Park Jin-young: “We were called heretics and persecuted” ... He directly addresses the ‘First Fruits’ controversy—here’s what he had to say

[Financial News] Singer and producer Park Jin-young has directly addressed allegations of heresy and cultism surrounding First Fruits, the religious group he leads.
In a lecture video posted to the YouTube channel “First Fruits” on the 3rd, Park said, “We started hearing that we were heretics and a cult, and began facing a great deal of persecution in earnest.” He added, “Even resolving this isn’t something we do in our own way. It gets resolved appropriately at the right moment.”
He went on to say, “When people say, ‘First Fruits is heretical, it’s a cult,’ we don’t resolve it by saying, ‘No,’ arguing over doctrine, and systematically rushing to post comments under the video. Avoiding persecution isn’t something we do through our own efforts; God is the one who resolves it all.”
The religious controversy surrounding Park began with allegations in 2018 that he was connected to the Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea. At the time, he drew a distinction in a social media post, saying, “The Bible study group has nothing to do with the organization of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea,” and, “I don’t belong to any church or denomination.”
First Fruits, which began as a Bible study group, has since grown into a church that holds meetings at eight locations in South Korea and abroad, including Seoul, Busan, and Los Angeles in the United States.
In a video titled “What denomination is Park Jin-young’s church?” last September, Park explained that First Fruits has doctrines of its own influenced by Wesleyan Methodism and independent Baptist churches in the United States, among others. The controversy flared up again as a result, and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) began a denominational study into whether First Fruits’ teachings contain heretical elements.
In this lecture, Park also opened up about what led him to embrace faith.
He said, “When I turned 40, for the first time, things didn’t go my way. Before that, even when I failed, if I kept trying, it would eventually work out. I lived that way for 40 years. So I didn’t need God.”
He added, “But when I turned 40, I faced a desperate situation for the first time, and I didn’t know what to do. I lost confidence, so I turned to God. You need God when your confidence has crumbled.”
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter