#391: Huge K-pop Record Store Founder Alleged Link To Murderous Cult, Forcing Young Men To Call Her "Baby"
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There was this rumor going around in the K-pop world. If you want your favorite artist to do well, you have to buy their albums from these two specific retailers. It's like a hack, a loophole in the system. One album would count as one

more albums only if you purchase from these two retailers, which, yeah, I mean, this is kind of important because if you support an artist, why would you not want them to be at the top? It's like streaming somebody's content, their video or their songs. Now, one of these retailers was called Shin Nara Records.

If you're unfamiliar with them, they were much larger back in the day, mainly because they were able to sell K-pop albums at suspiciously low prices to the point where it just didn't make sense. Sometimes everybody has a market value. Everybody has that market price. How are they selling new albums at sometimes allegedly 20% less than other retailers? It just doesn't make sense.

At one point, Shinnara's newest store was the biggest of its kind in the entire country. They had one of the nation's biggest K-pop record album stores. At their height, it is believed that Shinnara had a 30% share of the record market volume, likely due to the fact at how aggressive their prices are. Yeah, you could get your K-pop album somewhere else or you could get it from Shinnara for 20% cheaper. Where are you going to go?

They're able to land these big distribution deals with large music agencies. And even to this day, Shinra is still around. They've been operating for decades. They run an online marketplace for international K-pop fans to purchase albums from. They used to do more fan meet and greet events. So they would work with the agency. They would work with the artists and then they would have fans come in and purchase these albums, get them signed by the artist. But that department seems to have slowed down a lot.

A lot of people, especially foreigners, thought the name of the distribution company, 신나라, meant, oh my god, like 신나라, 신났어, excited, I'm so excited. Is that a Korean word for something? 신났어 is I'm so excited.

And like sometimes you might say, ah, 신나라, like it's so exciting, but it's not as commonly used. They thought it had something to do with the word excited. But in reality, 신나라 means new nation. The new nation was being created by a woman, the founder of 신나라 records.

And she was creating a nation for her followers. This woman was allegedly forcing young, healthy men to line up outside her door to wait for their golden chance, golden opportunity to be essayed by her. The woman who started Shin Nara was tried for the torture and murder of a five-year-old boy.

This is the story of the Baby Garden cult and how they made millions in the K-pop industry without anybody knowing. We would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to support the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, also known as NECMEC. They're a private nonprofit that focuses on recovering missing children, the prevention of child abductions, and providing services to combat child sexual exploitation.

This episode's partnerships have also made it possible to support Rotten Mango's growing team, and we'd also like to thank you guys, our listeners, for your continued support as we work on our mission to be worthy advocates. Before we get into today's case, a few disclaimers. We worked with our international researchers for this case alongside professional translators, and we were able to actually interview the prosecutor that worked on this case, Prosecutor King. He was the main prosecutor. He's also written a book on this, The Mulberry Tree and the Pig Feces. Now, I'm not going to go into

The woman involved in today's story has filed an injunction to prevent the publication of this book, as well as she has sued the prosecutor for defamation, which the courts ruled partially in favor of this woman. The book itself is currently out of print, but we were able to not only get our hands on it, but have it translated into English for research purposes.

We wanted to be sure that nothing was lost in translation. However, if you feel that anything was ever misrepresented, miscommunicated, please let us know down in the comments. Some statements have been shortened for time and there are a few speculations, opinions, netizen theories that remain unconfirmed and are simply just netizen commentary that's included in this video. A few content warnings for today's case include mentions of cult activity, quite graphic descriptions of injuries and violence, a brief mention of SA and CA resulting in death.

Now, I do want to mention that a lot of major K-pop agencies have stopped promoting their album sales with Shinnara Records. No artist should be blamed in any of this, but the agencies themselves have also found themselves in a sticky situation where they can't really not sell through Shinnara, even if they don't want to. But we're going to get into all of that later, but just putting that out there.

And one more side note, cults have an interesting sensitivity to being called a cult. The word cult is rather subjective. What some might view as a cult, others may just see a very passionate group of people. Therefore, the usage of the word should be taken as an opinion rather than a fact.

Many mainstream media outlets have described these group of people as a cult, but as always, please do your own research before coming to a conclusion. It is in my personal opinion that they are a cult. With that being said, the cult in question is always more than welcome to send a lengthy, angry letter through their attorneys with the likely intention of scaring us to take down this episode. It would not be the first time we received letters like this from powerful, well-funded organizations, and our attorneys are

always ready to engage in friendly discourse. Maybe we can have them all framed in the back one day. But as a disclaimer to keep in mind, nobody in this case has been found guilty of murder. Any allegations of involvement in murder or the killing of anybody is purely an allegation as of right now. So please do your own research. All of this is available online. We are not on boots on the ground journalists. So with that being said, let's get started.

I know in the States, we're pretty big on zodiac signs. We love astrology, but there's also Chinese zodiac signs that a lot of people in Asian countries go based off of. It's actually quite fascinating. So the Western zodiac signs, they go based off the stars while Chinese zodiac signs go based off the rhythm of the moon, if you will. So instead of being based off the time of the year that you're born, like the month, it's based off the actual year that you're born. A lot of

parents in Asia will even plan their family planning their pregnancies around specific years to have, let's say, a dragon baby, for example. So let's start with the basics. There's 12 zodiac signs and they're all animals. Each one is an animal and they all come from this legendary race that was organized by the Jade Emperor, where the animals had to cross a river. And the order in which the animals came in in the race is the order of the Chinese zodiacs.

Each zodiac sign is known for a few characteristics. So let me know if these apply to you. The first in the race is the rat. Surprisingly, the rat actually tricked the cat to make sure the cat would not even attend the race, which is why it's said that cats have this long, fateful hatred for rats and they chase them around as retaliation. This is their revenge.

But the rat comes in first in the race. And the rat encompasses those that were born in the years of 1960, 72, 84, 96, and 2008.

The rat is a quite cunning, quick-witted person because they're a rat. They have this interesting ability to explore these very tight places and spaces. So think business niches. They're also hoarders. They hoard resources very well, making them very successful in business and finance. They're also known to have what's called a silver tongue. They can change people's minds just by yapping.

Some would be very quick to call the rat a clever little devil. The quick wit of a rat can actually hurt them. You might become too carried away in your own adventures and your own winnings that you can be seen as very manipulative in relationships, which makes people lose trust in you. In the original race, the story of the race, you know how the rat comes in first. The rat not only makes the cat not enter the race, but the rat doesn't even

doesn't even really race. The rat jumps onto the back of the ox, the cow, and jumps off right in front of the finish line, coming in first. It doesn't even do most of the work. So yes, be careful if you're a rat because sometimes people might perceive you as a little bit too manipulative.

The ox comes in second. The years are 1961, 73, 85, 1997, 2009, and 2021. Oxes are known for their insane work ethic. You're not going to find someone who works as hard and as long as an ox. People say, think of a mountain.

Can you move a mountain? You cannot move a mountain. It is unmovable. It is reliable. That's what an ox is. They have the patience of Mount Everest. You cannot sit there and have a staring contest with an ox. There's this crazy inner strength, determination, but also that could be their downfall. Oxes are known to be incredibly stubborn. These are people who like their routines. They like their ways. And you should rather fight an alligator than try to change an ox's mind.

They might also be prone to holding long grudges against those who have wronged them. The tiger comes in third, years 1962, 74, 86, 98, 2010, and 2022. Think about a tiger standing in front of you.

It's a predator. Every step it takes, you can't help but respect the opponent. They're quite charismatic. It's said that they have these magnetic personalities and maybe it has to do with their insane courage levels. But that also means sometimes their boldness is borderline just straight up dangerous and reckless. They often engage in quite risky behaviors that can ruin their health. They make impulsive life decisions without proper thought or planning.

Coming in fourth is the rabbit years, 1963, 75, 87, 99, 2011, and 2023. They're gentle. They're little rabbits. They're kind. They're cute little creatures that just hop around the grass. They're very graceful. They're full of sophistication. They're refined. They're actually very similar to a diplomat. They have the ability to navigate all sorts of social situations. They're quite creative as well. Art is,

Fashion, usually so easy for them. Everywhere they go, social harmony. They don't like stirring the pot. They like peaceful solutions. They're very conflict avoidant. And that means they can also procrastinate on very important decisions and they would sacrifice their own needs to keep the peace.

Coming in at five is the year of the dragon, which actually this year is the year of the dragon as well. But if you're born in 1964, 76, 88, 2000, 2012 and 2024, congratulations, you are the dragon. People have been planning for years to conceive and give birth this year.

in the year of the dragon. It is one of the most popular zodiac signs. And it's fascinating because the marriage rates get higher in China a few years before the year of the dragon, because it's all part of the family planning. People are like, we got to get married. We have to enjoy our married life together before we then have a child who's going to be born in the year of the dragon.

It is the only fictional creature in all the 12 zodiac signs. It's a symbol of power and wisdom. The dragon is almost always associated with great emperors. You're born in the year of the dragon. You're practically destined to be rich and successful.

But if you live in a country where the animal zodiac signs are a big deal, maybe don't have a dragon year child because a lot of parents are having children that year. It's going to create a lot of competition in the job market. It's actually a double edged sword. But if you're already a dragon, you're basically on fire. You're not to be messed with. You're always ahead of the curve. You have this natural authority that everyone wants to follow. It's

similar to the tiger, but on steroids. So the tiger is quite reckless. They're a little bit crazier. The dragon is quite arrogant. That could be the biggest downfall of the dragon. So be careful never to overestimate your financial abilities and dismiss constructive criticism. Coming in next, do you have what some people like to call the small dragon, the snake?

Years 1965, 77, 89, 2001, 2013, and 2025. They move in silence. Like, you know, those people on Instagram, they move in silence. They attack with deadly precision. And most snakes seem to behave older than their years. Like you always think that they're a little bit more mature. They act like they have some sort of secret ancient knowledge and their intuition. It almost makes you feel like they can read your mind. It's creepy. They're quite hypnotic.

They have this sensuality that people really gravitate towards. But snakes need to be careful. They need to make sure that their intuition does not head straight into paranoid, suspicious territory. They can constantly overthink someone else's motives and hold on to resentment or become way too secretive.

Then you have the year of the horse. Year is 1966, 78, 90, 2002, 2014. You're wild. You're like a wild horse. You're just galloping in the field somewhere and you like freedom. You have endless energy. You're constantly looking for something else to do. You're quick on your feet and you're considered a high performer. But the biggest problem is you might love freedom a little too much to the point where maybe you're a little irresponsible. Horses might be the ones that constantly job hop without a long-term career plan and they neglect commitments.

Then you have the goat or the sheep, if you will. Years 1967, 79, 91, 2003 and 2015. You're like a gentle creature just grazing peacefully on the hillside. You're very creative. You see beauty in things that other people cannot see. You have this nurturing heart. You're very graceful and you tend to have a very unique perspective. But these are the people that are going to get misconstrued as being weak.

and they might sometimes pursue artistic life challenges while completely ignoring practical aspects of life like how to pay rent. Then you have the cute little monkey, 1968, 80, 92, 2004, and 2016. They're little, clever, mischievous creatures. They have sharp, quick minds that can solve complex problems with ease. They adapt easily to almost any environment, and they have this wild curiosity that will not go away. They're also quite funny.

But they need to be careful not to use their wit to just worry about their own personal gains. They also tend to get easily bored and neglect deep emotional connections. The rooster comes in next. Years 1969, 81, 93, 2005, and 2017. The rooster is a very punctual creature with an attention to detail that you cannot fool. They do not miss a single thing. They've got a strong sense of justice. They like to stand up for what's right.

They're also quite confident, but they're too perfectionistic. They're also too confrontational. They like to set unhealthy standards for themselves and then everybody else around them. Second to last,

is the dog. Years 1970, 82, 94, 2006, and 2018. The faithful, loyal companion who loves all their friends and family. They've got a strong, probably the strongest sense of justice and fairness. They're quite honest creatures, quite protective. Sometimes that loyalty can be given to someone who doesn't deserve it. So be careful. These are the ones that might find themselves in toxic relationships out of misplaced loyalty and neglecting self-care because they're worrying about everybody else.

And then last but not least, you have the pig. Years 1971, '83, '95, 2007, and 2019.

pigs are just happy to be here they're good-natured creatures who are generous they love to share what they have they're quite optimistic they're very sincere and trustworthy and they do have an appreciation for the finer things in life particularly food which means they need to be very careful sometimes pigs are too optimistic and trusting they might be too quick to trust unworthy individuals with personal information and overindulge in food and drink or spending so

So please let me know which Chinese zodiac you are. And if these sound like you, I'm kind of intrigued to see if this resonates more or the Western zodiac resonates more with you. Now, some people take it a step further. Some people date or form professional relationships based on their signs and other people's signs. Because like the animal kingdom, some signs just don't mix well with each other. For example, some notoriously bad fitting signs, rooster and the rabbit are

A rooster is very direct, very outspoken. A rabbit likes to be very sensitive and conflict averse. If a rooster and a rabbit are planning a vacation together, the rooster is coming up with strict timelines and they're going to be outspoken about everyone needing to follow their cutthroat plan. Rabbits, they're dying on the inside. They prefer spontaneity.

but they're too stressed to bring it up because they don't like confrontation and it could lead to a massive blowout between the two. The roosters are more direct and they make the rabbit feel like the roosters have no EQ while the rooster feels like the rabbit won't voice what they feel but just wants everyone to adjust to their vibes and small social cues.

And another bad mix romantically are tigers and oxes. You need to be careful if you're a tiger and you're dating an ox or vice versa. For example, tigers like to be on the go. They like to do things without much planning. Oxes like stability. They like routine. So if they're dating, one might decide, hey, we're going to do an impromptu weekend road trip with no plan. We're just going to go down to Florida and see what happens.

while the other one wants to stay home, follow their morning routine, do some vacuuming, and then catch up on work. Again, it's just zodiacs. Don't dictate your whole life around it. But when it does come to marriage, those should be wary of tigers and monkeys. Both are too strong-willed. Leads to endless power struggles. Dogs and dragons. Can you guess why? No. The dog has a dying need for loyalty, and the dragons love freedom.

Dogs and horses are a little bit better of a mix because they can run wild together, but still horses might love freedom a little too much for the dog. Pigs and snakes, notoriously bad mixing apparently. Very different life priorities, they say. But again, it's just Zodiacs. Don't take it too seriously.

But in South Korea, there is a woman named Kim. Clearly, she takes it very, very seriously. It's said that she realized that as she's living there in her beautiful oasis, one of the people that lives with her is the year of the dog. And she's sitting there thinking, but I'm the year of the rabbit. So according to my calculations, which this is not true, by the way, it's said that she believed dogs will always eat rabbits.

There is no evidence of this. In fact, people say that dogs and rabbits are considered to have neutral to positive compatibility, but she's so dead set. She does not agree. Maybe she saw a dog rip apart a rabbit before she feels endangered, which means the dog's going to eventually kill her. Maybe the dog is weak and small right now, but eventually the dog is going to get bigger, more powerful. And then what? She's just a little bunny in the field. What can she do?

Well, maybe she's got to kill the dog first. Isn't that what that means? I mean, who knows what's really running through this woman's mind? Perhaps she demands the people that are kneeling by her chair, bring me the boy. Or perhaps she goes and looks for the boy herself. But regardless, this boy's got to die before her. Who cares if he's just a five-year-old boy? He's a dog and she's a rabbit. Their fates are not meant to be.

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I've been watching a lot of Chinese dramas lately. I say it's to improve my listening and pronunciation skills when it comes to learning Chinese. I'm going to be honest, I don't know how much I'm really learning through these C dramas. But the one thing I hate when watching Chinese dramas is that I feel like a lot of meaning is lost in translation. Translators will try their best to give a quick description of the idioms that are being used and what they mean. But I still need to pull over my husband to give me a deeper explanation of what they're really saying. Because sometimes,

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They are like my personal trainer for my accent because they have this built-in true accent feature that gives me feedback on my pronunciation. I love that I can use Rosetta Stone anywhere, whether that's sitting on a plane or by a pool. I can just pull out my phone, open up the app to learn, and they do have a desktop version, but I love how convenient the mobile app is.

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A middle-aged man is walking through the empty, quiet streets of South Korea in the middle of the night. There's nobody around and he's dragging this heavy cart behind him. Rice, buckwheat, jelly. Everyone is in their homes, but he is screaming. After each round of screaming, he waits. And then there's silence. And then he starts screaming again. Cakes. And then he waits. Finally, a sound. Someone screams back, sticky rice!

He listens to where this scream is coming from. He's gotten so good at this, really good at this. He might pause for a second before he realizes where the sound is coming from. He runs all the way up to the apartment where the resident had shouted out the window for sticky rice cakes just a minute ago. He makes the sale. He runs back down to his cart and repeats this whole process down these small neighborhoods all over again. This man gets four hours of sleep a night. He barely rests. All he does is scream, sticky rice cake.

Sometimes he's so tired from screaming all night, he takes a nap on the sidewalk. What is sticky rice cake? Oh, it's like street food. It's like spicy rice cake? Yes. Okay. And he's just screaming, and sometimes he'll just take naps on the sidewalk. He doesn't even lay down. He just closes his eyes. There's probably way easier jobs out there for him. He's getting older. There's probably less physically demanding jobs out there for him. But he's doing this for a baby. He will do anything for his baby. Okay.

Baby is not actually a three-year-old baby, even though she tells everyone she's three years old. Baby is actually a middle-aged woman that hundreds of people call Agaya, baby. She's like a baby. She cannot sin. She can do no wrong. She's baby. Anything she does is pure and wonderful. If she does something wrong, it's an honest mistake because babies cannot sin. Babies cannot be malicious. Babies can do no wrong, technically, right?

Those who all knew her, who knew Baby, they would say, she would tell everyone, my name is Baby, Agaya. I'm a three-year-old baby because you have to be a baby to come to this world. She would go around dancing in these frilly gowns. They look like really intense wedding cakes, but they're dresses, like a tiered cake, sometimes three, four tiers, ballroom style gowns with these elaborate gloves. It's a very, it's a spectacle of a dress, right?

And Baby dances with a group of three to four hundred people who fall to Baby's feet, calling her the precious baby who's going to save them all. And then at night, like clockwork, almost every single night, it is said that she has a line of these young, healthy men standing outside her door, the same ones that were dancing with her earlier that day, waiting in line in front of her bedroom door at night to be able to have the chance, the opportunity to

to spend time with baby. They desperately want to be allowed in so that they can see her in those thin sheer pajamas that always show off her cleavage and the chance to place their mouths on her chest is all they want. That's all they want. Wait, wait, how old are these men? It seems like all of them are of age, but maybe young 20s. And she's... Middle-aged. Like 40, 50s? Yes, but she claims she's three.

Which makes it even more sick, right? Or she allegedly claims she's three. She wouldn't choose any other type though, okay? She has a type. Baby likes young, healthy, handsome men. That's it. You can't be old. You can't be not handsome. You can't be unhealthy. She has her favorites, right?

And they all wait for the spot to be chosen by her. One of the people who lived in the same house said, whenever guys went in there into baby's room, they would start grunting and making these weird noises. So I figured that they were all doing it, you know? And others would just wait outside, you know?

Guys were just going in and out of her room. A guy would come out and tell another guy, "Hey, it's your turn. Go inside." And after being called, the other guy waiting outside would go in and when they all came out, their faces were all red. All night long, young men were trying to go in. But there were men who would wait all night long and not be able to enter. From what I know, she didn't spend a single night alone.

And when she was done indulging in her desires with them, she would hug these men, pat them on the back and tell them it was good. They did good. The feeling they said at the time was euphoric. To be told that they did good, that baby approved of them, it would make them feel so much happier than they could ever even explain. Even if they knew that she might be probably responsible for the death of a five-year-old boy.

Does it really matter? Because when else do you have the chance to have intimate relations with God? Because she is baby. She is God. She can do no wrong. She is love. I mean, who else can say they made love to God? What is going on right now?

She's a baby and she's a God. Yes. She's cause when you're God, you can't sin and babies can't sin. It's weird. I think her, her whole concept doesn't make sense. She's baby. She's God. She's love. She says she is love. Oh, she is love. And you can only love her because you can only love God.

She's love, she's baby, she's God, and she's the savior. But she's also the founder of Shinra Records. So there you go. There's a lot going on. She's a multifaceted evil woman. Now, a man walks into a police station in South Korea, and he looks like he's seen some better days. If we're being honest, he looks a lot older than he actually is. Life has been tough on this man. The police ask him, how can we help you? I would like to file a police report. I am a father who deserves to die a thousand deaths.

My son has been murdered. There's something very wrong with this place. It's called Baby Garden. Baby Garden? At first, the very wrong place was called the Garden of Eden, which has biblical connotations, but eventually it would be known as Baby Garden. That's literally what they call it too. It's not even just like what the press calls it. Baby Garden is not just a strange eerie name either. It's

It's an actual garden, like an agricultural garden that resembles more so an agricultural farm, a profitable business. There's farmland, there's greenhouses lined up next to each other, not the aesthetic kinds, the commercial kind. Buildings, they've got these long warehouse looking buildings that serve as massive pig pens, unfinished land, dirt roads connecting from the different buildings. There's housing compounds built into the center of this farm and

Interesting. It said that most of the housing compounds were built by the people who have never built houses before. And it houses three to four hundred people that all live communally and they work on the farm. Wow. So she's running this like big record business, K-pop record distribution business? Yes.

And she's running a farm. She starts with the farm. And in order to come into the farm, you have to give up all your land and assets to Baby. Baby starts the farm. You're essentially, allegedly, forced to work for free on the farm. And then Baby was like, wow, I'm going to have to work for free.

I have so much money in the world that I don't know what to do with it, starts Shin Nara Records and then has some of the people work for Shin Nara Records. It's alleged that that's how they got such crazy pricing when they first started their company because they didn't have to pay their workers. Whereas all the other record companies, they had to pay their workers.

This is all alleged. These are all just stories, okay? Now, this place houses 300 to 400 people, and they all live communally. Now, the guys are all in one separate military-style room. The women are in another section of the compound. Even when there's married couples living on the farm or whole family units, sometimes there'd be a mother, a father, and three kids. They don't sleep together. They don't share a space together as husband and wife. In fact, they don't even call each other husband and wife. They don't call their fathers dad or...

or brothers or sisters or anything. They call them by their government names because on this property, everyone is equal. They are not attached by earthly connections. There is no mother and daughter or father and son. There is only baby and your relationship with baby. Every once in a while, all the members of the garden will get together and make these massive parade boats.

I don't know, maybe they purchased them, but it looks incredibly homemade. They'll create these massive floats on wheels. It looks like a house-sized tiered wedding cake with fabric hanging out. And on the boat, there's just a chair. It looks like a throne. It looks like someone plucked off the Victoria's Secret angel wings, the fluffy white ones, and then tried to create a white feather throne. And this house-sized float only has that throne on top of it. That's it.

And it's massive. It takes 10 people to drag it across this massive green grass lawn. And there's hundreds of garden residents just standing outside in matching ceremonial attire, long yellow dresses, colorful frilly dresses waiting to dance in a circle. It is reminiscent of the cult movie Midsommar, at least in my opinion, but maybe more colorful.

Really? Yes. Wait, so they're doing it all on a grass field? Yes. Like in circles? They all dance together. And that's why if you go to Shindara Records website, it says the land of song and dance. They don't mean K-pop, allegedly.

Everything is either slathered in frilly fabric in bright colors or these pastel colors. There's flowers everywhere. It looks like a children's summer parade. I don't know how else to describe it. They would start singing songs. The door of love has opened. It has opened. Chase love. We need to love. We must love. My brothers and sisters and compatriots who are wearing these ceremonial robes. My sisters and brothers who received baby's blood. Baby's blood.

Please allow us all to love. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. To baby, the king of love. We offer baby glory and praise. Our king of love, ruler of love. We dedicate our laughter, singing and dancing to you, baby.

And sitting on that white throne is baby, Agaya, baby Kim, the middle-aged woman who looks older than her years, in my opinion. People will say at these parades, this is love. This is proof of love. In order to enter the kingdom forever, you just have to love. The answer is love. God is love. Baby is love.

One person said, Clearly, things are very strange in the baby garden. It's run by Baby, and it's been reported that if Baby ever calls you to her room, you should sit and kneel at her feet in a thankful position. She sits on a chair while other members kneel in front of her.

Baby garden is supposed to be heaven on earth. That's what everybody was told. The motto and meaning was supposed to be here in baby garden. We are all brothers and sisters. We are all one family. Here is heaven on earth. One former member of the baby garden says, baby garden, looking back now, I was living in the devil's garden.

Kim allegedly had a big pet peeve. When all the mothers in the baby garden were out working, there would be these little kids out there grabbing onto their mom's skirts. Mommy this, mommy that, mommy can we do this instead? Mommy I'm hungry, mommy this. The way they clung to their mothers, the way the mothers would stop working and pick up their child to talk to them, it's said that it made her very unhappy. One former member said she could not stand the sight of that.

Thus, here are the three rules of the baby garden. The first all ties to compassion and earthly connections. It does not matter if that is your husband, child or your mother. Compassion with earthly connections makes your connection with baby weaker. It makes you weak. So get rid of it completely.

Couples in baby garden, even the ones that have been married for decades, they have children. They're now not allowed to even call each other honey, babe, love, anything. Once they join the garden, even your own children, they should just be seen as fellow members of the baby garden. They should call you ma'am, not mother.

One former member said,

Another former member who actually was brought into the cult by their family members said, we all live separately. We never slept as families. The woman lived with woman, the men lived with men. And every morning we had to work as soon as we got up. Thinking back on it now, we were insane. I must've been crazy. I don't know what I was doing there.

Second rule, cut all ties with material goods. One member said, we did not live to pursue worldly pleasures. We will all go to the eternal kingdom. This place was heaven on earth.

Last but not least, perhaps one of the most important rules is cut all ties with sexual desires. You need to let it go. It is okay to love God, to love baby. But other than that, it should not be allowed. It is a sin for men and women to date and love each other. If you do, it's actually considered cheating, adultery against God.

One former member states,

Any sort of romance or love or even anything similar between women and men would immediately lead to a terrible tragedy. One would either die or face near-death group violence, be treated as a slave and begin a life worse than a human, unlike anywhere else on this earth. The women and men in Baby Garden were just both servants to God and baby, and she would not treat them as adults or humans, but like servants.

When was this? This was mainly in the 80s and 90s. 80s and 90s. But Shindara is still very active. Yes. So 80s and 90s, how long did this whole thing last? Decades. These people were in it for decades? Yes, there are some people who were in it for decades. Wow. There were some people who were born into it.

And they're old enough to form these very traumatic memories from it. There were young kids who were brought into it at a young age and they finally got out as adults and they grew up in this. Yeah.

If you even had a so-called feeling of romance towards anyone, you would have to keep your head down forever like a criminal, only staring at the floor. One former member who is caught having emotional feelings towards another member said, I used to work with this guy. I began depending on him emotionally and eventually I started to like him.

I was having a really hard time because of my feelings. But when Kim, baby, found out, I started to be treated like a servant, like a slave. They would only let me wear clothes that were incredibly old and they were like rags. I had to work while others got to sleep at night. And from then on, beatings were also very frequent. There were others being beat too. You know, some people were being beat with things like bicycle chains. They tried to hit you where people couldn't see to not freak everyone out too much.

Which this whole thing is ironic considering Kim, baby, had lovers every single night just waiting outside her door. And she's a married woman. Her husband lives in the baby garden and he is also allegedly essaying a bunch of women. So what is he?

He's just part of baby's family. They have three sons as well. And they're all treated like baby. Babies can do no wrong. They're the baby family. She's the one mainly called Agaya, which is baby. But all of them are supposed to be on the same level as her.

Like a little bit lesser, but same. So they can't sin. They can't do anything wrong. They're all babies. Everything they do is correct. That is crazy. Yeah. And her husband is out there just essaying young woman in the cult and she's essaying young men. And it's not like she tries to hide any of it. In fact, everyone thought, well, they're just all making love to God and the holy family, I guess, is how they might consider it.

People didn't think anything of it. In fact, a lot of the women in Baby Garden were upset that they were unable to love Kim the way that some of the younger handsome men were able to. One former member said, we were all jealous. Not of her being able to have intimate relations with men, but they were all, these men were experiencing her love, which, I mean, we were born women, so we couldn't experience her love in that way. So we were all really jealous of the guys. Wow.

Yeah. One former member said whenever she called for me, he was a young man when he was part of Baby Garden. She would lay on her bed in her pajamas that always showed her cleavage. Then she would say things like, you want to look? She would show me her breasts and tell me to touch them. And she would say, are you shy? But I'm love. Remember, take off your clothes. Come on, pull your pants down. Just show me. He said that's how she essayed me.

He told Netflix, I don't even want to think about it. It makes me want to throw up. Honestly, looking back, she was playing with me very strategically. She was taking advantage of these young men's naiveness. Guys like me got a taste of that and thought of her as a love interest. So we started working really hard for her.

And the fourth unspoken rule is laziness is not allowed. Now, one interesting aspect of Baby Garden in comparison to other cults, if you will, is that they don't focus on recruitment. They're not evangelizing the world. The leader, Baby, always said, only the chosen few may enter the kingdom.

So they were actually quite satisfied with their three to 400 members. So all these other cults, they focus on expansion so that they can take more people's money. It's more profitable. But for Baby Garden, they decided that the profitable aspect were the hundreds of members who will sell off all their material possessions, give it to baby. But also once you're part of the cult, you work for free.

For life. Allegedly, they work 16-hour days every single day to provide labor for whatever business or whatever work they're told to do. Right. And they're making a lot of money with the Sinara Records, right? Yes. I mean, I think at their height one year, they were bringing in like $50 million a year at their height. So they're one of the wealthy folks. And they kept it all. Like, that's her business. Mm-hmm.

None of the cult members are shareholders. None of them received money. I mean, most of them now, these victims, they're facing poverty. Most of them don't have educations, no work experience. They have PTSD. They have all this physical trauma and nothing. She's just a multimillionaire suing Netflix, suing prosecutors for talking about her. Is she free still? Yeah, she's free. She's alive and she's suing everyone.

So here we are. One member said,

I don't think I've ever worked harder in my life. Sometimes you're up in the morning selling tempura or rice cakes or kimbap. Other times you're forced to fix rubber buckets that people cook with. It was just a lot of work. One former member says, I could barely sleep. Honestly, I barely slept during that time. Allegedly, members were only allowed four days of rest a year. And those four days were just like celebrating baby. It's like you're off work to celebrate baby.

They're not allowed to access their phones, allegedly newspapers, TVs, nothing. They were completely isolated, cut off from the world. They couldn't talk to their family members on the outside. They didn't even have access to their bank accounts. Not that there would be much left inside anyway.

Even the elderly members had to work. Nobody was allowed to be lazy. Laziness was not allowed. Even a regular work-life balance was not allowed. Kids were forced, allegedly, into labor. They would be forced to put these really ragged clothing pieces on, forced into the subway stations to sell cheap gum and chocolate to passengers. Typically, nobody wants to purchase a warm, off-brand chocolate bar from a stranger on the subway, but because these kids look like they really need the money, adults would purchase it.

It said Baby Garden would even teach the kids which ones to target, which adults look like they'd be willing to purchase from them. This is what the kids did all day for years. Most of them dropped out of school, which is actually a very big problem because like I said, even after they've been freed from the cult, a lot of the members, they report issues of extreme poverty and inability to find jobs.

They have no education. They have no work experience. Children were told to drop out of school. They were told, you don't need to learn anything. You're living in God's world. Education is unnecessary. Soon professors, doctors, highly educated people will kneel before us and serve us like kings. Why go to school when the world is going to end? Yeah.

On top of that, a lot of the, allegedly, a lot of the guys that would reach military enlistment age. Right. She did not want them to leave because that's two years of labor gone, allegedly. And maybe there was a concern that they would leave, figure out what is going on inside of Baby Garden. Why is the military so much easier than Baby Garden? Wait, maybe that's not a normal experience what's happening. Maybe I should tell somebody about it.

And because maybe they didn't want that happening, nobody really went to military enlistment. It's alleged that she would force starve them right before their health checkups. And if they were severely underweight or had too many health complications, they wouldn't have to enlist.

And what do they get in return if they're going to work to the point of breaking their bodies down? They don't get money. A former member says, back then, we didn't even get to go to the hospital. Only special people could go to the hospital. Normally, people took care of themselves at the garden. You have to be very special. You have to have like a severe illness to go to the hospital. When our arms hurt from work, she told us to use moxibustion. Moxibustion.

Moxie Bustion is a Chinese traditional medicine where you take dried mugwort. Mugwort is a plant. So think of...

I mean, I would say like sage. Think of it like that. It kind of has a similar sage-like scent. It's edible, but that's not how it's being used in the medicinal practice. At least not this one. You take the stick of dried mugwort and you start burning it very close to the skin surface. Sometimes you want it as close as possible. It's stated that the heat from the burning of the mugwort will help improve blood circulation. It stimulates the flow of qi as well, which is vital energy and just maintains overall health.

If not done properly, one of the most common side effects are burns. A lot of the burns can lead to blisters, ulcers, secondary infections. A lot of severe cases of mugwort burns result in permanent skin damage and scarring. Obviously, nobody at Baby Garden is that skilled with performing these traditional medicine procedures. And I'm sure they're just trying to do anything to ease the physical pain that they're in. Some of the former members were left with massive fist-sized scars.

from the moxibustion, giant scars all over their stomach, which resulted in them having infections, even more pain. One former member said, when you get moxibustion, the area starts oozing from the burn and then it gets so itchy while you're working. I mean, I couldn't stand it. There were a lot of side effects. Every day, I felt like a squid on top of a fire.

Another former member said, yeah, it's like a squid shriveling up over the fire. Pain during birth was painful and horrifying. This was worse. This was worse than that. I have giant scars that are still there all over my body.

But if you don't do a good job, if you're not working as hard as God wants you to do, despite your injuries, you would be beaten. First, God would instruct your family members to beat you first. There were even children who were forced to beat their parents. This is actually surprisingly and unfortunately not a unique practice to Baby Garden, another alleged Korean cult that operates in Fiji, known as Grace Road. They would beat the sin out of each other, allegedly. Maybe.

Maybe we'll do an episode on it because I'm collecting letters, but the psychology stands. It's supposed to break down all family bonds and attachments. When kids are forced to harm their parents and vice versa, it just breaks down the protective relationship between parent and child. It hammers in the fact that you think your family bonds matter? No. The only thing that matters is the cult. They've got power and authority over everything. Even

more important than the most fundamental human relationships, parent and child. It also makes it harder for parents and children to get closer to one another because the trauma, the humiliation associated with beating each other and seeing each other get beaten by all these strangers in front of the whole congregation, if you will, it's hard to even look at them afterwards. You have this strong sense of guilt and shame.

One former member of Baby Garden said, how can a child hit their own parent? Well, in order to live, my older sister and I had to hit our mom. Kim said that my mom was going crazy. She was possessed by a ghost. She was in a possessed state, found a man, hugged him and made love with him, had sex with a man. She told me and my sister that we had to beat her up.

So they did to beat the ghost out of her. They were taken to a quiet area away from a lot of the members. Kim was there with a few of her right hand people. And that is where Kim allegedly told them, hit her. The former member said, when my sister and I started hitting our mother, all the other members joined in and started beating my mom too.

"It just creates this atmosphere," one member says. "You never really know who's gonna rat you out. Everyone is spying on each other, including family members. That's why I decided to try and run away from the baby garden. I was in the fifth grade when I tried running away, but before I made it out, some of the adults found me and dragged me back. That's when Kim would really start beating us more."

Later, the same young former member would write to the court. I'm writing this letter with a sincere desire to live in the same roof with my parents and younger sibling, even if it's just in a single room. Before becoming involved with the pseudo-religious group Baby Garden, I was just two years old. Both of my parents were teachers. We were one big happy family. But eventually they started attending a local church and then somehow sold all of our grandparents' land to give to the church nearly $150,000. Wow.

Then at baby garden, my parents would spend all morning cooking, leave to sell their freshly cooked rice cakes around 3 p.m. and would not return home until after midnight. I just remember crying, just feeling truly miserable.

I remember as I got older feeling conflicted about not being able to call my father, father or my mother, mother. I tried to run away. However, I was caught, brought back to the baby garden and I was then dragged to the leader's room where I was severely beaten with a branch from the mulberry tree and a metal pipe from midnight until 4 a.m. There were bruises all over my body and the back of my calves were bleeding.

I spent sleepless nights crying, resenting my parents and fearing the leader's anger. Since then, I've suffered from stomach pains that feel like gas buildup. But when I would tell them instead of proper medical treatment, I was just subjected to alternative therapies like having dozens of acupuncture needles inserted into my stomach, having to lie still for 30 minutes to an hour. And even now, I occasionally suffer from stomach pains that feel like being stabbed with a knife.

After school, I would have to return home and work at a cassette tape assembling factory till midnight every day just to set production targets. Yeah. For the K-pop tapes? Yeah. I would get beaten by Kim. I was beaten to the brink of death. I'm not lying when I say that every inch of my body was bruised. She did not miss a single spot. When asked later, where were your parents during this? He just responds, well, to be honest, it's not like they could stop it if they tried.

If they tried to confront her about hitting me, there would have been bigger problems. They would have beaten us all up. My mother couldn't say anything, though she must have been really worried about me. She must have been hurting, but she couldn't say anything. You can't say anything unless you can defeat Kim, which is just impossible.

In the Netflix documentary, there is a part where a former member starts introducing herself. She states that she is five-year-old Nagwon's mother. She's sitting there. Clearly, she's not smiling. This is not a good moment. This is not a happy show. But she starts the interview with, well, I can't call myself a mother.

I can't say the word mother because I'm such a horrible bitch. I'm so horrible. I wish somebody would just stone me to death. I'm really such a horrible fucking bitch and I don't deserve to live. And with each word and phrase, she's slapping herself across the face from the left side to the right side, left side to the right side. The producers eventually have to stop her and

Her cheeks are bright red on both sides. And the way she does it, sure, some people argue maybe it's performative for the documentary. But regardless, the way she slaps herself does not appear to be the first time. The way she slaps herself is almost on beat to the way that someone does something on autopilot. Muscle memory. It's as if she's been drilling herself in this method. The producers end up icing her face with water bottles when she tells them, I just can't forgive myself.

What is it that she can't forgive herself for? Maybe it has to do with the fact that her son, five-year-old Nagwon, was killed in the baby garden.

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Get your quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. There are three, at least three, mysterious deaths in the Baby Garden. One of them is the death of a 21-year-old girl.

Kim actually has children before she starts the baby garden, like I said. Now, the baby has babies of her own, essentially. But I'm sure at this point, they're adults or practically adults. She's got three sons. They're probably adults. And there's not too much information about them out there. But it's said that the Kim's sons, they lived like royalty. They got to study abroad.

While nobody else's children are even allowed to go to public school. She allegedly purchased three separate houses in Seoul for them to live in the future. They hired nannies, bought expensive foreign cars, private tutors to take care of these sons. They got everything that they ever wanted. And sometimes that includes other people.

There are a few versions of how everything happened, but this is what you can find online. And again, the events are alleged, but this seems to be the one that a lot of the former members agree on. Allegedly, Kim's son really, really liked this 21-year-old girl named Mi-kyung. She was brought into the baby garden by her parents. So not by her choice. Everybody in the garden loved her. She's pretty. They said she's like stunning.

Idol pretty. Exceptionally pretty. They said not only is she pretty, she has such a gentle soul. Unfortunately, it's said that one of Kim's sons took a liking to her. Allegedly requested to his mom that Mi-kyung work in their house on the property to cook and wash dishes. Now instead of working outside in the baby garden or for Shin Nara Records, she would be like a housekeeper of sorts. It's theorized that he essayed Mi-kyung. She wanted to self-exit after that.

Words started spreading because she was having mental breakdowns after the alleged essay that people started finding out. And Kim spun the story, allegedly, that Mi-kyung had seduced her son and she could not live with the guilt and shame. She allegedly said, my son would never do something like that. She seduced my son. This is all her fault.

She made Mi-kyung's parents beat her first before dragging her into one of the empty warehouses. She grabbed a bunch of sticks and allegedly ordered everyone to beat Mi-kyung with it. There was another young girl nearby that was also brought in to be beaten, but it seems like all the anger was focused on Mi-kyung and she remembers hearing Kim telling Mi-kyung, all you bitches are the same. You broke baby's heart. So I'm gonna kill you and make sure nobody finds your body.

she's saying you broke baby's heart who's the baby is she referring to her oh she's saying you broke my heart yeah kim orders mi-kyung's own mother to beat her with a stick and there was this one moment according to the other member one last look where mi-kyung looks up at kim stares her in the eye and i guess that really unsettles kim and she allegedly freaks out and starts screaming you fucking slut and orders her to be killed and

And they just unleash hell. They beat her until she's no longer there. The other witness states, it was like a scene out of chaos and hell. My mind went blank as I watched all these people beat that poor little girl. She was such a small, frail, weak girl. They're calling her all sorts of names. They're cursing at her. It was completely heartless. By the end, she could no longer cry or scream or beg for anything. She ended up passing out and urinated all over herself. That was the last time she would be seen.

The worst part is other members have reported that Mi-kyung's parents thanked Kim for their daughter's death, stating that she needed to be punished for rebelling. One former member stated they were practically raised in the cult, so this is a different death. So for most of their life, they didn't even call their parents mom or dad. Just by their government names or ma'am and sir, even between siblings, they had a level of coldness or else Kim would be very upset.

But regardless, the former member said their family was going through a rough time because their father, but they can't call him father, was constantly getting yelled at by Kim for not growing the apple trees correctly. Kim did not like the way that he was doing his job. A few days later, he vanished. His quote children are called into Kim's room and she just tells them bluntly, your so-called father passed away. Self-exit, he drank the pesticide, but it's okay because I'm going to let you live here forever. That would be the best, wouldn't it?

Kim would not let them see their father's body. They didn't even know where his grave was. Kim just allegedly went around telling everyone, well, it was only a matter of time. He had a bad temper. He mistreated all of those around him and he drank the pesticide once he realized how wrong he was and how guilty he was of raising the apple trees the wrong way.

One former member would later state,

Even in an immoral, inhumane lifestyle that betrayed human ethics, which nobody else could understand, life there was rampant with illegal activities, lies, violence. It was a group where one could only live and die for baby.

Another member went missing and they were told that that person just left, but some believe it's more likely that they were killed. We don't have too much information on them, but it's stated that he suggested to his wife that they should leave. And soon afterwards, he was forced to drink some sort of herbal medicine and he quickly vanished after that, allegedly. Then there's five-year-old Na Guan.

Nagwon's mom said,

So he pooped and he smeared it on the window frames. Like think about how mentally disturbed a five-year-old has to be and how traumatized they have to be to poop and smear it on the window frames. Like at this point, the amount of trauma that this baby has faced already is probably very extensive. The mom states he got frustrated. He said he hated Kim because Kim would beat him. And whenever he saw Kim, he would start screaming out of fear.

Kim would tell the others, "A demon has possessed that child. The evil spirit is trying to harm me using him as the vessel. If we don't do anything, that evil spirit will try to kill me. Do you want your god to die?" is what she allegedly would say.

In Korea, some people believe that one's name can determine their future. This comes up sometimes in crimes where mothers bless them because they can't understand why a violent crime has happened to their child. They almost start blaming themselves. And sometimes you'll even see in these crimes, moms who say, maybe my name was wrong and it brought bad luck to the family.

Obviously, that's just the grieving brain trying to make sense of the senseless. But some Koreans do hold that belief that your name can determine your future. Some focus more so on the hanja, which is the meaning behind each symbol. So for example, something can sound like a regular name, but the meaning can be bright princess. But it sounds like...

suzy right other koreans focus on a mixture of that and saju which is korean astrology they say it's important for a name to be harmonious now nagwon arguably has a very very good name the hanja the traditional symbols for his name means two things happiness and paradise a happy paradise it almost has the connotation of heaven

But how can someone who hates Kim so much, who is so terrified of Kim, be paradise? If he's paradise and he's terrified of her, what does that make her? Well, it would make her the devil, wouldn't it? But she can't say that. I mean, could she, right? So she changes five-year-old Nagwon's name to Nakgi. Gi, the symbol means ghost, right?

She just renamed this kid Ghost. And she said the new name now symbolizes go away, ghost. Go away, spirit. And from there, the torture begins. He gets taken into the pig pens on the property. Baby Garden, like I said, has these massive buildings for the pig pens. And when you walk inside these pig pens, it's like an artificially lit warehouse. Just a long container-like building.

On both sides, you just see these individually sectioned pig pens filled with pigs. And no matter how well maintained a pig pen is, if it's this size, it's not going to be a pleasant place to be. No matter how much someone spends on the ventilation system, when you walk in, it's an invisible brick that just hits you. The

pungent aroma of a public restroom in the humid underground subway stations that has not been cleaned in years mixed with this chemical scent of ammonia that just pierces through your nostrils to the point where it feels very raw and painful. In places like this, you don't want to be able to smell. You'd rather be oblivious, but you can't because the ammonia just opens your nose right up. And when you walk in, your eyes are watering and the humidity is the worst part. It feels like you're in a sauna where someone has gotten this big pot of

pig sweat pig feces and has started steaming it until the whole air is foggy that's where five-year-old nagwan is brought in to the pig pen where he is tied up in one of the pig pens he is stripped of all of his clothes so that he's sitting completely nude and his hands are tied behind his back

His aunt, who is also part of Baby Garden, his blood relative, his mom's sister, comes in and Kim explains, according to the aunt, he pooped and smeared his poop all over the walls. He's possessed by a spirit. We need to discipline your little nephew. But his father is gone and his mother is at work. So you take her place and you need to beat your nephew. There were others there too. And the aunt looked around and they're nodding. Naki has been possessed by a Satan.

The baby said, we can't just let the devil be. We have to exercise the devil. He should try the feces. Feed him the feces. I don't know why the aunt listens. I mean, I know why. I guess logically speaking, she's indoctrinated to the point where her morals are like second place to her beliefs. But like, I don't know why. She grabs a fistful of pig feces from the ground, starts kneading it up into small balls with her hands, with her fingers, and tries to shove it into her nephew's mouth.

Each time he would just push it out with his tongue and eventually they just get frustrated. They start scooping the pig pen feces into the shovel and grab a stick to smother the stick with the pig feces and then force feed it into his mouth. They start shoving the stick deep into his throat. And when that's not enough, they're ordered to beat him with the sticks. The aunt stated that she believed in that moment she was helping her nephew get the spirit out of him.

They all allegedly did. They're all standing in a line waiting to beat this little boy up with these hard smacking sticks. And they would scream, leave him be, Satan. How dare you come here, Satan?

If one of them was a little softer on beating him, they would be accused of disobeying and still having human relationships and attachments or being on Satan's side, God forbid. They'd be forced to hit him even harder. When Nagwan would start crying in the beginning, she would tell them that the spirit inside of him is stubborn and refuses to leave. The aunt realized that there were these nails embedded into the stick that they were hitting him with, so he was bleeding all over the place.

She never untied her nephew. She never took him to the hospital. She just leaves after beating him.

Another member who was tied up in the pig pen, he reported seeing little Nagwan there for at least multiple days. He said the worst part of it all was they didn't give him any food, not even water. The only water that you can get is from this tap that the pigs drink from, but you have to press it where you get the water and there's no cups there. So I would press it, gather as much water as possible in my palm, bring it over to him for him to drink. But he could barely drink it. He had no energy. He was so badly wounded at this point.

The other member said while he was trapped in that pig pen, one night he woke up and realized that five-year-old Nagwan was gone. He had undone his ties. He's gone. He had run out. He ran all the way to the dining room. And it's actually quite a far distance. Most of the adults, they don't even seem to walk themselves. And if they do, it's a long process. So this is a massive farm. It's not like, oh, I'm going to walk to my neighbor's house. It's a long journey and it's not flat paved road.

The member said he probably went there hoping there was some food left. I mean, he must have been starving to run all the way there, you know?

When he finally gets to the dining hall, he finds an adult and he asks, "Is there any food left?" And the adult immediately goes to Kim, the baby, and tells baby, "I mean, we gotta do something." It's been reported that the adult tells Kim something along the lines of, "I mean, he hasn't had anything to eat, he hasn't had anything to drink, and he ran all the way to the dining room from the pig pen to the dining room. He really must be possessed by some sort of spirit."

indicating you can't do that if you have no food and water and you're a five-year-old. Naglon was taken right back to the pig pen without even a single sip of water. From then on, witnesses said he would get beaten by Kim and her little associates. He couldn't even scream. She would beat him, but nothing. He had been beaten so many times his body was too frail to even fight. Some said the worst part was in situations like this, you would expect a five-year-old to

to scream for their mom or their dad or their aunt, but nothing. It's like he knew they weren't going to come and save him. And his eyes were just wide open staring at Kim. He wasn't glaring. I mean, he could be, who cares, right? But he wasn't glaring because the witnesses said, he's just such an innocent baby. He was an innocent baby that he looked like he didn't even know why he was there. After days of torture, Na Gun finally passed. He had died. Prosecutor Kang said,

gets a report that there was a death at Baby Garden. But he gets this report 10 years after the death. The father of Na Guan takes 10 years to come and report the death. He's in there for 10 more years before, I guess, he snaps out of it and then goes to report it to the police. Wow.

Prosecutor Kang decides to take on this case. And at first, the prosecutor, he thought, yeah, there's no way that these reports from Baby Garden are true. They run a massive K-pop record business. They're reputable all around the country. They have a farm. It's like a community lifestyle living, right? But there's no way it's a cult.

Prosecutor King starts going through all the reports that former members had managed to escape and had filed. Now, there had been multiple mysterious deaths, a.k.a. they believed to just be straight up murders, which isn't as far fetched when you read some of the victim statements. One victim wrote, I was beaten with a mulberry branch and metal pipe from midnight till 4 a.m. with bruises everywhere. Another writes, I felt that if I stayed there any longer, I, too, would eventually be beaten to death.

But even if this is true, this is going to be one of the hardest cases that he ever takes on in his entire career. And this is when he's just starting off. He's so young. He's like a baby prosecutor. His higher ups practically tell him, yeah, it's just going to be you on the case. Nobody else is going to help you. I mean, yeah, you've got all the investigators, the police, but they're not going to trial. You're the attorney. You're the prosecutor. So it's really just going to be you when you're going to put the trial together. We don't have the manpower in this district.

Not only that, prosecutors don't really like to go after religious cults. How do you convince victims that they're victims when they think you, the prosecutor, are the perpetrator? And on top of that, cults have a lot of financial power, especially in places like South Korea. They've got influence. They have money and sway to make prosecutors' lives a living hell. Regardless, Prosecutor Kang decides, I'm going to go full force straight into the devil's garden.

In the middle of one of Kim's services, she's up there on the podium, probably spewing more nonsense about baby this, baby that, being baby, I am baby. It's kind of an odd fantasy if you think about it. She looks older than she actually is. I don't know what compelled her to come up with this train of thinking, this type of logic, her very bizarre obsession with being a baby and called baby. Anyway, she's up there, a three-year-old baby with a bunch of wrinkles giving full-blown lectures on how to serve me, baby, when the doors to the

auditorium that the baby garden members have built by hand slam open detectives 50 detectives swarm the place and a voice is just booming through the room you are completely surrounded surrender everyone just breaks out into a full-blown sprint everyone is scattering like bugs that just got raided there's people going that way this way that way people are full-on fighting attacking the detectives tackling detectives to the ground oh they're fighting they're fighting they're not running some

are running most are fighting wow in the chaos kim and her right hand woman managed to escape conveniently into a passageway that leads underground

So I'm assuming someone planned for something like this to happen eventually. Kim manages to escape off the property and into the woods. They lose the queen bee. That's how they refer to it. It is a huge blow to the investigation because she's someone who has the funds to stay missing. When they open up one of her safes, it was filled to the brim with cash. Calculating inflation, it was filled with nearly half a million dollars in cash just in the safe. One of her safes.

The investigators noted the living situation was bizarre. The members are all living in these horrendous military barrack style rooms while Kim is living in her little palace with a personal sauna. Her bed is a special custom clay bed. Even her speaker system for her room alone, calculating inflation is estimated to be a quarter million dollars. Why do you need speakers that expensive? But now she's gone. They lost her. She got away.

Prosecutor Kang says, we lost the queen bee. The search and seizure was a complete failure. I felt a huge sense of shame. Of course, we put her on the wanted list. We also tried to track her down her vehicle. We tried so many other things. We revealed her face to the media. But she's not a stupid woman. She's a very smart, very wealthy woman. She's going to stay well hidden.

The whole cult goes into lockdown. They keep operating and working as normal. Clearly, they're getting instructions from somewhere. But anytime Prosecutor King or any detectives would come around, they would avoid answering the questions. They're all protecting their queen bee. Where is Kim hiding? I'm not sure what you're asking, and I don't have anything more to tell you. I have no idea where she is. Where is your leader hiding?

Leader? There's no leader here. This is a cooperative farm. You don't know what you're talking about. Another member has asked, where is your leader? Our leader? She's this intelligent leader who guides us. She's not a religious leader. So in a way, our relationship with her is more like friends or like sisters. She leads us in business and life and finances like a wise sister. So where is she right now? I have no idea.

So nobody is ratting her out. Like everyone's still very loyal. Yes. Another cult member just responds. There is nobody here forcing us to work. What kind of coercion would it be? Huh? Where? Who's forcing us? Everyone likes it here. I'm very satisfied with my life here. I'm content. I'm happy. And yes, it's a little noisy because there were a few people who left and messed it all up and they claim to be victims or whatever, but they didn't suffer any harm at all. In fact, they were receiving help when they left. Ugh.

Another member says, look, the content being reported to the media is vastly different from the truth. We're not being shaken about this, though. Among the people who have been living here now, not a single person has left because they're disturbed by this incident breaking out. We are steadfast. At one point, one of the former members that left tries to go back to convince everyone to save themselves. They went with detectives and they said, come on, guys, wake up or else you're going to suffer for another 15 years. Wake up.

Someone screams at her, "Our hard work is worth it!" "How is it worth it? You left us, so don't bother us! Shut up and go live your own life!" One guy is pointing at his teeth and he's bragging, "Look, I needed dental treatment for thousands of dollars and Baby Garden was willing to pay it for me." It's likely that he's been working for them non-stop ever since he joined, perhaps for over a decade for free. And all he got was a few thousand dollars in dental treatments.

They argued that Kim is such a great leader. She's just creating a world where everybody is fair. That is all. So people are now either looking for Kim or they're actively hiding Kim. None of the prosecutor's work will matter if they can't find her. How do you find someone with hundreds of people devoted to her and tens of millions of dollars at her disposal? She could be on the beach of some remote island right now, but she's not. She's in the prosecutor's office turning herself in. What? What?

Her attorneys told her that if she turns herself in, they will hold her for three days to question her, they will get nothing out of it, and after that, they will release her. But instead, the prosecutors slap her with murder charges and they're going to trial.

During the interrogation of Kim, prosecutor Kang states she was not emotional, not even in the slightest. He states she's very calm, calmer than expected. She stayed composed while saying what she wanted to say. She was never swayed. Even when the investigators turned up the heat, made her feel pressure, she did not get provoked. She did not fall for any leading questions. She's not only experienced, but she's very well prepared.

The only thing she was firm on is that she did not murder anyone. She denied it all, everything. She said, I don't know what you're talking about. I have children of my own. How could I ever harm a child? There might have been other violent people in the baby garden that tried to punish victims. But if that were the case, I never knew anything about it. I never ordered such a thing.

The prosecutor is there having to listen to Kim deny everything whilst also talking to Na Gwon's mom who vividly remembers everything. She explained that even when she found out that her son was dead, she was on her knees practically bowing at Kim's feet when Kim said, Na Gwon is gone. He's dead. When he died, his face looked like a cat that was twisted because he was the devil. If he grew up, he would have opposed this place. All of us. Me. All of us.

We have to demonstrate to the other children that they must be loyal to our cause. Since your family joined last and lacks faith, it would have been hard for you to continue here without sacrificing Naki. But now with the sacrifice of Naki's soul, you will receive the blessing of heaven. So be cooperative on this matter. You just have to do as you're told. She was forced to sign a paper that stated that her son died from a genetic heart disease.

She says, even though my child was tortured and beaten to death, I was forced to sign that document. But because he was cremated, there is no evidence that he was tortured to death. They tried to find the bodies of the other alleged murder victims. They brought in excavators all over the property. Nothing. Nobody. A former member who was close to Kim at the time alleges that Kim said, don't worry, they're not going to find anything. The prosecutor says, trying to find the truth in a case where there are no bodies is very difficult.

But at least they have testimonies from previous members and maybe they can save the others, save them from believing Kim, get them to see the truth. She has no God. So one of the biggest parts of trying a cult leader and getting them to trial and getting them even charged is getting them to admit that they're not God. It helps the members realize this person is a phony because only regular people are scared of the authorities. Only regular people are scared of prison.

Kim is no God. She's just an evil old lady. She's not baby. She's a wrinkling middle-aged woman. That's what prosecutor King is trying to get everyone to see. He asked her nonstop in the interrogations, but aren't you, aren't you God? And she would have to say, because it benefits her case, I'm not God. And he would just have her say it over and over and over again. It helps her case because. Because if she's running a cult.

And you can't, you know, if you say that you're the coming of God, coming of Christ, the Messiah, the prophet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you're running a cult. So he's making her say that. I'm not God. And then he will play this to everyone. Yes. He made her repeat over and over. I'm not God. I'm not God. I'm not God.

It's alleged that Kim is no first timer when it comes to rather extreme religious organizations, though. Apparently, before she started Baby Garden, she was part of another church that was nicknamed the Shaving Church because members were forced to shave their heads. But most notably, the church was allegedly involved in naked dancing practices where the church leaders would encourage the congregation to get naked and dance for God, which would be more on par with Shaving.

I guess a fun strip club rather than a church so I'm not really sure what the messaging they were trying to push here is. Allegedly all we know for certain is that before she started Baby Garden she was just a very ambitious housewife. It's said that those who knew her before she started Baby Garden she was a nobody, she had nothing, her parents weren't established, she didn't have good support, she just ends up marrying the son of a pastor because she had no other choice.

It doesn't seem like she loves him much. Yes. But they said she always dreamt of glory and honor. She wanted to be somebody. She wanted respect. So once she brands herself the queen of love as the second coming of Christ, one former member says, it's how humans are. When you see someone as mighty as if they're God, everything they do seems beautiful and lovely. We all thought she was God. So everything about her at the time seemed beautiful. We couldn't find anything wrong with her.

But when it comes to trial, everything is hanging on by a thread. There's no bodies. All the witnesses, the former members, they start slowly pulling out one by one from testifying. Either they're terrified for their lives or they've received financial benefits from Kim to stay out of it. Allegedly.

The only person they really have is Na Gwon's mom and her moving testimony. Hopefully it's enough. During the trial, the women who were forced to beat Na Gwon testified stating they were ordered by Kim to do it. But finally, Na Gwon's mom takes a stand and she looks at the judges and states her son, her only baby, her baby boy, died from a heart condition. He was not beaten, he was not tortured, he was not murdered. Wait, the mother? Yeah.

In that moment, Nagwon's father said, I wanted to kill her in that moment. That crazy, deranged woman, she lied. I told her, wake up, you crazy woman. Listen to me. Our son was beaten to death, but she didn't listen. What happened? Some reports state that she might have still had a weakness for Kim. Some reports state that she feared for her life because Kim was threatening her.

The prosecutor, Prosecutor King, saw his entire case just fall apart right in front of his eyes. But what else could he do? In fact, he almost just felt worried for Naghun's mom. He said, what must have they done to her? What kind of wicked things must they have done to get her to lie about the death of her precious son? At that point, it wasn't even anger. It was just heartbreaking to watch this so-called maternal love get completely trampled upon.

In the end, Kim was found guilty of six charges of tax evasion, embezzlement, and assault. She was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of, if you calculate inflation, a fine of $8.9 million that she paid like on the spot, pretty much in cash, like liquid. She was liquid, yeah. But she would later be acquitted of the murder charges due to lack of evidence. Now, years later, Na Gwon's mom states that

I sincerely regret taking a child to a place like that. I was foolish to do something that would break my own heart. I have nobody to blame but myself. I wish somebody would just stone me. I wish somebody would beat me. And she starts slapping her face. I wish somebody would just beat me, just beat me to death. I just wish somebody would stone me to death. I want to apologize. I want to say that I'm sorry. It would be shameless to ask for it, but I want to beg for my son's forgiveness. I want to tell him that it's my fault and that I'm sorry. What do I do now? Someone please beat me. It's my fault. What do I do? I wish I could die, but I can't even do that.

To which some people felt really uncomfortable by. There's two episodes in the Netflix documentary, In the Name of God, Holy Betrayal. So obviously people are uncomfortable that she's slapping herself, but because they noticed a few things. The first being that she doesn't shed too many tears. She's just slapping herself to show grief. And maybe you could argue that the grief is so big that the tears are not flowing anymore. But the weirdest part is she still refers to her son as nakki.

She doesn't call him "Na-Gwon" Ghost? Yeah, one netizen comments, "Why are you, to this day, calling your son by the name that referred to him as a demon and not his actual name?"

I mean, it's very strange. I think she's just mentally not there, but it's hard for me. This is what the netizen writes. It's hard for me to feel sympathy because she betrayed her son to the very end. She let her five-year-old get tortured and murdered and then testified that he died from a disease to protect the cult leader. And then she still calls him Naki. Just no words. Kim is now 83 years old.

And I think it's really freaking weird that she called herself baby. And not once did she ever even look a year younger than her actual age. That's all I have to say about that aspect. It has also been alleged that one of the main reasons that Shinra, like I said, was able to dominate the record selling industry was so quickly was because of their free unpaid labor. It said that as recently as 2021, according to one article, their sales were in the near 50 to 60 million ballpark range.

I don't know how accurate that is, but I imagine it's safe to assume that they're raking in a lot of money and profits. One former member said that when they started Shinra Records, there was just so much money, cash specifically. They had just stacked it inside of Kim's room. She said her room is about 1,500 square feet. That money, we brought it in and about two thirds of her room were filled up to the ceiling. What? Yeah.

It's unclear now if the employees that are employed with Shinra Records is part of Baby Garden, but the current CEO is allegedly was one of her right-hand people during the operation of Baby Garden. What happened to Baby Garden? Still technically operating. She still owns a ton of farmland. Yeah. Wow.

Now, I would say it's still just not the best company to support, in my humble opinion, because I'm sure those employees are not getting the bulk of the profits. It's all allegedly going to Kim. The music agencies that have been able to make the choice to stop working with Shannara have chosen to stop promoting sales at Shannara. So most notably, Starship Entertainment, the agency that you might be familiar with that signed IVE, as well as a bunch of other massive K-pop groups. But specifically for IVE, with their recent comeback,

they did not list Shinnara as a record seller. So every time K-pop albums are released, they list a whole group of reputable distributors, like verified retailers. Mm.

Shin Nara was not listed. However, they do sell Ives albums because they can't pull their albums from Shin Nara for legal contractual reasons, it seems, but they're not advertising them. Right, okay. So if I'm not mistaken, Seventeen has also excluded Shin Nara records from their album release press releases. So technically you can still purchase them from Shin Nara, but the artists themselves have stopped promoting them as distributors.

which again, nothing is ever the artist's fault. So even if there are artists that are promoting on their press releases, it's not like the artist has control over that. It's the agency, right? And again, I'm sure every K-pop group out there, if they had that type of control, they don't want their albums sold there.

Dispatch interviewed reps from most of the top music agencies in South Korea about this issue, and even the agencies seem to be in a pickle. I'm not excusing agencies, they clearly have more power in this than the artists, but even the agencies have stated, it's not very simple. If it was just a contract between us and Shinnara, like a one-time deal, it's possible to just say, hey, don't send the album to Shinnara. However, agencies and distributors and Shinnara have been intertwined through contractual obligations for a long period of time.

So they're saying if you pull now, it's likely you have to pull every past week.

from this agency all of their records and then sometimes people have different contracts with different groups. Yeah. They stated... Yeah, they stated in an interview to put it simply they can't forcibly remove the albums from Shin Nara. It's not even directly between Shin Nara and the agencies. Apparently a lot of the agencies have a bunch of middlemen that sign with Shin Nara. So what the agencies seem to be doing that is in their control is excluding Shin Nara from their official announcements. And...

And thankfully, this is a situation where consumers have the power. I personally will be boycotting Shin Nara. And if you purchase with them before knowing all of this, don't go and like throw your stuff away or anything. Just now, you know, for future consideration, because there's just so many other places you can purchase albums to support your favorite artists. It's not like Shin Nara is the only place. And allegedly, this is what Kim told her followers. The one who escaped

From BabyGarden, they have no money and are uneducated. Nobody will listen to them. I have plenty of money, lawyers and prosecutors and judges who all love money. So they're on my side. Even if someone brought me a lot of money, I'm not going to give them a single cent back. I would rather spend millions with lawyers than give 10 cents to those who left.

Oh, okay. Interesting. One of the former members says, Now we understand why she always boasted so loudly about the media, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and even the president for being on her side, for being her servants. She claimed she could never be found guilty of anything and that if someone came at her through one hole, she could escape through 10 more. We've come to realize how very true her words were.

Another former member penned almost like an open letter to Kim. And again, this is just one person's supposed feelings and memories. This is not me saying this is what happened. Do your own research.

But they wrote,

In 1981, Chang Eun-joo, the eight-year-old youngest daughter of Chang Jing-ho, had sold his house and farmland to join. He sold everything, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and hospitalized, this eight-year-old. But you said cancer patients would die anyway and it would just be a waste of money. She'd only be useful for experiments. You had her discharged from the hospital and that young child died just 15 days later. You made even elementary school children work in factories, making bamboo salt and farming without letting them go to school.

When a 20-year-old was in a traffic accident while selling goods outside, you said even $2,500 in settlement money to bail them out was too much. That young man was sent to prison to pay with his body. This hasn't been proven, but this is just what's out there, and I personally will not be purchasing anything from Shinra.

Kim and her associates, the Baby Garden Church, did file an injunction last year to prevent Netflix from releasing episodes on their organization. Same with JMS, which we also covered. Netflix released a series titled In the Name of God, A Holy Betrayal. The series as a whole covers multiple different cults, if you will. JMS, we covered. We covered their they're connected to this fairy. We covered that one.

And Baby Garden has two episodes dedicated to them. They, like the other organizations, tried to stop Netflix from releasing the series. Baby Garden stated Netflix's depiction of them was fictional and misleading, which a lot of people were nervous about considering Baby Garden had filed an injunction against another massive Korean media house, SBS, and they did not release their episode. Really? This was a while back, though. Early 2000s. So.

So it had worked in the past. It worked in the past. And even the producers were a little bit nervous. Now, the injunction was thrown out, meaning Netflix was free to release the episodes, to which the director of the series stated, I hope many people watch those episodes to see just how cruel and scary religious cults can be.

I will say it's not over. Then Baby Garden files a lawsuit against Netflix for good old defamation, demanding them to pay nearly $10,000 per day that the episodes were available on the streaming platform, with the total amount at that point being a quarter million dollars. The lawsuit took place in Korea, from what I can see, and essentially it was thrown out by the judge. Now, I will say if it gets thrown out in Korea...

It doesn't even stand chance in places like the United States. Like even the SBS injunction. I wonder if it was taking place in the United States. I don't think that Baby Garden would have won. Yeah. So it's very interesting how that's done. But according to some sources, Baby Garden was also allegedly ordered to pay for the other party's legal fees. But she did sue the author of the book, the prosecutor working on the case, the one that we were able to interview, managed to get $17,000 in damages from him.

But that was the least of his concerns. According to our interview, it seems like Kim used a lot of her money and influence to get him technically, I don't want to say out as a prosecutor, but basically made his life so difficult that it would be hard for him to continue down his career trajectory. Or at least that's how it felt to a lot of people. We asked the prosecutor if he ever regretted going against Baby Garden because clearly it impacted his career. He said, as a human being,

I can't say that I have regrets. I did suffer a lot of damages. Sometimes I can't lie. I do wonder, did I have to go that far? Did I have to take it that far? But if I think about it, if I went back to that time, would I make that same choice again? Yes, because if I can just save one person from baby garden, I would feel a great sense of accomplishment. So the losses I suffered, it's not that big of a deal.

About the trial process, he said, "There was no one helping me, and I was being systematically harassed. Handling that case with limited people and conducting all three trials alone, I just felt very lonely. No one was helping me, and instead, people were trying to bring me down. That was the most hurtful thing in the end. Looking back now, it seems like I was too ambitious taking on a case like this. It should have been handled by a larger office.

But when the victims filed complaints with other jurisdictions with larger DA offices, nobody wanted to take it because the Baby Garden influence was that large. No prosecutor wanted to do it. I was young. I was naive at the time. I just had this sense of justice, I guess. And I recklessly jumped in and I tried to fight as hard as I could. When victims of the Baby Garden had thanked Prosecutor King for his work, he said...

Every time I hear those words, I feel choked up with emotion. And I realized once again that the sacrifices made were not meaningless. They were worthwhile. He now has his own private practice. But he does say this about Kim. That woman is truly evil. She is an evil woman that is extremely clever.

A victim said about the situation, it's not enough that Kim received a light punishment compared to her evil deeds, but also after her release, she is enjoying her wealth as if she's mocking the world. It has now been reported that Kim is suffering from dementia and is receiving treatment in Seoul. Yeah. I don't think that's karma enough. Yeah. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments. Have you heard of Baby Garden? And please stay safe and I will see you in the next one.