“This negative stigma is already deeply rooted in Korea and, by extension, in Korean immigrant communities in countries such as the United States. For this reason, Shincheonji has been a simple target to blame and outrage COVID-19,” Michelle Lee, a California-based Shincheonji member, told Fox News. “Members have suffered mental, emotional, professional, social and physical harm as a result of this unjust persecution of Shincheonji.”
In February, at the start of the attack on the disease, which originated in Wuhan, China, the government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in presented a stalled response, which critics condemned as naive and seeking to continue to have compatibility earlier than anticipated. . Parliamentary elections in April. Opposition parties criticized China’s ban as it deserved to have been implemented in late January.
As the death toll increased, the government pointed the finger at Shincheonji Church, characterized as a mysterious sect resembling a sect, claiming that 80% of the 1,800 infections at the time came from end-of-the-world fans.
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However, the faithful say that the blame game has intensified and is an attempt to divert attention.
Korean Justice Minister Cho Kuk has been accused of Shincheonji of condemning his policy of prosecution, and South Korea’s Deputy Fitness Minister, Kim Gang-lip, has denounced the church’s top leaders for lack of cooperation in transmitting members’ tactile data for follow-up and testing purposes.
However, church members say that when the hands pointed in their direction, very few physical fitness ordinances were issued. On its official website, Shincheonji states that “all cults take position online, and meetings and meetings are completely suspended until the new coronavirus outbreak ends.”
Representatives swear that their headquarters were closed on 18 February, in front of many other establishments, and that the occasions planned for the end of the month were cancelled.
“General social estrangement regulations were not in place in South Korea at the time of the epidemic. At the time of the outbreak, the government was unsure whether COVID-19 would be more contagious than MERS, and the president had suggested to citizens to lead a general economic life,” Lee promised. “Even two days after the confirmation of coVID-19’s 31st patient, President Moon hosted a party for the film’s director and cast”.
However, Shincheonji remains on Seoul’s radar. Earlier this month, church leader Lee Man-hee, 88, was arrested and charged with “intentional and negligent homicide” for allegedly handing over incomplete and expired reports to the government for finding, as well as an incomplete list of church properties. like embezzleer. Lee Man-hee is lately in criminal proceedings awaiting prosecution, and it is unclear whether and when he will be tried.
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The government claims to have asked for a full list of amenities and members, which were allegedly forged through Lee Man-hee. The government also noted that since the first member tested positive for the new pathogen, more than 5,000 instances have been reconnected to the group.
However, Michelle Lee and Shincheonji denied wrongdoing and insisted that they had cooperated with law enforcement, including in the face of serious privacy considerations and a developing public response.
“When the government asked for a full list of members, the list was provided through the church despite considerations about the privacy and protection of members if their association revealed,” Michelle Lee insisted. However, the touch list was leaked and shared very temporarily through online network posters, municipal bulletin boards, social media and messaging platforms. This has led to instances of discrimination and persecution, adding unwanted touches from foreigners, unfair dismissals of jobs, and university academics were told to leave public places such as dormitories if they were loyal to Shincheonji.
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He also noted that it is “difficult to say that all numbers and addresses are up to date because the member data is through themselves and communicated through individual faithful,” which “could have made some members inaccessible.”
In addition, a civic organization accused Lee Man-hee of embezzlement of Church funds, and in July, seven other senior church officials were charged through Suwon District Court last July for violating South Korea’s infectious disease law.
Shincheonji, which translates as “a new sky and a new earth,” claims to have some 210,000 members in South Korea and another 40,000 abroad. His complete call is the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the temple of the tabernacle of testimony. It was founded through Lee Man-hee in 1984, who is advertised as the “promised pastor”.
According to Michelle Lee, the persecution disorders, supposedly exacerbated by the new epidemic, began several years ago.
“Shincheonji Church is a cult through many Protestant denominations. This stigma is the result of the hostility of the Protestant denominations towards Shincheonji due to the large number of other people who leave the Protestant denominations to move to Shincheonji,” he said. “This has led to discrimination and persecution in the form of verbal harassment, office discrimination, physical assault, domestic violence, kidnapping, forced isolation and forced detention in psychiatric facilities.”
In June, the church claimed to mitigate some of the flashbacks by providing plasma to the 4,000 members who had recovered from the coronavirus to expand the vaccine. According to the Wall Street Journal, at that time, only two hundred survivors in South Korea had presented their blood after recovery.
As things stand, South Korea, a country of 51 million more people, has recorded just over 16,300 instances of the pathogen and three hundred deaths. And while Shincheonji has been the top culprit in the more than six months, other devout establishments are now also under fire.
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On Sunday, Sarang Jeil Church, led by the Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, a conservative pastor and staunch anti-moon activist, was accused of defying the country’s self-isolation regulations and hindering the search for contacts, leading to an increase in infection rate with some 240 reported cases from practitioners.
Moon promised to take “severe and forceful measures” against devout teams regarded as “a threat to public life,” which raised suspicions that the focus of the devout teams is on those who politically oppose their leader and leftist position.
“Blaming a devout minority organization only exacerbates the challenge and is a flagrant violation of individual freedom of religion. It also does not help prevention or quarantine efforts, as fitness officials have stated,” Michelle Lee added. “Instead of wasting our time blaming each other, we unite as human beings who suffer this crisis and paint together to finish it.”
The U.S. Embassy in South Korea responded to a request for additional comments.