Sarangjeil Church Announces Legal Action Against President Moon... "Insult to Assembly Participants"

The legal team of Sarang Jeil Church and officials from the August 15 Rally Emergency Response Committee held a press conference on the 28th at Gwanghwamun Square on Sejong-daero, Seoul, announcing a class-action lawsuit against the president.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The Sarang Jeil Church, at the center of the COVID-19 cluster infection incident due to the forced August 15th rally, has announced legal action against President Moon Jae-in.

The 'August 15 Rally Participants National Emergency Response Committee (NERC)' and the Sarang Jeil Church legal team held a press conference on the morning of the 28th at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, announcing a national class-action lawsuit, claiming that President Moon insulted and defamed Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon and the rally participants. They argue that President Moon's criticism targeting Sarang Jeil Church constitutes defamation.

At a meeting with Korean church leaders the previous day, President Moon strongly criticized Sarang Jeil Church, saying, "A specific church has refused the government's quarantine policies and rather obstructed them, resulting in nearly 1,000 confirmed cases so far," and added, "They should apologize to the people, but instead, they are brazenly claiming conspiracy theories and loudly protesting, still refusing to cooperate with the government's quarantine measures."

The NERC and the legal team stated, "Due to the president's remarks, the church members have been stigmatized as criminals, suffering not only from the pain of COVID-19 infection but also from mental distress such as personal insults," and declared, "We will take legal action against the president personally."

They also raised criticism against the United Future Party. The NERC said, "Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, who referred to the people at Gwanghwamun as reckless and unforgivable, now calls the Gwanghwamun people far-right forces," adding, "Their support rate, which briefly rose, is falling again, and they are trembling in surprise." They continued, "Instead of calling the people unforgivable or far-right forces, they should reflect on their own incompetence and cowardice."

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