Korean actor Park Bo-gum, who starred in the hit drama "Lovers in the Moonlight," is getting flak for promoting his religion, which netizens brand as "cult", on social media.
The star is a member of the "Jesus Centered Church" that is being painted by Koreans as a cult.
On September 25, the star posted an announcement on Twitter which read, "#PrayForKorea Prayer Assembly for the Peace of Our Nation and Country. The Seoul City Hall Square at 3 pm on Oct. 2nd, 2017."
The prayer assembly is understood to be for the threat posed against South Korea by North Korea's provocations and missile tests.
According to AllKPop, "The actor's church, 'Jesus Centered Church,' which Park Bo-gum himself testified he has been attending since his birth, has officially been named 'cult' by almost all Christian organizations in Korea due to its problems, including encouraging people with serious medical conditions to use exorcism for cures and abandon medical treatment altogether. They often perform exorcisms during services."
Park Bo-gum said it was Lee Choi Suk, the church's pastor, who named him "Bo Gum," which means "treasure sword."
The actor denied that his church is a cult.
"It's just a normal church. It's not a cult or anything. If it were, I would have left the group," he said.
Park Bo-gum has not taken down his Twitter post despite the criticism it has received.
Korean netizens have mostly given negative views about the post.
On Korean news portal Nate, Park Bo-gum has been blasted for the tweet.
"Whatever his intentions are, the fact that he's using his popularity to attract people to a cult religion is deserving of hate. Please look up what kind of church he's a part of and realize why it's a problem," one netizen wrote.
Other comments are "He's stubborn, there's no helping him," "It's not that a top star has fallen to a cult, it's that a cult member has become a top star," "If he is truly a believer of his religion and wants to help spread it, he should be spreading his 'god' and not his 'church."
