[Q&A] Park Won-soon "Lee Man-hee must apologize to the people... Seoul City prepares for worst-case scenario"

Complete Survey of Shincheonji Believers
833 Refusals, Joint Investigation with National Police Agency

Shincheonji Falsifies List of Gwacheon Worship Attendees
1 Confirmed Case Found on 1st

"Not Believers but Leadership Responsible
Must Promise Cooperation in Information Disclosure"

Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul (Provided by Seoul City)

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 2nd, after the regular briefing related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon emphasized in the subsequent Q&A session that Lee Man-hee, the president of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and its leadership should apologize to the public and show responsibility.

Seoul City announced that it has completed investigations on 28,317 Shincheonji believers and 9,689 trainees, and that a joint investigation with the police was conducted on 833 individuals who refused to be investigated or were unreachable. Currently, there are 891 symptomatic individuals, with 388 specimens collected, and one confirmed case was found on the 1st.

The following is a Q&A with Mayor Park.

▲You filed a complaint against President Lee Man-hee.

=Anyone can be infected with the coronavirus. That is unrelated to their intention. The problem is that this situation is so serious that it accounts for almost half of the confirmed cases nationwide, yet the leadership including President Lee Man-hee should naturally come forward before the media and the public and cooperate fully, but they are not doing so. They should accurately provide the list of believers, actively comply with the prohibition of gatherings and closure of venues, but they have not done so properly and sometimes provided false information. Because of this, the number of confirmed cases in Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and nationwide has increased at an enormous rate, and a considerable number of people have died. From a legal perspective, this case can be subject to punishment at least under the doctrine of dolus eventualis. We requested their cooperation as soon as possible. After conducting a full investigation on the Shincheonji believers provided, we received from Gyeonggi Province the list of attendees at the Gwacheon worship service, and it was revealed that more than half, 2,748 people, concealed their attendance at the Gwacheon worship. This is not the responsibility of the believers but of the leadership. I believe they should apologize to the public, promise full disclosure and cooperation, and be punished.

▲Among the 833 cases investigated jointly with the police, you said 274 cases will undergo tracking investigation. How will this be conducted specifically?

=In the case of the Shincheonji group, statistically, it has been confirmed that the infection rate is very high at the Daegu and Gwacheon gatherings. We will accurately identify the attendees and isolate them by tracing their movements. A detailed analysis of confirmed cases shows a high proportion of young people.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

▲There is concern about asymptomatic infection among Gwacheon worship attendees. Can they be tested at screening clinics?

=Even if they are Shincheonji believers or asymptomatic, if they feel any symptoms, they can visit screening clinics for testing. This applies even to undocumented immigrants. There have been reported cases of infection while asymptomatic. We plan to strengthen the capacity of medical services about fivefold compared to now.

▲Does Seoul City have plans to secure hospital beds for mild patients?

=Seoul City has already secured 1,300 single-isolation beds mainly at municipal hospitals. Even among confirmed patients, there are mild and very severe cases, and we have requested strategic and rational distribution. We also asked for about 10,000 beds to be prepared. No matter what worst-case scenario occurs, Seoul City must be prepared.

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