Updated Monday, September 7, 2009 9:53 am TWN, AFP
Controversial S. Korean 'faith-healer' in Israel
JERUSALEM -- A controversial South Korean preacher who claims to be able to heal the sick was on Sunday planning to lead a mass prayer service in Jerusalem calling for peace in the Middle East.
Jaerock Lee -- also known by his Korean name Yi Chae-rok -- was travelling at the head of a delegation of 3,000 evangelical Christians and would hold a "colourful festival and mass prayer rally for peace in the Middle East," according to a statement from the event's organisers.
The pastor claims to have more than 100,000 followers worldwide, and says he can perform miracles -- including healing the sick.
His Manmin Joong-ang Church in Seoul was expelled from the Christian Council of Korea in 1999 for "heretical" claims, according to media reports at the time, and critics have said Lee's movement amounts to a personality cult.
That year hundreds of his followers invaded a South Korean television station to halt the airing of a documentary examining Lee's claims that he could heal incurable illnesses. They were dispersed by riot police.
The Holy City, with sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, attracts millions of pilgrims every year and has been the volatile heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict for decades.
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