Gyeonggi-do Extends Shincheonji 'Facility Closure and Assembly Ban' Until the 22nd

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will extend the forced closure of facilities related to Shincheonji Church of Jesus until the 22nd. During this period, gatherings of believers are also prohibited.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 8th that, due to the spread of local infections of the "Novel Coronavirus Infection" (COVID-19), it has decided to extend the forced closure and prohibition of gatherings at Shincheonji-related facilities until the 22nd.

Earlier, on the 24th of last month, the province issued an emergency administrative order to forcibly close all 415 facilities in the province where Shincheonji gatherings could be held and banned gatherings for two weeks until that day.

On this day, the province will dispatch 54 staff members in 27 teams to the sites of Shincheonji facilities to enforce this administrative order.

Meanwhile, as the government and local governments have requested restraint on events within religious facilities, as of this morning, among 212 major churches in the province (with more than 5,000 believers in large cities and more than 500 in small and medium cities), 157 (74.1%) have switched from in-person worship services to online or video worship services.

In particular, among 76 major churches that had planned to hold in-person worship services normally the day before, 21 switched to online or video worship services today in response to requests for social distancing cooperation from the province and city/county governments.

Earlier, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung stated on Facebook on the 7th that 2,858 churches were attempting to proceed with "gathering worship," and that he was seriously considering issuing a "gathering ban order" for the safety of 13.6 million residents of Gyeonggi Province.

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