Imanhee Murder Charge Filed... Local Leaders' Strong Response to Shincheonji, Comprehensive Pressure (Summary)

Seoul City Files Murder Charges Against Shincheonji Leader Lee Man-hee
Local Governors Apply Comprehensive Pressure Including Legal Actions Against Shincheonji
Shincheonji Appeals to Stop Attempts to Criminalize the Group

On the afternoon of the 28th of last month, the entrance to the Shincheonji Jacob Branch meeting place in Hadan-dong, Saha-gu, Busan was closed. Busan city officials announced that they conducted an emergency night inspection of the facility on that day.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] On the 1st, the Seoul Metropolitan Government filed a complaint with the prosecution against Lee Man-hee, the founder of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), holding them responsible for the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Other local government heads are also applying all-round pressure by taking legal actions against Shincheonji. On the same day, Shincheonji expressed dissatisfaction through an appeal, asking not to blame the believers.

Among domestic COVID-19 confirmed cases, those related to Shincheonji Daegu Church have exceeded 2,000. At a regular briefing on the 1st, Kwon Jun-wook, deputy head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, announced that as of 9 a.m., out of 3,526 confirmed cases in the country, 2,113 were related to Shincheonji Daegu Church. This accounts for 59.9% of the total confirmed cases.

In Daegu, it is known that out of 2,569 total confirmed cases, 1,877 are related to Shincheonji Daegu Church. The quarantine authorities are also analyzing infection routes and believe that a significant number of cases under investigation are related to Shincheonji Daegu Church.

Deputy Head Kwon explained, "Looking at the nationwide distribution, not only is the patient ratio high in Daegu, but within Daegu, the proportion of Shincheonji believers is also high," adding, "So far, the COVID-19 outbreak in our country is a situation where a specific central group is excessively driving the spread."

He continued, "In regions excluding Daegu or other large central groups, the probability of confirmed cases is very low, whereas the areas centered around Daegu show an unusually high number of cases."

On the 28th of last month, Cheonan City in Chungnam announced that it had closed eight facilities related to Shincheonji Church of Jesus within the region and completed disinfection.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Seoul City Files Complaint Against Lee Man-hee and Shincheonji Leadership on Charges Including Murder

Given the situation, public opinion is growing that Shincheonji is responsible for the spread of the COVID-19 infection. Local government heads have filed complaints with investigative authorities, citing omissions in the list of believers submitted by Shincheonji.

On the 1st, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon stated on his Facebook, "We have filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office against Lee Man-hee, the founder, and the 12 branch leaders on charges of murder, injury, and violation of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act."

Mayor Park asserted, "Only by conducting a forced investigation on them can the infectious disease be controlled as soon as possible," and added, "If they had taken proactive measures, many citizens could have been prevented from dying or being injured."

Seoul City filed the complaint against Lee Man-hee and the 12 branch leaders around 8 p.m. that day. Regarding the background of the complaint, Seoul City explained, "The accused have refused testing and have taken no measures to ensure that believers actively cooperate with quarantine authorities to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

On the 1st, around the Shincheonji Daegu Church area in Jung-gu, Daegu, more than 50 soldiers from the 2nd Operations Command are conducting disinfection and sterilization operations to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), forgetting even the holiday. [Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ "Judicial System Must Clearly Intervene" Daegu and Gangwon File Complaints Against Shincheonji

Earlier, on the 28th of last month, Daegu City filed a complaint with the police against Shincheonji Daegu Church officials for violating the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act.

The complainant is Kwon Young-jin, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City, and the accused include those responsible for submitting and managing Shincheonji Daegu Church data.

On the 27th of the same month, Daegu City announced that after comparing the list of Shincheonji believers residing in Daegu, including those from other regions and trainees of Daegu Church, obtained from the government, with the list secured by Daegu City, they identified an additional 1,983 believers.

Daegu City views these actions by Shincheonji Daegu Church as causing confusion in infectious disease quarantine measures.

Gangwon Province requested a police investigation after finding discrepancies in the movement paths of one of two Shincheonji believers confirmed with COVID-19.

Governor Choi Moon-soon stated at a briefing on the 1st, "There were several inconsistencies between the testimonies of confirmed patients and their actual movement paths, so we requested a police investigation. After checking CCTV footage, card usage records, and phone location tracking, we were informed that the movement path of one Shincheonji believer residing in Chuncheon did not match."

Governor Choi emphasized, "Thorough investigation of Shincheonji is the core of this situation," and added, "So far, administrative investigations have led to complaints, but progress is slow, so the judicial system must clearly intervene."

Kim Simon, spokesperson for Shincheonji Church of Jesus, made a statement regarding the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) on his YouTube channel at 3 PM on the 28th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Shincheonji Appeals to Stop Attempts to Criminalize the Group

Meanwhile, amid the ongoing complaints against Shincheonji, the group issued an appeal titled "An Appeal to Political Leaders" on the same day, requesting to stop attempts to criminalize Shincheonji as a criminal organization.

Shincheonji claimed, "Local governments are competing to file complaints against Shincheonji over issues with the list of believers," and added, "There are also continuous reports alleging that Shincheonji is concealing related facilities."

They continued, "Although our capabilities are limited, we are cooperating as much as possible with local governments to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We have even received encouragement from the relevant local governments," and appealed, "Please do not blame Shincheonji believers and help us to actively cooperate."

They further stated, "We sincerely apologize for the infections caused by some believers who were confirmed positive without disclosing that they were Shincheonji members."

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