Jeon Gwang-hoon Issues Public Statement... "Government's Confirmed Case Numbers Have Clear Flaws"

Senior Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, is responding to reporters' questions as he enters the courtroom for the first trial held on the 29th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon and the Sarang Jeil Church, at the center of the COVID-19 resurgence, stated in a position paper that "there are clear flaws in the number of confirmed cases announced by the government."

On the 20th, Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon and the Sarang Jeil Church issued a "public statement" through a full-page advertisement in a media outlet, claiming, "The government is forcing unlimited testing on Sarang Jeil Church, groups participating in the Gwanghwamun rallies, and the general public involved, thereby expanding the number of confirmed cases."

They argued, "If testing is expanded infinitely to people who are not contacts according to quarantine authorities' guidelines and asymptomatic individuals, naturally the sample size increases, resulting in more confirmed cases; conversely, fewer tests lead to fewer confirmed cases." They raised suspicions, saying, "When one confirmed case from Sarang Jeil Church was reported, the government forced testing on people who were not identified as contacts and those who have not attended the church for years, and if any of them test positive, they are all announced as confirmed cases of Sarang Jeil Church."

The Sarang Jeil Church criticized, "Forcing unlimited submission of lists, testing, and quarantine on citizens who are not contacts according to quarantine guidelines is an abuse of authority and illegal detention."

The church also claimed, "Currently, the quarantine authorities disclose the total cumulative number of tests, total cumulative confirmed cases, and daily reported confirmed cases on their official website, but they do not disclose the daily number of completed tests. Going forward, the government should announce ratios rather than absolute numbers." They further urged the government to disclose to the church all evidence such as movement paths and contact timings of all confirmed cases announced as related to the church.

Meanwhile, the quarantine authorities dismissed the claim that Sarang Jeil Church members are automatically confirmed positive when tested for COVID-19 as "rumors."

At a regular briefing held yesterday at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Director of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, stated, "It is impossible to artificially manipulate (COVID-19) test results," and emphasized repeatedly, "It is also impossible to interfere with a doctor's judgment."

Previously, some had claimed that health centers deliberately issued positive COVID-19 test results only for members of this church. There were even claims that some confirmed cases' test results changed from positive to negative, questioning the reliability of the tests. The quarantine authorities classified these rumors as "fake news" and reaffirmed that test manipulation is impossible.

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