Court Rules "In-Person Religious Gatherings Under 20 People Allowed in Seoul"

[Asia Economy Reporter Tae-min Ryu] The court has put a brake on Seoul City's ban on in-person religious gatherings.

The Seoul Administrative Court's 11th Administrative Division (Presiding Judge Woo-chan Kang) partially granted the suspension of execution request filed on the 16th by Shim and others, pastors and seven churches in Seoul, against Seoul City, asking to suspend the effect of the ban on in-person church services.

According to the court's decision, religious organizations in Seoul can hold in-person worship services, masses, and Buddhist ceremonies with attendance limited to 10% of the total capacity, within a maximum of 20 people. If 10% of the total capacity exceeds 19 people, attendance is capped at 19.

The court added a proviso that basic quarantine rules such as seating with spacing, restricting entry of symptomatic individuals, managing visitor logs, and wearing masks must be strictly observed during in-person religious gatherings.

The court pointed out the fairness issue by stating, "Most of the Level 4 rules applied to other multi-use facilities only restrict operational methods or set upper limits on the number of attendees, but do not impose a complete ban." It further stated, "There are religious organizations for which non-face-to-face worship services, masses, and Buddhist ceremonies are difficult or practically impossible," and added, "A complete ban on in-person religious events may pose a risk of fundamentally infringing on basic rights."

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