Park Won-soon "Considering Claiming Compensation from Shincheonji... Guro-gu Call Center Disinfection Completed" (Comprehensive)

Seoul Reports 26 New COVID-19 Cases Compared to Previous Day
Urgent Inspections of Businesses with Large Gatherings

Proposal to Government for Emergency Disaster Living Expense Support
Targeting Vulnerable Groups Below Median Income Not Included in Supplementary Budget

Mayor Park: "Shincheonji Shows No Sign of Reflection"
Tax Investigation Initiated on Owned Real Estate and More

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] In Seoul, the number of confirmed cases related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) increased by 26 from the previous day, totaling 156. Among them, 22 cases are related to a call center of an insurance company located in Guro-gu. The city immediately closed the building entirely and conducted epidemiological investigations and contact management.

On the 10th, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon held a regular briefing on COVID-19 at Seoul City Hall and said, "We will conduct an urgent inspection to identify companies where many people work in the same space, such as call centers, and thoroughly implement infection control measures."

Mayor Park also requested the government to promptly implement emergency disaster living expense support. He proposed providing 300,000 KRW per month, totaling 600,000 KRW over two months (February and March), in the form of local love gift certificates or prepaid cards to about 8 million households with middle income or below, excluding those already covered by existing welfare programs.

Mayor Park explained, "I am well aware that there are various proposals, but we intend to proceed with discussions more realistically and concretely to ensure that benefits are distributed thoroughly." He added, "The government's supplementary budget already includes support for livelihood benefit recipients, children, and the elderly, and support for small business owners is mainly loan-based. We must provide direct and urgent support to those groups left out and those facing a livelihood cliff."

The main targets of Seoul's emergency living expense support are self-employed individuals not enrolled in employment insurance, small-scale small business owners, non-regular workers, part-time workers, freelancers, cultural and artistic workers, and adjunct instructors.

Regarding Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), the city announced it will proceed with the corporate cancellation process as scheduled.

Mayor Park emphasized, "Despite submitting inaccurate data and showing an uncooperative attitude, Shincheonji stated yesterday that even if Seoul cancels their corporate status, Shincheonji will not disband, showing no remorse whatsoever. We will hold them accountable to the end."

The city will conduct a tax investigation on Shincheonji Church until the 6th of next month. This includes a total of 30 cases, including four real estate properties acquired within the last five years, covering property tax and income tax.

Mayor Park stated, "We will seek civil liability through claims for damages for administrative costs wasted on the full investigation of Shincheonji members, quarantine expenses, and treatment costs for Shincheonji members and confirmed cases infected by them."

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