Despite 'Gyeonggi-do Noise'... Shincheonji 212,000+ People Fully Surveyed Today

Final Struggle in Government-Shincheonji Negotiations Due to Gyeonggi Province's Forced Execution

Officials from the Daegu Nam-gu Office Health Center are conducting disinfection near the Shincheonji Daegu Church. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The government announced that it has received a list of approximately 212,000 members from Shincheonji Jesus Church and will begin a full-scale investigation of COVID-19 starting on the 26th.

The government received the list of about 212,000 church members from Shincheonji around 10 p.m. the previous day. This list was delivered to local governments nationwide that morning and investigations will begin immediately. Priority testing will start with high-risk groups among the believers who show suspected COVID-19 symptoms, such as those with underlying conditions or elderly individuals.

The full list of believers submitted by Shincheonji to the government reportedly does not include trainees such as prospective members. The government plans to actively encourage these individuals to also undergo COVID-19 testing.

The government has already secured a list of about 9,000 members belonging to the Shincheonji Daegu Church, where a cluster infection occurred, and has placed them under self-quarantine, conducting tests starting with those who reported suspected symptoms.

Meanwhile, the government had planned to secure the full list of Shincheonji members by the afternoon of the previous day, but negotiations were somewhat delayed after Gyeonggi Province forcibly conducted an epidemiological investigation of Shincheonji affiliated facilities ahead of schedule. Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung independently carried out a forced epidemiological investigation of Shincheonji affiliated institutions in Byeolyang-dong, Gwacheon City, starting at 10:30 a.m. the previous day.

A government official stated, "Although there were difficulties such as the suspension of talks with Shincheonji due to Gyeonggi Province's forced epidemiological investigation, we continued to persuade them and successfully concluded negotiations to secure the list."

In response, a Gyeonggi Province official rebutted, "'The delay in government negotiations due to Gyeonggi Province's epidemiological investigation' is unacceptable. Rather, after the epidemiological investigation ended, when the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters requested cooperation on-site, Gyeonggi Province staff could not withdraw and had to remain at the site."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.