Shincheonji, CNN and BBC Report "Korean Government Exaggerates Connection to Shift Responsibility"

Lee Man-hee, the president of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), is holding up a letter at a press conference related to the COVID-19 situation held on the 2nd at the Shincheonji Palace of Peace in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Shincheonji, identified as the epicenter of the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), repeatedly claimed in interviews with foreign media that "the Korean government is trying to shift the blame onto Shincheonji."

On the 1st (local time), Kim Shin-chang, Director of International Missions at Shincheonji, stated in an interview with CNN, "Our believers are fully cooperating transparently with authorities to control COVID-19," adding, "The authorities are exaggerating Shincheonji's involvement to divert criticism onto us."

Kim also said, "There were 357 Shincheonji believers in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, the origin of COVID-19, but there is no record of any believers entering Korea from Wuhan since November last year."

He continued, "Since COVID-19 started in December last year, there is no need to check believers' travel records from July onward," and claimed, "I wonder if the government is exaggerating the connection or trying to shift responsibility onto Shincheonji."

He added, "I want to ask the Ministry of Justice why they do not verify all Koreans or Chinese who came from Wuhan after July, and why only the number 42 related to Shincheonji was disclosed."

Kim said, "We want to apologize to all citizens for the concerns we caused," and explained, "We closed all offices to prevent further spread. The delay in our administrative procedures was because believers were working from home as much as possible under self-quarantine." He emphasized, "There may have been areas where we could have done better, but we did our best under the circumstances."

Regarding allegations aired by the British BBC that Shincheonji concealed the list of believers to hinder tracking investigations, he said, "We provided the authorities with lists of believers, students, and buildings," adding, "We were concerned about disclosing such information for the safety of our believers."

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