The Dami Mission (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

: 다미선교회) was a Christian religious movement founded in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

by Lee Jang Rim (

: 이장림;

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 李長林). It received worldwide attention after Lee predicted that the

rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

and end of the world would occur on 28 October 1992. After the prediction failed, Lee was convicted of defrauding his followers out of millions of dollars.

History

At the height of the movement before the date of the prediction, Dami Mission was estimated to have over 300 churches and 20,000 followers. The majority were in South Korea, but there were also branches in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Prediction

Lee proclaimed that 144,000 believers would ascend into heaven on 28 October 1992 and that those left on Earth would face "seven years of war, famine and other scourges" that would kill all life on the planet and bring about the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

of Jesus Christ. The prediction was reportedly based on a 16-year-old boy's

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

. Lee wrote a book titled ''Getting Close to the End'' which outlined his prediction and the Dami Mission advertised in both the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Initial reactions

It was estimated up to 20,000 Koreans believed they would be taken into heaven at midnight on 28 October, causing a "social crisis" in Korea. A woman who had been trying to conceive for 3 years aborted her 7-month-old foetus, believing that women should not be pregnant during the end times. At least 4 followers committed suicide in anticipation. Chang-Young Mun, a 36-year-old man, died of

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

on September 8 after fasting for more than 40 days at a Dami Mission church in Los Angeles. He was one of 200 people taking part in the fast, and his death prompted calls for the Dami Mission church to be closed down. The civil authorities described it as a "dangerous cult" and other churches denounced it as "blasphemy". Police initially refused to investigate the church, citing

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. However, due to "social pressure", the church was investigated and Lee Jang Rim was arrested in September 1992 for fraud and illegal possession of $26,711 in American currency. Twenty-nine other people were charged with illegally passing out

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

. Authorities put certain churches and evangelists under constant surveillance. The South Korean military reported an increase in applications for early discharge and

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

s and announced that all material brought onto the barracks would be screened. Analysts tried to explain why so many well educated people could believe such a prediction. Han Wan Sang, a professor of social policy at

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

, said it reflected a deep despair among Koreans who are "troubled by a lack of progress in improving ties with North Korea and uncertainty over the domestic political situation."

October 28, 1992

On October 28, 54 followers dressed in white clothing burned furniture outside the Dami Mission office in

Wonju Wonju (; ) is the most populous Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gangwon Province, South Korea, with a population of 364,860 as of 2023. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. History During the time of Joseon, Gr ...

. Twenty followers in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

left $22,000 to those who were expected to stay on following the rapture. Even though their leader was in prison, 1000 pilgrims still turned up to a Dami Mission church in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

on October 28. Police took measures to prevent mass suicides, including barricading windows and stairs to the roof. As midnight approached, 1500 riot police, 200 detectives, 100 journalists, plus emergency vehicles stood outside; plainclothes detectives were stationed inside. Ten minutes after midnight a boy shouted from a window: "Nothing's happening!" No riots or further suicides were reported.

Demise

Lee officially disbanded the Dami Mission in November 1992, and apologised whilst he was in prison awaiting sentencing. On 4 December 1992, he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to two years in prison because he had collected $4.4 million from his followers to purchase bonds that did not mature until after October 28. In 2011, Lee, along with Dorothy Martin,

Pat Robertson Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (March 22, 1930 – June 8, 2023) was an American Media proprietor, media mogul, Televangelism, televangelist, political commentator, presidential candidate, and charismatic movement, charismatic minister. Rober ...

, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Credonia Mwerinde, and

Harold Camping Harold Egbert Camping (July 19, 1921December 15, 2013) was an American Christian radio broadcaster and evangelism, evangelist. Beginning in 1958, he served as president of Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that, at its peak, b ...

, who have also made predictions about the end of the world, were jointly awarded the

Ig Nobel Prize The Ig Nobel Prize () is a satirical prize awarded annually since 1991 to promote public engagement with scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a ...

for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations."

References

{{Reflist Christian new religious movements Apocalyptic groups Judgment in Christianity 1992 in South Korea Korean new religions Korean diaspora churches