"Have They Forgotten the Nightmare of the Liberation Day Rally?" Thousands Gather for 'Election Campaign' Rally, Raising Concerns Over 'Quarantine Loopholes'

Thousands Gather After Reporting 'Election Campaign' Without Capacity Limits... Concerns Over COVID-19 Spread
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Delivery Workers' Union Also Holds 2,000-Person Rally Under Election Campaign Pretext

On the afternoon of the 1st, officials from the National Revolutionary Party and the Gwanghwamun 10 Million People's Prayer Meeting are holding the March 1st 10 Million Prayer Meeting at Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Criticism is emerging that the large rallies gathering thousands of people, disguised as 'election campaigns' without restrictions on the number of attendees, are 'cunning rallies.' Concerns have been raised that holding such large gatherings is inappropriate amid the surge of over 200,000 daily new COVID-19 cases. However, there is no proper way to regulate these events, increasing citizens' worries about the spread of the virus.

The People’s Revolutionary Party, led by Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church, held the 'March 1st Gwanghwamun 10 Million National Prayer Meeting' on the 1st at Cheonggye Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul. The rally was reported as an election campaign, and it is estimated that more than 3,000 people gathered. According to current quarantine guidelines, gatherings are only allowed for up to 299 people, but it appears they exploited the fact that there is no limit on the number of attendees for election campaigns.

During the morning rally, Gu Bon-cheol, the People’s Revolutionary Party candidate running in the Jongno-gu by-election, gave a speech on stage, and in the afternoon, a prayer meeting was held where participants sang hymns and encouraged offerings while criticizing the government.

Due to the large crowd, quarantine guidelines were not properly followed at the rally. Participants who came by buses from all over the country sat closely together under flags bearing the names of their regions, waving the Taegeukgi (Korean flag), the U.S. flag, and the Ukrainian flag. Some of them occasionally removed their masks to eat food.

As a result, some citizens expressed concerns that the spread of COVID-19 might worsen. The previous August 15th rally hosted by Pastor Jeon in 2020 was considered a 'trigger for the second wave of COVID-19,' leading to criticism that holding such rallies during an infectious disease outbreak is inappropriate. After the August 15th rally, which gathered over 10,000 people, many cases linked to Sarang Jeil Church were reported, and Pastor Jeon himself tested positive.

However, despite criticism that this is a 'cunning rally' violating quarantine rules, there is no proper way to sanction it. This is because there are no separate quarantine rules or guidelines specifically for election campaigns. The Seoul city government and other quarantine authorities are reviewing legal provisions to determine whether the prayer meeting held after the election campaign violated quarantine rules.

The problem is that large-scale rallies disguised as election campaigns may continue in the future. Sarang Jeil Church plans to hold another prayer meeting in the Gwanghwamun area on the 5th.

On the 1st, citizens who visited the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza are waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

A rally disguised as an election campaign was also held last month. The 2022 National Delivery Workers' Rally held by the National Delivery Workers' Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions on the 21st of last month borrowed the format of the election campaign of Kim Jae-yeon, the Progressive Party presidential candidate. According to the organizers' estimates, about 2,000 people gathered at the rally. They also held a campaign rally in front of the CJ Logistics headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 15th of last month, where more participants gathered than the 299-person limit for rallies.

Meanwhile, quarantine authorities have stated that it is difficult to apply quarantine rules to election campaign sites. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, explained at a regular briefing on the 16th of last month, "It is difficult to apply quarantine rules to mobile campaigns occurring on the move because the size of the gathering cannot be specified. However, quarantine rules are applied as usual to election campaign events where participants can be confirmed in advance."

Son also added, "Currently, for large-scale events where more than 50 people gather, a quarantine pass is applied, requiring proof of vaccination completion or a negative test result for unvaccinated individuals. We understand that each party is trying to comply with quarantine rules as much as possible during election campaigns. We ask for basic compliance with quarantine rules at campaign sites as well."

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