Sarangjeil Church "Stop Shifting Responsibility and Threatening the Public with Claims for Reimbursement"

Sarangjeil Church "Never Refused Epidemiological Investigation or Obstructed Quarantine"
Seoul City Plans to Claim Compensation from Sarangjeil Church

On the 20th, as the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues, the scene of Sarang Jeil Church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Seoul City announced its intention to claim damages from Sarang Jeil Church, where a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred. In response, Sarang Jeil Church immediately protested, saying, "Stop shifting the responsibility onto the church and the participants of the 815 rally."

The legal team of Sarang Jeil Church and the National Emergency Response Committee of 815 Rally Participants (NERC) held a press conference at Gwanghwamun Square on the afternoon of the 1st, stating, "The Moon Jae-in administration, which has been blaming the people for the COVID-19 crisis, has now gone so far as to claim damages," and asserted, "Sarang Jeil Church has repeatedly stated that it did not refuse epidemiological investigations or obstruct quarantine activities."

The NERC criticized, "(The government) suppresses and threatens groups it dislikes, conducting witch hunts through baseless and illogical division of the people," adding, "They are branding the people of Gwanghwamun as witches, using the media to burn them at the stake, and now, as that tactic fails, they are threatening the people with the despicable weapon of damage claims."

They described Sarang Jeil Church and the 815 rally participants as victims of the government's quarantine failures, saying, "Despite the government's wrong signals being the main cause of virus spread, they are desperately trying to shift all responsibility for quarantine failures onto Sarang Jeil Church and the 815 rally participants." The NERC also announced at the press conference that they would file complaints against Jeong Eun-kyung, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Jang Ha-yeon, Chief of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Park Gyu-seok, Chief of Jongno Police Station.

Meanwhile, Seoul City announced on the same day its plan to soon claim damages from Sarang Jeil Church. They plan to file a lawsuit early this month after reviewing the scope of responsibility and compensation amount related to Sarang Jeil Church’s violation of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. They will also consider whether to claim damages from other institutions such as the National Health Insurance Service for costs incurred in treating confirmed cases and quarantine efforts.

The National Health Insurance Service previously stated that it would recover unjust enrichment or claim damages for approximately 5.5 billion KRW in medical expenses it covered for confirmed cases related to Sarang Jeil Church. The police are also conducting a focused investigation into Sarang Jeil Church’s obstruction of quarantine measures.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases related to Sarang Jeil Church reached 1,083 by noon on the day. Among them, 419 cases were linked to the rally held at Gwanghwamun on the 15th of last month.

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