they. look beat up. They've got bruises, scratches. I mean they've got a busted. lip, a black eye. And they sit down and.

they tell the police you'll never. believe what happened. So there's this. company. I'm sure you've heard of them, Odeyang, the Five Oceans company. So. they're trading company which means you. can invest with them and it's like a an. investment firm. You invest with them, they promise you returns and you get. your money back and it's this whole. thing and I trusted them so I invested. $500,000 of my money, my whole life. savings, right officer? Now I was. promised 40% returns. 40% which is in. insane. If you hear anyone in the.

investment world promising you 40%. returns. It's a Ponzi scheme. Yeah, you better run the other way and. call the cops because something very. very shady is going on. So he's saying. me and my wife we invested 500k, we were. expecting 40%, we got $0. Nothing came. back. So we're like well we need our. life savings back. This feels like a. scam. We go to Odeyang, this very. professional compound. You know they've. got office buildings, all the employees. are everywhere. It's like a factory. We.

go in. We're like can we talk to the. CEO? We sit down with her and we say. listen we love what you're doing, but. you know we got to pay the bills. Can we. get our money back? Park Sun-ja looks at them, calls like. seven employees over, and they beat the. couple an inch of their life. Not only. do they beat them, but in the end they. force them to sign a waiver basically. forfeiting their rights to their. $500,000 initial investment plus the. returns that they were promised. saying that all debt has been cleared,

that they just gave Five Oceans this. money for funsies. So they're like look. at this. I was forced to sign this. Look. at the state of my face. They ran to the. police station immediately when they. were released from Odeyang and the. police decide to open a formal. investigation into this company. And. they were pretty surprised to find out. that this company was. a reputable company. I think that they were expecting some. sham company. Like one look at it you're. like that's a scam. How do they not. know? This company was well-known in the. Taejon area as a very decent excellent.

sized craft business. So they have one department of their. company is the trading business like the. investment business, but the main side. of their company well they say is their. craft business. So they've got factories. in Taejon and they have all these. employees who make these traditional. Korean pieces of knickknacks. Sometimes. it's jewelry boxes, sometimes it's you. know like wooden toys and it's almost. like a souvenir company. They sell it to. tourists who want to take home a piece. of historical Korea with them. So people.

freaking love them. In fact Odeyang was. known as one of the best companies in. the area. They constantly won awards for. their craftsmanship, for their business. practices. I mean they were killing it. On top of that the CEO, Park Sun-ja, the. one that was found in the attic. she was called the mother of orphans. How do you even get a nickname like. that, okay? How do you even get a. nickname like that? She's like one of. those. tech billionaire scam artists. Like.

that's the vibe that she gives me. The. way that she set up her company was she. wanted to be all about the employees. So. she set up all these dorms, these living. quarters near her factory on the grounds. of her factory like right next to the. factory. You are welcome to live there as my. employee. You and your whole family can. live here for free. I want you to just. focus on work and not stress about. bills. I provide food, I provide. housing. You can move in. You can bring. your children. You know why you can. bring your children? Because while.

you're working we've got this massive. children's compound where we teach your. kids, we house them, we feed them, we do. dance lessons with them. We have all. these extracurricular activities with. them. And you know what? We even have a. ton of orphans in there. I love orphans. That was like her. stick, okay? She's like I love orphans. I want to help orphans. Anytime she was. in any sort of interview she played the. whole. I'm rich, okay? I'm rich. I'm a CEO of. Odeyang. My husband is a government.

official. We're very wealthy. But I don't care about money. Cuz she's like such a pick me. She says. I don't care about money or stocks or. fashion or jewelry or cars. I just care. about giving back. There's this one interview where she. tries to force a tear out. And she says I just don't want to live. in a world where children have to worry. about where their next meal comes from. How can I wear nice things when there.

are kids out there. who can't even afford water food. textbook. So everyone is like oh my god. Odeyang. is like the nicest company ever and the. CEO is like the mother of orphans. She's. amazing. I want to work for this. company. Look at how she treats her. employees. She was praised by the locals. as being a great businesswoman. She. would even have people come in and film. the factory and you would see all these. factory workers that were making all. these little knickknacks. You would see.

the orphans singing and dancing and. being like I love Mrs. Park, right? Well. guess what? You guessed it. It was all a. scam. The whole thing was a freaking. scam. So from the get-go these employees. were not even being paid. These were. free laborers. You're like why would. they work for free? What? Park Sun-ja was a very. manipulative cunning woman. So most of. these employees worked for free. When. they lived on the grounds they said it. was very very strange because they. weren't even allowed to talk to each.

other. You work for Odeyang, I'm your. wife, we're not allowed to talk to each. other. It's so strange. She would separate. couples. She would separate the kids. from her employees, the families. She. would throw them into the little orphan. dorms I guess. And she would even go on. TV and be like look at this orphan. Orphan, what's your name? Tell them. you're an orphan and tell them what your. name is. So the kid would be like, "Uh. my name is Stephanie.". And the parents would be watching on TV. like, "Wait, wait, wait. I'm an employee. and that's my kid and why is my kid on.

TV acting like she's an orphan right. now? And why is Park telling her to tell. the world that she's an orphan? I'm her. mom. What's going on right now?" So, all of. these things will later come out, but at. the time nobody knew. The locals are. just looking at her like, "She's. bringing business to our community. This. is great." And when she opened up her. trading business, her investment firm, everyone was all about it. Like the. locals were all about it. Her employees. almost became sales people. Her. employees stopped working in the. factory, which side note, they never.

worked in the factory because just like. how her little orphanage was a scam, her. factory was a scam. They were drop. shippers before there was drop shipping. All of those Korean knickknacks they. said were handmade by these employees. were purchased from wholesalers and sold. at double the amounts claiming to be. handmade. They were not. So, instead of. a factory, it was just a warehouse. A. storage unit. unit. Yeah, and then all those people. now looking back at the videos, like the.

promo videos of all the factory workers. making the thing, they're like, "You. know what? That's true. They're always. in the finishing steps where they're. just like wiping it off.". They're like, "We're doing QC quality. control, you know, that's what we're. doing right now. That's the step." It's. just interesting. But, people didn't. know that. Locals didn't know it at the. time. They heard that O Daeyang was open. for investment and all these locals are. like, "I don't know anything about the. investment world. I couldn't buy a. stock. I just don't know anything. Like. I'm don't know that world." And now this.

woman who is praised as being the mother. of orphans is saying that not only will. she take your money and give you a fat. return, a 40% return, but she's saying. that all this money is being invested. into businesses that give a lot of their. profits to orphans and to giving back to. the world. It's almost like three birds, one stone. I mean, you cannot come up. with a better investment situation than. that. You're helping the world and. you're making 40% on your money. Are you. kidding me? People start throwing their money at O.

Daeyang and everything was done very. professionally. O Daeyang would even. give them these slips, these very. official looking slips that said, "Thank. you for your money. You are now a. creditor to O Daeyang. We owe you your. initial investment plus interest.". So, they're like, "That's got to be. serious." O Daeyang at one point had. close to 80 million dollars that they. brought in in investment in this little. small area of Daejeon. This is not even. like Seoul Seoul. Wow.

That's a lot and it's this was back in. the day? Yeah, and this is, you know, when you're. talking about areas like that, you're. not talking about Seoul elites that are. just throwing whatever cash they have. laying around, you're talking about. families' entire savings. Everyone. trusted Park Soon-ja and because her. husband was a government worker, her. name had a lot of weight to it. But, it's like a bank run happened, okay? 1987, around August, the couple. goes and asks for their money back. She.

beats them up. Turns out they're not the. only couple that asked for their money. back. A whole bunch of people started. seeing that they were not getting any. returns from O Daeyang and they wanted. to pull out their initial investments. and the walls are coming down on Park. Even the police knew it. The police were. like, "This is not even a regular simple. fraud case. We're probably going to give. this to the feds. Like we're going to. bring in some higher level people for. this because it's that bad.". So, a week before she ends up in the.

attic, they bring her into the police. station to question her. They're like, "We just want to ask you questions about. your shop and what's going on, you. know.". And she sits there and they say it's The. police said it's very fascinating. She's. called the mother of orphans and I'm not. saying that you can judge a book by its. cover, but she just didn't look like the. mother of orphans. You know, I don't know what you expect. when you see the mother of orphans, but. she was. very. In Korean we call it like. segye boyeo, like yaimi gye boyeo. It's. very um sharp features, very thin.

and kind of looks lanky. She's not. necessarily tall, but she looks very. thin and bony and has such sharp. features and her eyes are so sharp. And they like just pierce through your. soul. That's the feeling and it just. didn't feel warm or compassionate. It. didn't feel like someone that was like, "Oh, I'm so sorry, officer. There must. be a misunderstanding. Like, what's. going on?" So, the whole time she's. sitting there looking at them as if she. knows something that they don't know. And the police keep grilling her and.

dramatically out of nowhere, she just. faints. The lady just faints. The authorities. think that the whole thing was staged, that she was faking it, but for legal. reasons they can't be like, "Hey, lady, stop faking it." For legal reasons, they. got to take her to the hospital. So, they take her to the ER and I don't. know, maybe cuz she's like a 50-year-old. woman and she's skinny and frail and. looks like an ajumma, they're like, "We don't need police. guards. We don't need to do that.". Well, they did because she walked right. out of the ER and vanished with 80 of.

her closest associates from the company. They vanished without a single trace. You know what they also vanished with? 18 million dollars of corporate funds. Authorities go to the factory and the. dorms of O Daeyang, like the main. compound, and they start asking around. Everyone that's left over is like, "I. don't know what you're talking about.". They're shrugging their shoulders like, "I don't know where she went. I don't. know. You don't ask me.". Felt like they knew. Yeah. So. Well, they got to know something. Exactly. They're like, "Which direction.

did they go?" At least, 80 people. Exactly. That's not. That's not like one person slips out. Like, "Oh, I was so distracted." 80. people. So, they get word that Park was found. hiding in the attic of one of her more. obscure factories near the mountains. The police rush there and outside they. spot a van that also is belonging to O. Daeyang. So, maybe, just maybe she is in. there. She was. But, she and 31 others were found dead. And this is when.

all chaos breaks loose. Wait, that means what? 50 people got. away? Yeah, so I think that they um I. think she probably left with a certain. number of people. I'm sure a big number. of the other 50 were just people that. were running. They're like, "I don't. want anything to do with this. I don't. know what's going on. I got to go.". So, uh Park could no longer protect her. secrets anymore because she was dead. And slowly all of her secrets start. coming out and that one of her biggest. secrets is going to connect to the dead.

billionaire from 2014. Oh, yeah. Okay. So, we've touched on the shady business. practices of taking in the investor. money and promising all these returns. and none of that works, right? But, it's. alleged that Park's company was just a. fake company. It was a front for a. religious organization. There were rumors floating around that. Park and her employees were not a. company. It was a messiah and her followers. This. was a church that was parading around as. a corporation. Why do people think that?

A lot of victims came forward and said, "I applied to work at this company and. someone recommended that I work here. I. thought it was a factory. I start. working here and she's going around. telling us that she cured her own cancer. back in the day by prayer alone and that. she is the messiah, the conqueror of the. five oceans and if we disobey her, we'll. all go to hell." And I was like, "Whoa. I thought this was a 9-to-5 that. I was signing up for. What the hell is. going on?" All the other employees were. like deep in it. That's what some of the.

victims said. These employees were like, "Yes." And they later found out that. some of these employees weren't even. getting paid. They weren't even getting paid. They. were just free laborers. The victims said, "You know, it started. to get really weird when she forced us. to ask her permission to leave the. grounds of the factory.". She also had something called sin time, like repentance time to repent for your. sins. It happened randomly, probably. like once a month. We'd all be gathered. in the gym room, almost like a company. meeting, but we would be forced to slap. each other in the face. Like just sit.

there and like slap each other around to. repent for our sins. It was a lot. She. also had this apocalyptic streak about. her. She just really felt like the world. was ending and she felt like everyone. needed to obey her to be saved. She also. was quoted to say, "The factory is. heaven and if you want to go to heaven, you work here for free.". Which. So, all these little insinuations of her. being a part of a religious cult or. being a cult leader start coming out and. the investigators are like, "Okay, we.

need to take this into account." And. this is when we see two very popular. theories form of what happened in O. Daeyang because to this day, I don't. think there's anyone that can say with. 100% certainty that they know what. happened up there in the attic. That. they know what happened to these 32. people. So, the first route comes from. prosecutors and the police and the. formal justice department of South. Korea. So, the investigators had found. 100 pieces of cotton and fabric that had. been stuffed into the victims', the 32.

people's, mouths in the attic. And. everyone assumed that the pieces of. fabric would be laced with some sort of. toxic chemical or something that wasn't. compatible with life and that is what. killed everyone, right? That's what. everyone's thinking. But, no. They were all clean. There was no sign. of any sort of toxic substance, which is. very very odd. I mean, these pieces of. fabric were shoved very deeply even into. the nostrils of these 32 people. The. autopsies of all 32 people showed that. all of them had ligature strangulation.

marks. They died from manual. strangulation, meaning that someone had. tied a rope around their neck, tightened. it, and started pulling and pulling and. pulling until they were no longer alive. It was manual. It's a lot of labor to do. that to someone and it's it's a very. painful way to go. Yeah, it's intense. Yeah. Takes forever, and. Takes forever. So much struggle, and. wow, 32. Now, the prominent theory that the. prosecution ran with is that someone in.

the group, or a few people of the group, had killed everyone. And these people. were not resisting. They were open to. it. They were almost waiting in line, waiting for their turn, because they're. thinking this is some sort of religious. event, right? A ritual, a sacrifice of. their own lives, if you will. So, these. few people went around tying the ropes. around the others, killing them, and at. the very end, probably, they presume, the factory manager was the last one to. die, and that's why he hanged himself in. the middle of the attic.

Now, the theory is that Park Sun-ja had. to die because she was 80 million. dollars in debt, and the creditors were. knocking on her door. She's probably. going to go to prison. So, these. followers, they wanted to die with her. But there are reasons that that theory. is doesn't make sense. And this is the. theory that's legally accepted today. There's some contradictions. There's. some questions that even the detectives. that worked on this case, that agree. with this theory, that agree with the. final, you know, decision, are kind of. confused about. So, first of all, Park. Sun-ja was the first one to die when. they looked at time of deaths. This is.

very unusual. Experts who study. religious group killings say, "No, absolutely not, unless the leader dies. from an accidental death or natural. causes, like they have a terminal. illness or old age, they are never the. first one to go. Especially in an event. like this, they will make sure that. everybody else is dead before they. themselves die.". That doesn't make sense. Another odd. detail was that there were 28 women and. four men. 12 of these women were found with. evidence of semen in their bodies. So,

either they were abused by these four. men before they passed away, or they. voluntarily. interacted. with men in that attic that has no. rooms, is an open floor plan, and this. is August in Korea. There was no AC up. in that attic. It's like 90° up there. Whoa. It just didn't make sense, especially because Park Sun-ja, her two. sons were in the attic, as well as her. daughter. And she was found with semen. in her body, so it just Would this. mother really voluntarily have these.

activities in front of her own children? Or was this forced upon her? It's very. confusing, right? Yeah, that's. suspicious. Yeah, in addition to all of that, she. had hemorrhaging in her skull, indicating that she was either hit on. the head with a blunt force object, like. a hammer, or her head had been smashed. into the wall, which is all very, very. strange. She also has a lot of, um, like, uh, markings, like, defensive. wounds. So, she fought until her very. last minute. And if she was the first.

one to go, her followers are just. watching her resist. all of this with as much energy as she. could muster, and they're like, "You. know what? Keep doing it, and we'll go. next." Experts that study a lot of. religious groups say that just doesn't. make sense. But the prosecutors, they're they're. honing in on this. They're like, "That's. what it was, okay? Religion sometimes. doesn't make sense." Well, I don't even. want to categorize this as religion, but. you get it. These cults don't really. make sense, so what can you do? And the. reason that the whole scene is so.

bizarre is because it's probably some. sort of ritual, or something that's. symbolic to this cult that we, from the. outside, cannot understand. Now, about a year later, after this case. was essentially closed, there was a. special committee that was appointed to. this case to. investigate corruption. And the chairman to that committee was. Chairman Kim, and he does not believe. that initial theory. He's like, "Absolutely not." He believes the. government just wanted to get this over. with as quickly as possible. The. government didn't want to overcomplicate.

things, so they chalked it up to. something that the public could at least. wrap their heads around, which is a. religious cult. Kim believes that all 32. people were murdered, and they were all. murdered in a separate location, and not. in the attic. He thinks the attic was a. dumping grounds for 32 bodies. He thinks all 32 people were killed. So, the main reason that he brings up is the. factory manager, Lee, the one that was. found hanging, the one that had. allegedly killed everybody else before.

he killed himself. Kim doesn't believe. that this factory worker could have. strangled and killed everyone before. ending his own life. First of all, Kim. argues that for a man to end 30 people's. lives, 31 people's lives, it would have. taken at least five six people, and he. thinks that's being conservative. The. prosecutor, the government, they also. say that Lee, the factory manager, he. was the one tightening the ropes around. everyone. And Kim is saying, "Even if. he's wearing gloves, do you know how. much that's going to take a toll on his.

hands?" And there was nothing on his. hands. No evidence of swelling that. wasn't consistent with decomposition. There was no evidence of abrasions, markings, rope burns, nothing. That's very strange. Another part that really, really brings. a lot of people to his theory is that. there are different markings around. everyone. Technically, you could say. that all 32 people died of. strangulation. Now, the marks should be. different. Everyone else should have. different neck marks from the factory.

manager. Everyone else was strangled by. a rope that was tightened around their. neck. So, that means it would be a full. circular ring around their neck. Meanwhile, Lee, the factory manager, was. found hanging. That's a very different. ligature mark. So, they're saying that. mark, because you're using the gravity. of your body and the weight of your. corpse, you have this soft spot in your. neck that has a little bit of give. So, the rope is naturally going to go up. into that soft spot, and it's going to. leave almost this triangular-shaped rope. in the back. So, your ligature mark is.

not going to go all the way around your. neck. There's going to be a little bit. of gap between your neck and the rope at. the top, because gravity is pulling your. body down. Yeah, yeah, it shouldn't touch in the. back, yeah. Yes. He had a full ligature mark. A full circle. A full circle. Okay, then somebody else did it. Yeah. Now, you could argue that maybe. someone was choking him, or he tried to. choke himself in that manner, and then. it didn't work, so then he hanged. himself, but it's just very, very. strange. There's too many what-ifs.

They're like, "Oh, here's a weird thing. that could have happened.". So, Kim, the chairman, theorizes that. people killed all 32 people, wanted all. 32 of them dead for whatever reason, and. then brought them up to this attic to. stage this some sort of mass religious. tragedy. He also claims that's why their. wrists and their ankles were bound the. way that they were bound. Now, Kim. argues that if you are tying someone up. Okay, let's say you're trying to end. someone's life. You're going to tie them up. And when. you do, you're going to tie them up. really tight. You're going to make sure.

that they can't wiggle around or get out. of these little bounds. But the way that. everyone was tied up was loosely with. fabric, like blankets, almost, and. handkerchiefs. He said, "You know what it reminds him. of? When you, um, in Korea, we have like. these boxes that you tie with like a. scarf, and you lift it up, and you carry. it like that. Carry it by the knot." So, he's thinking. that all these people were killed at a. second location, a separate location. They had their ankles and their. arms bound, and people were lifting them.

up like that into the attic. I mean, to. kill to strangle 32 people, that's going. to take a lot of manpower. Yeah, a lot. And moving all of them? Like, that's like a huge team. Yeah, and that's why some people debunk. his theory and argue for the. prosecutor's theory. They're saying. that, you know, another thing is, if Kim is arguing that all these bodies. were brought into the attic, there's. going to be snags and rips on their. clothes, because even if you're super. careful, someone's shirt is going to get. caught on like a wood plank. None of.

them had any sort of crazy tears or. signs of wear on their clothes. Another thing that the prosecutors argue. is that it took about six to seven. officers to bring each body down. Just. one body. There's not really It's not. stairs that you can take into the attic. It's like a ladder. So, it to get these. bodies down, and they're saying it must. be harder to get them back up. Right, that's true. Yeah. So, you know, I I don't think that. there is one right or wrong answer. That's why I believe that no one truly. is going to know what's going on. Like,

no one's going to know the truth of what. happened in that attic. It's just these. are the two very popular theories right. now. I will say the government is on the. theory that it was a religious incident, but it's just very strange. Now, the. biggest question that everyone had, though, was before Park Sun-ja died, 18. million dollars of corporate funds. vanished. So, where did it go? First of. all, if corporate funds vanish like. that, it doesn't seem like someone who's. trying to die anytime soon, right? It.

sounds like someone who's trying to go. on the run. Mhm. But where did the 18 million dollars go? Did it go to Park's husband? Where Where. is this going? And where did any of the money go? I. mean, was she investing the 80 million. dollars into different companies? Like, what's going on? So, this is where a massive conspiracy. theory comes in. And this is a. conspiracy theory, and I need to legally. state a conspiracy theory is a theory. Just because you believe something to be. true does not make it true. It's just. what we've seen people talk about on the.

internet, and I am just relaying that. information to you. So, there is a. conspiracy theory that Park was a. pawn. Park was not a religious leader. She. wasn't even really the CEO of Five. Oceans. She was being utilized by. someone even more powerful, because all. of the money that she was getting in, it. seemed to be going, and there's transfer. funds, there's literally slips of. transfers that have been approved. Like, the government has seen this, and. they're like, "Yeah, that actually.

happened." Between Five Oceans, the. company, and a company called Semoo. Trading. Semoo Trading is owned by Yoo Byung-eun, the billionaire. So, she's sending money to him? Yes. And what is he doing? Exactly. And. why would she send all that money to. him? Why would she risk her life to send. him money? Well, a lot of people think. it's connected to his church that he. started. So, we're going to get into the.

billionaire story now. Yoo Byung-eun is the leader of Well, he. was the leader of the Evangelical. Baptist Church in South Korea. And I do. need to put a disclaimer that this. church is massive. I think there's about. 100,000 members in this church globally, and there's different sects. Today? Yeah, today in 2023. Okay. So, I. feel really good. I feel really safe. I. feel really comfortable talking about. all this stuff. I'm very scared. There's a lot of churches in Korea, huh? Yeah, um there's actually like a whole.

reason for it. There's actually so many. political factors that went into it. Like Korea was in a state of chaos at. one point. It's fascinating. But, this. church in Korea has a lot of sub sects, and a lot of these sub sects of churches. have no connection with the billionaire. Nor do they have connection with him. Like, they broke off and started their. own thing. They're like, "We don't like. this guy. We like our church. We're. going to start a new church." So, not. everyone that's in the Evangelical.

Baptist Church is bad, nor is it really. categorized as a cult. I'm just going to. call it an organization for now because. I'm legally a little bit cautious right. now, but. it's very interesting. He starts this. church, and it's speculated that Park. was a member of this church, and she. started Five Oceans to provide Semo. Trading with money, the leader of her. church with millions of dollars. But, why? And how? And is this even true? And. what's going on? So, let's talk about Yoo Byung-eun.

Now, these days, Yoo Byung-eun is a. household name for all the wrong reasons. because of this Sewol Ferry tragedy, and. the way that he was hunted down by the. police, and the way that he died, everybody knows his name. But, keep in. mind, back in the day, nobody knew him. He was known as Korea's billionaire. without a face. He was incredibly. private. Nobody even knows how he became. a billionaire. That's how private he. was. Like, other people you could be. like, "Oh, well, they started Amazon. They started this, right?" This guy, all.

we know is what he's told his church. about his childhood. He said ever since he was a kid, he. wanted to be Michelangelo. He wanted to be the next big artist. He said he felt it in his bones that he. was someone that was artistic, someone. that was creative, that could speak. through this kind of language. That was. his ultimate dream. But, how could he do that when he was. born into this poor village family? He. was a rather sickly child. Early on, he. fought a rather um tough battle of.

tuberculosis, and it seems like he never. fully recovered. He went through school. hoping, you know, "I'm just going to. find a job to support my family." That's. like how a lot of poor village kids his. age were thinking. But, in high school, he met a group of. American Christian missionaries, and he. said his entire life changed. Not only. did he want to get into religion, not. only did he become religious, but he. wanted to spread the word, which is um. arguably the more controversial part of. Christianity, but he said that his whole.

life mission was to help save people, basically. And he was a little bit of an. apocalyptic sect, meaning that he felt. like the world was going to end anytime. soon. So, he needed people to be saved soon. because if the world ends in 5 years and. you're not saved, you're [ __ ] out of. luck. You're going to be in hell. Now, he did have a lot of charisma ever. since he was a kid. So, he meets a young. woman, they get married, and with his. father-in-law, he starts a church, and. everybody is poor. The whole Yoo family, super broke, okay? They've got no money.

They're in debt when they start this. church, but they're so passionate about. their religious teachings. They call the. church the Evangelical Baptist Church, aka EBC, or the Salvation Sect. The. church, again, like I said, later splits. up, so not everyone in EBC is bad or. associated with Pyung-eun. The church is. interesting. The Salvation Sect, his. sect, is very interesting and unique. Their teachings are wild. So, Pyung-eun, the billionaire, told his followers that. you earn the right to heaven, no matter.

how bad your sins are. You could kill. someone. You could rape a whole village, and you will get to heaven as long as. you follow me and you're saved. You only. need to be saved once in your lifetime. It's like a get out of jail free card. So, most Christians do not believe that. They feel like you have to live your. whole life trying to prevent sin and. trying not to sin because that's how you. show like you were worthy, right? But, he's saying, "Hey, you could have killed. 10 people, but I save you today. You can. go on to kill 50 people. There's no.

take-backsies. Do you know what I mean? Like, I can't take back your salvation.". Yeah, it was um It's an interesting. concept that most Christians absolutely. despised. Many Christians that belong to. more mainstream groups stated that Yoo. Byung-eun and his followers were lawless. criminals who weren't upholding their. faith. The Presbyterian Church of Korea. officially categorized Yoo Byung-eun's. church as a violation of Christian. belief, and they straight-up called them. heretics. One of the pastors said, "He's.

a cult leader. He is defied as some sort of Moses or. Messiah amongst his followers, and they. give him money as he pleases." Yoo. Byung-eun and his followers, they. passionately refute this. They say, "No, no, no. You hate us because you don't. understand us. Because we don't practice. the same way that you practice. That's. the reason you hate us." One very. fascinating thing about this group is. how reclusive they are. I mean, the. whole church is shrouded in secrecy, which is kind of unheard of. I feel like. most religious organizations that don't.

feel all that religious, don't sue me. But, they're kind of wild. Like, even. JMS, think of all the public events they. held, all the videos that have been. found online of, you know, JMS out there. giving his sermons in his crisp white. tuxedos. But, not this church. This church was so, so secretive. I mean, it's a major religious. organization with tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of followers, and yet. nobody knows what's going on in there. They do have some weird things that they.

did, though. Well, I don't want to say. weird, but remember how Yoo Byung-eun, the billionaire, was very sick as a. child? Apparently, he taught his followers that. germs were really bad. So, he stated he. hates how other Christians pray before. meals and let their little white spicks. of spit fall into their food. Yeah, so you got to think about not. praying before meals. Interesting take, I tell you. I've never. heard that before. But, Yoo Byung-eun. was not fazed by all these other. Christians basically shunning him and. his church. They deemed it a cult, but.

Pyung-eun didn't care because within. just two decades of starting his church, he was a billionaire. Two decades. Where he collected billions of dollars? Let me tell you, okay? You're thinking. billions of dollars in church donations? That's crazy. Not exactly. Pyung-eun was a businessman before he. was a religious leader. The Evangelical. Baptist Church ran very differently from. other organizations that we've talked. about.

Let me explain by telling you the story. of Lim. Lim is a South Korean man who. went to his mom's house and saw another. box of these supplements that she had. just recently become so obsessed with. She's like, "These supplements are going. to save my life, and they're going to. save yours.". He didn't really understand why she was. into squalene. It was like made from. shark livers. But, maybe that's what happens when you. get older. You start looking for ways to. stay healthy. He didn't realize it was too late that. she was being scammed. Not just scammed, but meticulously targeted, manipulated,

and defrauded. Mrs. Lim, his mother, was. known in the area as being rich, alone, and very sweet. You know, her kids would. check up on her, but they they're all. adults. They have families of their own. She would spend most of her days alone. A group of strangers appeared at her. door asking her questions and helping. her around in the kitchen, giving her. massages, giving her tips on what to eat. to feel more energetic. She loved the conversation. I mean, it. was just nice to talk to someone.

But, the visits became more and more. frequent, and they started telling her. that if you ever plan to be saved, you. know, cuz you don't have much time left, our religion is pretty easy. You know, other religions so complex. You have to. go through this whole process where you. have to repent for your sins, and you. got to do all of this, and then you got. to do all these good deeds. You don't. have to do that. You don't have to read. the Bible every day. You simply have to join our church, and. you'll be saved. They told her it was founded by a. billionaire named Yoo Byung-eun and his. father-in-law, and they were special.

What do you mean they were special? It's hard to explain, but Mrs. Lim, we'll drop off some sermons, and you'll. see. He's He's different. And you know, when you're listening to. the sermons and you feel this enormous. wave of emotions come to you, you need. to write that time down. So, they were in the practice of writing. down the exact time that they got saved. So, Mrs. Lim listens to the tapes alone. in her condo, and it hit her. She feels. these emotions. She wants to cry, and.

she writes down the time, and she's. like, "I've been saved. This is what. salvation feels like." But, you know. what else salvation feels like? Squalene. shark liver pills. Yeah, the church sold. it. They recommended it and sold it for. salvation, and they sold it for $1,300 a. box. They also sold knickknacks for like. $2,000, a jewelry box made out of the. shittiest quality material. They sold. everything. It's like an MLM inside of a. church. Wow. This is not a regular.

organization that we're talking about. This is straight-up QVC. MLM meets a church. Mrs. Lim bought box after box after box. after box, as well as a bunch of other. things that the church insisted that she. needed and sold at insanely ridiculous. prices. And she couldn't go to the. market and be like, "You know what? Your. squalene is $1,300 and I can find. squalene for $10." No, because that's. not blessed. Okay, you need to buy this one.

They were cluttering up her home. It's. speculated that she spent hundreds of. thousands of dollars on these items. But the real salvation happened when the. Salvation Sect offered her a rare. opportunity not only to get rich, but. also save the world. They said that they. were going to create a business that was. coming up with this top-notch medical. facility. So, they need funds for it and. you're going to get returns because once. the hospital is up and running, I mean, it's going to be a lot of profit. I mean, think of how great that idea is.

And you're saving lives. She forked over. half a million dollars in cash to make. it happen. She invested half a million. dollars, never told her sons and. daughters. That was a majority of her. remaining assets. In exchange, she received a formal. official note. Is this sounding similar? Is this sounding familiar to anything? A. document explaining the transfer of. funds and how she's going to be paid. back with returns and the company that. signed this note was the Semo Trading. Group. That trading group would file for.

bankruptcy. And they would have 225 million dollars. in debt. They would leave Mrs. Lim with nothing. I think even worse than losing the money. was she felt completely abandoned in. life. She eventually passed away in 2008 and. it's said that she was never the same. after this betrayal. Now, she was just one of the many people. that fell victim to the Salvation Sect. And the Salvation Sect is so fascinating. that hey, they're still around to this. day. And the way that they function is.

bizarre. So, this church is a church. They're. sermons, but they also ask all of the. church members to invest in the. companies that are basically run by the. church. The executives of these. companies are run by church members. Most of the employees are church. members, allegedly. All of this is kind. of it's like a networking event. A professor who studied Yoo Byung-eun. and his religion said, "Yoo Byung-eun. preaches that corporate activities are. equivalent to religious activities.

He used his followers as a tool to bloat. his own wealth.". A pastor that made it out of the. Salvation Sect said, "Yoo Byung-eun. expanded his business through a system. of believers and exploitation of labor. I mean, it's crazy. Imagine if Jeff. Bezos started a religion and asked you. to donate all your money into his. companies because you follow him. spiritually.". And everything was set up like a. pyramid-like structure of dozens of. subsidiaries under his holding company. like shell company after shell company. after shell company after shell company.

A lot of the times Yoo Byung-eun's name. wasn't even listed as a major. shareholder or. someone who had heavy interest in the. success of these businesses. Most of the times they would be listed. under followers' names that he. indirectly controlled, allegedly, or his. own children's names or other family. members. But it's alleged that Yoo. Byung-eun was the mastermind behind. every single company in this web of. companies. So, the way that it would work is that a.

new company would come up, company A, and church believers are now investing. in company A and being promised big fat. returns. Mr. Yoo Byung-eun might not. have any direct shares in company A. He's not a shareholder of company A, but. the largest shareholder of company A is. company B. And company B is a subsidiary. of Holdings Company C, which Yoo. Byung-eun's two sons were controlling. shareholders of. So, that's why a lot of. people say he's not the de facto owner. of any of these businesses, but there is.

a connection. Let's be real. So, yeah. On paper, he might not even. own company A or have shares or be the. CEO of company A, but let's he's. profiting off of company A. Now, one of. these companies that started very, very. early on, um, before even, I believe, the Odaeyang incident, was a ferry. company. They made boats and they originally. started as just being entertainment. ferry boats on the Han River. So, during. the Olympics in Seoul, they were just.

taking people around on these cute. little ferry rides. And because Yoo. Byung-eun, the billionaire, had so many. connections in government, he was able. to get all these permits and all these. licenses until they became like a. full-blown maritime community, a company. where they had cargo ships, like all of. that. All of that. Some former members of the church have. come out to say that Yoo Byung-eun, maybe not directly, but a lot of them were asked to. volunteer to help build these ferries.

with no knowledge of how to build. ferries. It's alleged that in the. beginning, um, this ferry company would. use free labor from church members who. had no idea how to build a ferries just. so they could cut down on costs. It's. also speculated that most of the. employees that worked at this ferry. company were like 99% the church. So, if. anyone had any safety concerns, they. would just get fired. And if you were. part of the church, you probably. wouldn't have any safety concerns. It's speculated because three of their. ferries would end up colliding with the. Mapo Bridge during a flood, killing 13.

passengers and losing one passenger who. is still considered missing. And this is. before Sewol. So, Semo Trading was investigated, but. formally cleared of liability. But it's. just fascinating to think about. considering what we're going to talk. about on Wednesday's episode. Now, a. former follower of this church said, "Working hard at these companies that. were run by the church was equivalent to. salvation. They considered that Bible. study. They considered that singing the. gospel. That was considered an act of. worship. We didn't have to pray anymore.

We just had to do 3 hours at the. factory.". And these are not small, cute little. home businesses. These are massive ones. Like Chonghaejin Marine, the ones that. owned Sewol Ferry, pretty sizable. company, okay? They had companies that. sold toys to the general public. Like. you would never even know that this. company is run by a church. You're just. like, "That's a cute toy. Let me buy. it." They were the sole distributors of. a very fancy chocolate brand called. Debauve & Gallais. It's like a French.

chocolate brand. It's super old. It's. said to have been a favorite of Marie. Antoinette. But they are the sole distributor in. America for that chocolate brand. Hm. Yeah. The family owned an entire. village in France. They had a company. that sold green tea, a company that sold. enema kits to cleanse people's bodies. via the butt, companies that sold. organic milk, makeup, auto parts, special paint for nuclear plants that. have to endure radiation. They had a. real estate company, the maritime boat.

companies. I mean, they had their. fingers dipped in everything. Craft. companies, tourist toys companies. It. was like a spider web of shell companies. and subsidiaries. What they would do is. they would just buy companies that were. about to be bankrupt, put in a bunch of. church members, allegedly, and ask people to invest in it. It's. said that they were involved with at. least 70 companies on three different. continents. Some in their own names, others through other people's names. It. was so, so complicated. So complicated. They even own one of the biggest organic.

lavender farms in Southern California. So, this is not like a cute little. business idea that a church makes. It. made the Yoo family one of the richest. families in South Korea, but hardly. anyone knew about them. They were not. always in the papers like the Samsung. chaebols, the Korean Air chaebols. They. were the billionaires with no face. They. flew under their radar, but their power, influence, and money is so terrifying to. think about. So, the families would get paid millions.

of dollars through this company, even if. it wasn't just through the shares. And. how do you do that, you ask? The. companies would make up random Okay, I. don't want to say this, legally. speaking, but in my opinion, they would. make up random reasons that they had to. pay the Yoo billionaire family millions. of dollars. So, the ferry company, for. example, allegedly paid Yoo's eldest son. $1.4 million for the right to use the. name to one of the ferries. The other Yoo family son apparently was. paid for the rights to the name Sewol,

the name of the ferry that sank and. killed hundreds of people that we're. talking about on Wednesday. I don't know for sure if the company. paid to use that name, but apparently he. owned the trademark for it. So, they. would make up these. I don't want to say false because I. guess they're accurate, but these almost. unbelievable from an ethical sense. reasons why they had to pay the Yoo. family millions of dollars. They're like, "The Yoo family named one. of our products, so we must pay them $2. million in royalties.". And that would be considered a business.

expense on the final papers. It just. seemed like the family had a million. ways to make a million dollars. And all. of it seemed to fall into morally gray. territory depending on who you ask. So, early on in their church, Byung-eun acquired a failing business, Semo Trading, and then he starts adding. all these new businesses. And one of the. companies that was funneling massive. amounts of money into Semo Trading. was Five Oceans. So, once that connection was made,

Yoo Byung-eun's assistant was arrested. because all the funds that passed from. Odaeyang to Semo Trading all went. through his assistant and she was. basically thrown under the bus. It came. out that when Park was in debt, she was. being investigated, she was on the run, and she asked Yoo Byung-eun, the. billionaire that she's connected to, for. help and allegedly, he refused. There. was another note found at the crime. scene. A note that said, "Semo is also. suffering.".

Indicating someone gave her the news. that Semo Trading could not give her. money because they too were suffering. Now, this is where it gets very tricky. You would think, okay, that's one and. done. They're connected. He must be. involved in something illegal, right? Yoo Byung-eun was arrested in 1991 for. the Five Oceans incident, but because. the actual deaths of these 32 people. were ruled a mass suicide, Byung-eun. cannot be connected to it. And the. prosecutors alleged that they couldn't. find any link with him and the deaths.

I'm not saying the Five Oceans company. or the scams, just the deaths. Years after 32 people died, Yoo. Byung-eun was This is a rare occasion. He was interviewed, and he said, "I just. feel really insulted that people link me. to the accident. Do you know how I feel? I feel like I'm a woman living in a. small village, and one day I suddenly. got sexually assaulted. And it's really. unfair, you know? But I can't talk about. it because, you know, Korean culture,

they'll just have more rumors, and it. gets out of control, and then I'll be. the one at fault. That's how I feel.". What is that analogy? I don't know. It's. the Like, first of all, What? 32 people died. Okay, second of. all, but you're not a woman that's been. sexually assaulted. You're a rich man in. a deeply patriarchal society. So, shut. up. Like, what a bizarre thing to say. But. Yoo Byung-eun is not connected to the. Five Oceans incident legally. Even.

though he's not, there are a lot of open. questions, though. Technically, the. police have decided what they think. happened, and they think that it was. mass suicide. But I don't know. Just. these loose ends, I don't think anyone. will really know what happened in that. attic. Yoo Byung-eun was convicted on charges. of defrauding his church members. Prosecutors stated that he used his. church funds and property to expand his. own business and wealth. They said that. he committed habitual fraud under the. mask of religion. He denied those. charges, but he was found guilty and.

thrown in prison for 4 years. When he. got out, similar to what happens to most. people that have a lot of admiration for. them, his followers only believed in him. more. They believed that he was wrongly. persecuted. Yoo Byung-eun even recorded. a sermon to his followers that said, "Things are tough for us right now. Other people treat us like collies, like. rags, like dish rags. But we need to. remember, blessed are you when people. insult you, persecute you, and falsely.

say all kinds of evil things against you. because of me.". "Blessed are you. Rejoice and be glad.". I will state again for the record, the. prosecutor's office did confirm that no. connection between Yoo Byung-eun and the. Odaeyang incident with the 32 people in. the attic, there was no connection. He's. not legally held accountable. But there's more. After Semo Trading files for bankruptcy, the Yoo family business is still in.

business, and they're still continuing. to operate at least like 30 different. companies, allegedly. According to. tibor.com, they still had 30 different. subsidiaries and had 13 big holding. companies in other areas like the US, Hong Kong, and France. And after the Odaeyang scandal, people. originally had no idea who this Yoo. Byung-eun billionaire was. They were. like, what, a church billionaire? This. is crazy. Then the incident put him in. national spotlight, and after the. scandal, if you could even call it a.

scandal, cuz it's literally mass death, but the family spent tens of millions of. dollars on PR, on rebranding Mr. Yoo. He. stopped even recognizing the fact that. he was a part of a religious group. He. refused to acknowledge that he was a. preacher, a church leader, a founder of. a church. Instead, he became known as. his pseudonym, Ahae. Ahae, in traditional Korean, means. little child, which, if we're going to. put our tin foil hats on, What? I know. I know. If we're heading.

into rich people conspiracy territory, what a questionable name, okay? But they reinvented him as some sort of. profound artistic genius. The family. donated millions of dollars to the. Louvre, and he has a gold plaque on the. wall with his pseudonym Aha on there, as. of right now, still. And. Okay. Yeah, they started um asking. massive art institutions to show his. pieces. He held an exhibit at the Grand. Central Terminal. own artwork? Oh, yeah. His own. Not Not his.

collection. His artwork. Oh. So, he paints or what? He takes. pictures outside of his window. Oh, it's a photog? Yeah. It's just a photo. Yeah. Oh, wait. Let. me tell you, okay? good? Bro, I'm about to go on a whole rant, okay? He held an exhibit at the Grand Central. Terminal in New York City in 2011, which. is speculated to have cost the family at. least a million or two million dollars. It's speculated that the family spent.

another six million dollars plus to. exhibit his work at the Palace of. Versailles. Side note, the London. Symphony Orchestra played during an. event at this exhibit, and they. premiered a new piece, Symphony No. 6. Aha, named after him and a tribute to. him, a billionaire with subpar. photography skills that allegedly paid. his way into this exhibit. Wow. The family seems very, very litigation. and sue-happy, but I said what I said. Art is a personal opinion, and I don't.

think it's that great, okay? It's. mediocre at best, and that is You can't. legally get me for saying I don't enjoy. someone's art, okay? Having money does. not mean that you are talented at. everything that you try, and that's. okay. He took blurry landscape photos. out of his multi-million dollar estate. window, and he called it art. So, he. said that he was inspired by his prison. sentence staring out the window for 4. days, and he would see the. changes in nature and the world.

It was called Through My Window. Another. one was called Finding the Extraordinary. in the Ordinary or something. But it's. said that after this PR rebrand, Yoo. Byung-eun became even more mysterious. It's alleged that he went into his. tortured artist role. He stopped. allowing photographs unless it was from. his back or his side or his camera was. covering the majority of his face. So, there's not a lot of pictures you can. find on him or his children. The whole. family is very, very mysterious, which. is crazy because Yoo Byung-eun's niece.

is actually married to one of the most. influential names in K-pop. And nobody knew. Who? JYP. And we're going to get into it because. wait, wait, wait. JYP is married to the. family? To his niece. What? Byung-eun's brother's daughter is JYP's. second wife, and they're still currently. married. And during this Sewol Ferry. accident, it it got really crazy, and we're going. to get into it, and I'm not saying that. he's associated with any of their shady.

business or religious dealings. You. can't even pick find a picture of his. wife online. They're very mysterious. Yeah. Well, at least I couldn't find a. picture of his wife online. Very, very. mysterious people. But anyway, Aha, the. new man, the new billionaire, described. himself on his website as an inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, environment activist, martial artist, by. the way, he and most of his kids were. black belt taekwondo, I believe, painter, sculptor, poet, and.

photographer. His website stated the. exhibitions were a way to increase. public awareness of the beauty of nature. and the need to preserve the natural. environment. And it's fascinating to see. the switch up that even mainstream news. outlets have made after he was. associated with this Sewol Ferry. tragedy. So, after the Five Oceans. incident, that was just well-known in. Korea. It didn't become international. news. He rebranded. Everyone just knew him as. this mysterious billionaire from South. Korea. This artist that was giving back.

to nature. People, big, big institutions. would write things like The Economist. wrote this. "Ahae's forensic attention to detail. reveals the stoicism, dignity, and minor. dramas of the animals going about their. daily business, and raises these. pictures into the realm of poetry, a. kind of surrealist representation of a. single day.". It's really like he's lived so many. different lives. Yes. Like, they're writing this about. blurry pictures taken out of a.

billionaire's window. Yeah, I too would expect some poetry if. I had that much money and my compound. was worth that much. Now, get this. During this time, it's. alleged that Yoo Byung-eun was still. running tens of companies and still. getting investments. And I don't know if. he starts asking these companies to. purchase his art or if they volunteer. to, but he started selling his art to. these subsidiary companies. Sometimes for as much as $22,000 a.

photo, and they would buy a lot of them. Each company would pay for tens of. thousands of dollars for his art, and. it's alleged that part of the reason. that this Sewol Ferry even sank in the. first place. was because of his art. Not fully, but. it was a factor. Yeah. So, I totally get it. Sometimes you want to. benefit all your friends' companies, and. if this is a good investment, why not, right? But there is no such record of. his art selling for as much or for. anything in the real world. Like, it was.

never auctioned off at Christie's or. Sotheby's for any price. So, very little. evidence that his art had actual market. value. An art curator in New York City. said, "My informed opinion as a museum. creator for the last curator for the. last 15 years is that there is no market. for these works at any price. You. couldn't even give them away, honestly, for free.". So, it seemed like another one of those. morally gray areas of like, what's going. on here? I mean, I think you and I both. know what's going on, but legally I. can't tell you what's going on. Now, one.

of those companies that was said to have. spent over $100,000 on purchasing his. art was the failing, financially. struggling boat company that owned this. Sewol Ferry that we're going to talk. about on Wednesday. A lot of corruption. Now, he is known as. Ah Hae, the billionaire without the. face. And then in 2014, this Sewol Ferry. sinks, killing 300-plus people. Financial records detailed that the. parent company that owned this ferry. that was controlled by the Yoo family, well at least his two sons,

they were spending millions of dollars. and giving it to the Yoo family and. spending about $2 per employee to train. them on what happens in the case of a. major emergency. $2 in training. The. entire boat capsized and nobody knew. what to do and there were so many. reasons the boat was not up to. regulation. There were so many factors. on why it sank and why it was as. disastrous as it was. And the. prosecutors, they wanted Yoo Byung-un, the billionaire, to go down for the. ferry. But the ever mysterious.

billionaire was nowhere to be found all. of a sudden. And around 2014, when the ferry went. down and people were looking for Yoo. Byung-un and his whole family, Oh. Dae-yang kept coming up, too. Because people were like, "Wait a. minute. this guy?". Who is this guy that we've never heard. of that opens this company that's. apparently part of a Sewol family? And why does his name keep coming up. about a mass incident that happened. years ago, decades ago, where 32 people. were found dead in an attic?

And all these connections were being. made. So the whole family is nowhere to be. seen. They were summoned to report to. the prosecution's office. They never. came, okay? They were being questioned. for embezzlement, tax evasion, amongst. other things. It was really bad. This. was actually the biggest manhunt to date. in South Korea, hunting down Yoo. Byung-un and the Yoo family members. And it's actually become a sore spot. Over 10,000 officers were deployed. It. was an internationally coordinated. struggle to get everyone because a few.

of his kids were overseas. One of his. kids is married to an American citizen, lives in the US. I think his daughter. lives in Paris, so that's where she was. apprehended. And it was just bad. They're just as elusive as their father. I guess they learned from the best. They're not like the rich kids on social. media flaunting their wealth. Literally. nobody even knew what they really looked. like. So the kids get taken in, most of them, and Mr. Yoo is still nowhere to be. found.

Until he's found dead. He was found dead a week after they. searched his holiday home and he was. found dead in the apricot field outside. of his holiday home a week later. So the. police are like, "What's going on?" And the public is. like, "Are you dumb?". And the whole thing about this being a. religion, while they were searching all. of Mr. Yoo's properties, he had a. 115-acre. compound where his church sat. They had. fresh water farms for fish. They were. really into organic farming. It's kind.

of giving, you know, one of those. organizations. But there was a banner. outside where these believers sat in. front of the gate to block the 6,000. officers that were trying to storm the. place. And the banner read, "We'll. protect Yoo Byung-un even if 100,000. church members are all arrested." You. said there were 6,000 officers. 6,000. officers? in with like ground-digging technology. cuz they thought that he would have an. underground bunker, tunnels for.

escaping. Like movie style, 6,000. officers were involved. I'm sure some of. them were delegated to paperwork and not. at the site, but 6,000 officers were. involved in the search of his 115-acre. church compound. Wow. And in total, I think 10,000 officers. were involved. in the manhunt for Yoo Byung-un. One church member even screamed, "I'm. ready to be killed in protection for Yoo. Byung-un.".

So yeah, I mean, they don't say that. they're a cult, but like that's kind of. crazy, okay? Now, the extent of Yoo's. influence, power, and money is truly. terrifying. There was even a list going. around while he was on the run called. the Yoo Byung-un list with a bunch of. names that he had been rubbing shoulders. with and they were all people in. powerful positions of politics, government, media positions. So. JYP, he is married to the niece of Yoo. Byung-un. So Yoo's brother's daughter is. married to JYP and just as mysterious as. the rest of the family, truly. Like most.

people that I found online didn't even. know that JYP was married a second time. But again, the marriage doesn't mean. that he's connected to anything shady. I. don't want anyone to think that I'm. saying that, but this was a topic of. conversation that came up. JYP was in such hot water after the. Sewol Ferry tragedy and this manhunt for. the Yoo family started, he had to put. out a statement, well a tweet rather, that said, "The fact that my wife is. related to the owner of a problematic. company is irrelevant. So is this a. country that can just say whatever they. want now? In relation to my faith, you. would know if you listened to all my.

interviews that I've done and the music. that I've put out for the past couple of. years, I've studied a lot of different. religions, but I have no religion. I. hope that no more baseless rumors start. coming out.". Due to this incident, JYP was. investigated for fraudulent funds. There. was speculation that he was also like a. subsidiary that belonged to the church. and maybe there were church funds going. in and out of this and um it was proven. to be false. The company even said on. record that not even a single penny will. show illegal funds have flowed into JYP.

They also said that they will be taking. strict action against people circulating. or creating rumors and lies. So even the prosecutor's office, I mean, there were a few of them on the Yoo. Byung-un list. The prosecutor's office. So the scope of his influence amongst. the elites in Korea, I mean, is unknown. Now, he dies. They find a dead body 1 mile away from. his little holiday home in a apricot. orchard and the police are like, "This. is the body of a man without a home.".

So it's like a what? Cover-up? You think. they don't care or Either Okay, the. general public is saying this level of. incompetence. doesn't exist. Right. Yeah. So it sounds sketchy, right? very sketchy. They said also a lot of. things because, you know, why would. there be a rotting corpse of a man. without a home wearing an Italian-made. jacket with Yoo Byung-un's book next to. him with shark liver pills? Yeah. Yeah, totally. Like just a random man without a home?

And it's so close to his holiday home? Like why would you even think that? That. Why would that even come to your mind? I. have no words, right? They They were. forced to run DNA on the body and Yoo's. brother and they realized it was a. familial match. Now, they released that. it was a familial match. They also ran. fingerprints, but this is where it gets. crazy. South Koreans were like, "But you. just told us his body was so badly. decomposed. There are rumors that his. head was separated from his body. And. that you thought, because he was so. badly decomposed, that he was a man. without a home. You didn't even think he.

was Yoo Byung-un. How were his. fingerprints still intact?". Exactly. There was never really a response to. that. But did they match the. fingerprint? Yeah, they said it is Yoo. Byung-un. We matched DNA and. fingerprints. But they're like, "How did. you match fingerprints?" Oh, yeah. So. they were lying the first time, yeah. No, no, no. We don't know if they went. back and matched fingerprints. Yeah. They're just like, "We did.". Yeah. Oh, okay. So you're like, "Okay, what? Like we're just going off what. they tell us to trust." I mean, it just.

seems like the dumbest thing ever. And. I'm not trying to say I'm a conspiracy. theorist and I think he's alive and this. is a fake body, but it's just bizarre. Headlines read, "The incompetence of. police and prosecutors is simply. astounding. Astounding, I tell you.". And members of his church state to this. day that this was a witch hunt set by. the South Korean government because they. did not want to take responsibility for. the tragedy. And they state that Yoo. Byung-un has retired from all of his. managerial positions in 1997, has.

focused solely on photography, and he. doesn't even own shares in the ferry. company. But either way, Yoo Byung-un is said to. be dead. Rumors, of course, start that he is not. dead. There have been sightings of him, quote sightings of him, in China. And I don't know because I mean, do you. really even know what this guy looks. like? And like who's saying they saw. him? There's a bunch of sightings of. everyone everywhere, but that's the. speculation out there. Is he dead? Was.

he not dead? How involved is he in all. of these tragedies? And how many lives. did this guy live? And how many more. things is he connected to that we just. don't know about? And how many things are going on behind. the scenes that the general public has. no idea about? Because if it wasn't for. the ferry accident, we wouldn't even. really be talking about his connection. with the Five Oceans incident or we. wouldn't even know all of these. subsidiary, shell company holdings, all. of that. There is also another theory. that he was murdered, but um we're not.

going to get into that, so. Anyway, yeah, there's also another theory that. he's in France and on his hilltop. village that he purchased, so. I don't. know. The guy has money and power. everywhere, so what do I know? I don't. know anything according to my lawyer and. myself and. police. But this is the case of the. Odaeyang incident where 32 bodies were. found in an attic and how a. billionaire's name keeps popping up in. that tragedy and popping up again on. Wednesday. We're going to do a deep.

dive, but I think it was just I felt. like it'd be important for you to know. who this guy is and all the things that. he's associated with and how the. companies that he runs. are being operated. So I will see you guys on Wednesday to. talk about the Sewol Ferry. And please stay safe and I'll see you. guys on Wednesday. Bye.