Shincheonji Busan Church "No Concealment of Believer Numbers... List of 16,000 Submitted"

On the afternoon of the 28th of last month, Busan city officials conducted an emergency nighttime inspection to verify the closure status of the Shincheonji Jacob Branch meeting place in Hadan-dong, Saha-gu. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji) Busan Church clarified on the 2nd that claims from some quarters that the number of believers in the Busan area is being concealed are not true.

The Shincheonji Busan Jacob and Andrew tribes issued a statement on the same day, stating, "We clearly declare that the claim that the number of believers is being concealed in the Busan area is not true."

The Shincheonji Busan Church stated, "We have already submitted a list of 16,884 people at the request of health authorities," adding, "The two tribes closed their facilities on February 19, immediately after the 31st confirmed case occurred in the Daegu area, and completed disinfection over two days on the 19th and 20th. From the 19th, all activities were prohibited, and worship was replaced with online or home worship."

They continued, "We are actively cooperating with local governments' requests such as self-quarantine and specimen diagnosis according to government guidelines," emphasizing, "Among the five confirmed cases in Busan, two are from the Andrew tribe, one is from the Jacob tribe, but the remaining two are not believers from the two Busan tribes."

They further explained, "The believers belonging to the Busan area churches are three in total: Busan-7 and Busan-12 from the Andrew tribe, and Busan-76 from the Busan Jacob tribe, who are understood to have visited Daegu," adding, "It is true that five confirmed cases are Shincheonji believers, but only three are from the Busan area."

The entrance to the Shincheonji Jacob Branch meeting place in Hadan-dong, Saha-gu, Busan was closed on the afternoon of the 28th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding suspicions that the list was omitted or reduced, the Shincheonji Busan Church explained, "To dispel suspicions of omitting the believer list, we showed the believer management system to visitors from Busan City on February 29," adding, "When the government provided the list, it was sorted mainly by Busan addresses rather than by tribe or church, so there may be differences in the list."

In response to the question, "How are you dealing with believers who cannot be contacted?" they replied, "From the first day of the full investigation, we have been cooperating actively by deploying personnel to 16 districts and counties. We are notifying all believers to cooperate actively."

However, they also said, "There are believers who worry that their identity as Shincheonji members might be revealed to family, workplace, or acquaintances, and some do not answer calls out of fear of persecution," adding, "It is true that some believers cannot come forward because they are afraid of the witch-hunt-like media, political, and established church slanders that blame Shincheonji for most of the COVID-19 crisis."

Finally, the Shincheonji Busan Church stated, "Our believers are citizens who faithfully follow government policies and are not intentional spreaders," and added, "We earnestly ask to stop further witch-hunt-like public opinion campaigns. We will actively cooperate with the government and local governments for the early resolution of the COVID-19 crisis."

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