Shincheonji Omits Chinese Followers During 'COVID-19 Pandemic Phase'... Why?

Can Shincheonji Be Trusted Amid Repeated List Omissions and Non-Cooperation?

On the afternoon of the 20th, health officials from Nam-gu Public Health Center in Daegu were conducting disinfection near the Shincheonji Daegu Church in Daemyeong-dong, Nam-gu, Daegu. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] It has been confirmed that among the believers of the Shincheonji Jesus Church in Daegu, which has been identified as a 'hub' for the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in South Korea, there are two Chinese nationals. On the 19th, when the COVID-19 outbreak was spreading beyond the church to the local community, the list submitted by the Shincheonji Daegu Church did not include any believers of Chinese nationality, the origin of COVID-19.

◆ Why were Chinese believers omitted during the 'COVID-19 pandemic phase'? = On the 28th, Daegu City announced that among the 1,983 believers newly identified from the Shincheonji Daegu Church list, there were seven foreigners, including two Chinese nationals. By nationality, there were 2 Chinese, 2 Americans, 1 Japanese, 1 Australian, and 1 South African. It has not yet been confirmed when they started residing in Korea or whether they recently attended worship services at the Shincheonji Daegu Church.

Regarding this omission, the Shincheonji Daegu Church denied hiding the number of believers. A church official said, "Trainees are not believers, so their names were not submitted initially, but recently, after consultations between the General Assembly headquarters and government authorities, the list was newly submitted." In response to this denial, Daegu City stated, "Shincheonji claimed at the time that they did not send the trainee list because it did not exist," adding, "It has been revealed that they omitted believers from the list submitted to Daegu City, and we will respond strongly, including filing charges against those responsible."

As COVID-19 spreads nationwide, the omission of believers, including Chinese nationals, from the Shincheonji Daegu Church list is considered a serious negligence beyond a simple mistake. On the 19th, when Daegu City received a list of 9,334 believers from the Shincheonji Daegu Church, community transmission centered on the church had already begun. Nearly 2,000 people who had visited the Shincheonji Daegu Church during the 'golden time' (the critical period to prevent casualties in accidents or disasters) were omitted. The number of Chinese believers among the initially identified 9,334 was not disclosed. However, there has been a case where a Chinese believer who attended the Shincheonji Daegu Church was confirmed with COVID-19 in Busan.

Daegu City decided on the previous day to file charges against the person responsible at the Shincheonji Daegu Church for omitting believers from the list submitted to Daegu City, under the 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act.' They are also considering filing charges against those who concealed their status as believers or gave false statements during epidemiological investigations by health authorities.

On the afternoon of the 28th, personnel wearing protective suits are heading to work at Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital in Jung-gu, Daegu, where isolation beds for confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have been prepared.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Can Shincheonji be trusted amid 'repeated list omissions and non-cooperation'?= Recently, Shincheonji has been criticized as a 'patchwork' due to omissions in the lists submitted to the government. Among the COVID-19 infected in Busan, four were confirmed as Shincheonji believers, but all four were omitted from the entire Shincheonji believer list. This is a representative example. The entire believer list submitted to Daegu City is also difficult to trust.

Gyeonggi Province is also focusing on the possibility that Shincheonji concealed or manipulated the believer list, based on analysis of the list obtained through forced investigations related to COVID-19. On the 25th, Gyeonggi Province secured a list of 33,582 Shincheonji believers in the province, 9,930 attendees of the Shincheonji Church worship service in Gwacheon on the 16th, and 22 residents who attended the Daegu gathering, through a forced epidemiological investigation of the Shincheonji General Assembly headquarters in Gwacheon. Regarding this, Governor Lee Jae-myung stated, "The 20 Gyeonggi believers who attended the Daegu gathering submitted by Shincheonji to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 22 people secured through forced investigation were completely different individuals," adding, "Among the newly identified 22, nearly 20%, or 6 people, showed symptoms."

Such actions by Shincheonji also make their explanation regarding the entry of Chinese believers into Korea difficult to trust. Shincheonji stated, "Since December last year until now, 88 Chinese believers have entered Korea, and they have not visited the Daegu or Gyeongbuk regions," asserting that no Shincheonji believers from the Wuhan church in China have entered Korea. According to Shincheonji, among the 88, 39 have returned to China, and 49 remain in Korea, residing in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas.

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