Baby Garden cult drops injunction request against Netflix

Religious cult Baby Garden dropped its request for an injunction against Netflix to ban the broadcast of the documentary “In the Name of God” on Monday.

However, its injunction request against broadcaster MBC and the producer of the series, Cho Sung-hyun, remains in place.

Baby Garden, also known as Agadongsan in Korea, and its leader Kim Ki-sun submitted a partial appeals withdrawal on Monday against Netflix Services Korea, Netflix’s Korean subsidiary to the Seoul Central District Court, according to media reports.

“In the Name of God” is a Netflix original documentary produced by MBC and Cho, known for his investigative journalism shows. The documentary, released on March 3, exposes four different religious organizations in Korea, all with highly controversial allegations against them including murder, rape and pyramid schemes.

Netflix Services Korea is only responsible for subscriptions and membership management within Korea. Decisions about what content gets distributed come from the U.S. headquarters.

The religious organization filed for an injunction against Netflix, MBC and Cho on March 13, claiming episodes five and six of the documentary that discusses Baby Garden contain false information. The request also demanded MBC and Cho pay Baby Garden 10 million won ($7,600) every day in compensation if the broadcast is not suspended.

Another cult exposed in the documentary, the pseudo-Christian religious organization Jesus Morning Star, more commonly known by the acronym JMS, also filed an injunction to ban the release of the documentary in February. That injunction, which was denied, was only against MBC.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]