WOMAN DIES IN EXORCISM RITUAL, POLICE SAY.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

A South Korean woman died from injuries she suffered while her husband and two other men tried to drive ``evil spirits'' from her body during an exorcism, police said Friday.

All three men have been jailed on suspicion of murder in the slaying of Kyung Chung, 53, who died about 6 a.m. Thursday, some four hours after paramedics were called to the Century City apartment where the ritual took place, said Los Angeles Police Detective Ron Phillips.

Each of the suspects - identified as Jae Chung, 49, the victim's spouse, and two other men, Sung Choi, 41, and Jin Choi, 46 - was held on $1 million bail and could be arraigned as early as Monday, Phillips said.

Phillips said both Chois, who are not related, were Korean-born, but he was unsure of their immigration status.

Investigators were awaiting an autopsy to learn exactly what killed the woman, but she ``died of internal injuries sustained in a ritual performed on her by three individuals who believed they were trying to remove evil spirits from her body,'' Phillips said.

No weapons or ritualistic instruments were involved in the exorcism, but ``a lot of bodily force was used against her,'' the detective said. He declined to elaborate.

``We believe at the beginning (of the ritual) it was probably consensual,'' the detective said. ``What happened after that, we're still trying to find out.''

Phillips also said he did not know what, if any, affiliation the suspects had with religious groups or cults, and he said no religious symbols such as crucifixes, were found at the scene.

But Sung Choi, believed to have directed the ritual, was described to police by people who know him as a ``missionary'' who has performed exorcisms on other occasions in other countries, Phillips said.

The police account of circumstances leading to the exorcism were sketchy, but according to Phillips, the victim and her husband arrived in the United States from South Korea on a business trip Monday, and later met Sung Choi.

The couple apparently had no previous acquaintance with either Sun Choi or Jin Choi, but ``one thing led to another'' and all four individuals ended up Wednesday in an apartment in the gated Century Park Lane complex in Century City, Phillips said.

It was there that the woman underwent two, three-hour exorcism sessions. One session started in the afternoon, and the second one began that night and lasted until about 2 a.m. Thursday, when one of the men realized ``they were in trouble,'' and called 911, Phillips said.

The victim's husband and Sung Choi were arrested at the scene. Jin Choi was arrested later in Glendale.

The owners of the Century City apartment, who were not identified, were not present at the time, and it was not clear what arrangements were made for the four people involved in the exorcism to have access to the home, Phillips said.

Phillips, who played a role in the O.J. Simpson murder probe, said that in the 20 years he has spent investigating homicides, ``I have not ever investigated a case like this.''

Although police have not suggested what religious tradition may have been involved, the incident has similarities to a fatal exorcism in Northern California last year.

Five members of a fundamentalist Christian Korean cult known as the Jesus Amen Ministries were charged with murder last March in the beating death of a young woman during a ritual to drive away demons in Emeryville.

In that case, the body of the victim was found in an apartment where she had been dead for several days.

Peter Rhee, an assistant pastor at West Hills Korean Presbyterian Church, said it is not unusual in some Korean Christian faiths, particularly Pentecostal sects, to practice the casting out of demons. Those sects place an emphasis on the rule of the Holy Spirit and on divine healing and exorcism, Rhee said.

It is, however, rare for any physical force to be used in the process, said Rhee, who is trained in the so-called ``Deliverance Ministry.''

``We don't have to use any physical power to cast out demons. We do have the ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit,'' Rhee said.

He said some Korean Christians believe that some diseases, including mental illness, can be caused by evil spirits and that those illnesses can be healed by casting out the demons.

Those evil spirits can be invited, voluntarily or involuntarily, into a person because of hatred, trauma or sexual harassment, he said.

Rhee said, depending on the exorcist's training, the evil spirits can be exorcised through prayer.