JYP’s religious group First Fruits registers as a non-profit corporation, which draws ‘red flag’ concerns

It’s been reported that First Fruits, the religious group that Park Jin Young gives Bible lectures for, has registered with Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a non-profit corporation. The registration says it’s a pastoral business for evangelism through events like seminars, retreats, lectures, education, missionary work, publishing, and more.

The report by Ilyo Shinmun has detailed some “red flags” about the corporation, starting with JYP Entertainment‘s previous insistence that Park Jin Young was not behind First Fruits, yet they sure seem deeply involved individually or through connections.

The said “Bible seminars,” however, refer to Bible lectures conducted by JYP himself. Ilyo Shinmun also confirmed that, in the public disclosure documents for First Fruits’ non-profit corporation financial statements, the CEO is No Seok Hee—a fitness trainer who appeared on KBS’s Golden Girls alongside JYP in October 2023. A JYP Entertainment representative has since clarified that No is not an employee of JYP Entertainment. But there has been a large donation of ₩25.0 million KRW (about $18,900 USD) made to First Fruits from JYP Entertainment’s vice president, Byun Sang Bong.

There were also serious concerns raised about the theological qualifications of people like JYP to be preaching.

Second is the theological validity of JYP’s Bible seminars. In a past seminar video, JYP himself noted, “I have not studied theology at a theological school, nor am I a pastor, but I want to shed light on freedom as someone who has been liberated.”
According to Ilyo Shinmun, pastors teaching the Bible to church members have typically completed graduate theological studies and take ordination exams with their affiliated denomination. Before taking the ordination exam, they study church history, church constitution, and learn sermon writing along with their thesis. And so, there is stigma surrounding the famous K-Pop superstar, who, despite lacking formal theological training, not only interprets the Bible without being part of an established denomination but also lectures on it.

Additionally, First Fruits has a closed-off nature that in addition to the lack of theological study, concerns at least one pastor.

Last is the “closed nature” of First Fruits’ activities. The official First Fruits website requires membership registration and login to access certain pages (like the “Location” or “FAQ” pages) and attend worship. As most cult-related activities take place behind closed doors, First Fruits being secretive is inevitably suspicious.
Pastor Kim Young Han commented via Ilyo Shinmun, “It is dangerous to preach the Bible without studying orthodox theology, and it is concerning that they have even established a corporation. Just as consuming food with unknown origins can lead to illness, the closed nature of First Fruits’ corporation raises concerns about potential cult-related issues.”

All of this sounds like valid reason for concern in a vacuum, with many of the netizen reaction being obvious in terms of worrying about things becoming cult-like.

Still, this might not even make the news if it was anybody but JYP, but the reason for the increased concern surrounding this is because not only was he subject to criticism when First Fruits started and he was preaching, but also he has previously been accused of involvement with the controversial Salvation Sect back in 2018, and as far as I know we’re still waiting for his response.

Hey, maybe it’s nothing and people are overreacting (hopefully), but it’s hard to say the concerns about this venture are unfounded.