Jinju City Orders Demolition of Illegal Structures at Jinju International Prayer Center

First Phase: Voluntary Demolition of 8 Buildings Including Prayer Room
Addressing Concerns Over COVID-19 Resurgence and Public Anxiety

Illegal buildings at Jinju International Prayer Center are being demolished (Photo by Jinju City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Jinju City, Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 5th that it will proceed with the demolition of illegal buildings at the International Prayer Center located in Sangbong-dong, which became the epicenter of a COVID-19 cluster infection due to violations of quarantine rules.

This demolition initially focused on eight buildings centered around the prayer rooms, which posed a high risk of infection, out of a total of 19 buildings.

The city had already issued prior notices and correction orders regarding the demolition of the 19 illegal buildings at the International Prayer Center in January.

Following this, administrative procedures such as urging correction, imposing fines for non-compliance, and filing complaints are expected to proceed.

However, in reality, the demolition of buildings takes a long time, and there are many obstacles to enforcement.

Therefore, the city explained that considering the urgency of the matter?to alleviate citizens' anxiety and promptly rectify the violations, especially since most of the confirmed cases from the International Prayer Center have been discharged and may return to use the center as a residence?it has decided to urgently proceed with the demolition of the buildings.

The International Prayer Center is known to have recognized the seriousness of the situation in accordance with the city's zero-tolerance policy and agreed to the demolition. The remaining 11 buildings will be handled according to administrative procedures.

Until now, the International Prayer Center, an unregistered religious facility, has received administrative penalties such as fines and forced dispersal for violating quarantine rules, including holding in-person worship services.

Mayor Jo Gyu-il stated, “To create a safe and comfortable society for citizens, we will respond with a zero-tolerance policy to any matters that threaten citizen safety, such as COVID-19, to ensure that basic principles are upheld.”

The city plans to use this partial voluntary demolition of illegal buildings as an opportunity to ensure that the demolition of all illegal buildings proceeds smoothly through administrative measures.

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