Tracking 'Sarangjeil Church and Gwangbokjeol Rally Participants,' Police Considering Rapid Response Team Deployment

8559 Police Rapid Response Team Members Operating
Contributing to Preventing Spread at Shincheonji and Itaewon Clubs

COVID-19 Positive Jeon Gwang-hoon Attends Gwanghwamun Rally
Infection Disease Control Act Violation Punishable
Prosecution Requests Bail Cancellation; Election Law Trial Likely Delayed

Choo Mi-ae: "Neglecting Public Protection Is Not a Privilege Granted to Religious Leaders"

As the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) related to Sarang Jeil Church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, led by Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, exceeded 300, the alley leading to Sarang Jeil Church was blocked on the 18th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] As the cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading centered on Sarang Jeil Church led by Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, the police are expected to deploy a rapid response team to track down missing believers and participants of the Liberation Day rally.

According to the National Police Agency on the 18th, the police recently received an official letter from the Seoul Metropolitan Government requesting overall cooperation regarding the response to the COVID-19 cluster infection at Sarang Jeil Church. Accordingly, if the quarantine authorities specifically identify individuals and request location tracking, the police plan to deploy the rapid response team to verify this.

When the Shincheonji Church of Jesus (Shincheonji) COVID-19 cluster infection occurred in February to March this year, the police formed a rapid response team of 8,559 personnel from related departments including criminal investigation, investigation, women and youth, and intelligence across police stations nationwide. During the Shincheonji cluster infection, the police identified about 9,000 missing believers and handed over the information to the quarantine authorities. The police rapid response team was also deployed during the Itaewon club incident in May to track locations.

The tracking of Sarang Jeil Church believers and Liberation Day rally participants is expected to proceed similarly as before. First, the quarantine authorities will initially confirm locations, and if contact is not made, they will request assistance from the police. The police will then track the individuals through telecommunications base station connection records, credit card usage history, and closed-circuit television (CCTV).

On the afternoon of the 15th, Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church is speaking at a rally condemning the government and ruling party held in front of Donghwa Duty Free Shop in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Previously, tracking of suspected infections related to Shincheonji and the Itaewon clubs was conducted with some form of attendee lists secured, allowing tracking to be completed within 1 to 2 days. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the day before that they could not contact 1,045 related persons including Sarang Jeil Church members, but since there is a list of these individuals, location tracking is expected to be swift.

The problem lies in tracking the approximately 20,000 participants of the Liberation Day rally at Gwanghwamun. Since there is no separate list of rally participants and the contacts are unspecified many, tracking inevitably takes time. Additionally, the anti-quarantine behavior of believers, such as fleeing after a Sarang Jeil Church member was confirmed COVID-19 positive and later being arrested by the police, may also pose obstacles.

It is expected that punishment for Pastor Jeon will be inevitable. Pastor Jeon has been reported to the government and Seoul Metropolitan Government for violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. The charges also include obstruction of epidemiological investigation similar to Shincheonji, such as omission and concealment of believer lists. Previously, Lee Man-hee, the head of Shincheonji, was arrested and brought to trial on the same charges.

Pastor Jeon was detained in February for violating the Public Official Election Act but was released on bail on April 20 under conditions restricting attendance at rallies and demonstrations. However, he attended the Liberation Day rally and was diagnosed with COVID-19 two days later. Since the prosecution has requested the court to revoke his bail, the decision on bail cancellation will be made through a court hearing after isolation treatment. The trial for the Public Official Election Act violation, which was scheduled to conclude in September, is also expected to be delayed.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae posted on Facebook on the same day, criticizing Pastor Jeon, saying, "The privilege to ignore the risk of COVID-19 to neighbors and society and to disregard the common good and public protection should not be granted to self-proclaimed religious leaders."

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