South Korea Testing 200,000 Members of ‘Cult’ Tied to Majority of Country’s COVID-19 Cases

Health officials in South Korea are planning to test more than 200,000 followers of a secretive church after it was determined that about 60% of the country’s COVID-19 coronavirus cases were linked to the church, which is regarded by many as a cult.

 

With at least 977 cases of coronavirus reported in South Korea as of Tuesday, the country has maintained its position as the nation with the most confirmed cases of the disease outside of mainland China. on Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae In raised the country’s alert level to “grave” - the highest level possible - and urged health officials to take “unprecedented powerful measures,” according to the AFP.

 

Of the 977 COVID-19 cases confirmed in South Korea, over 80% have been in the city of Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province. The Guardian reported Tuesday that over 60% of those infected have been linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, and as a result, health officials will begin testing the nearly 215,000 followers of the church, according to a statement from the office of South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye Kyun.

“We have constantly requested the list [of members’ names] based on our assessment that it is essential to test all of the church members in order to contain the spread of the virus and relieve public anxiety,” the statement read.

 

Vice Health Minister Kim Kang Lip noted that officials’ top priority is to test 1,300 of the 9,200 Shincheonji members that are exhibiting symptoms by Wednesday.

 

“We will make utmost efforts with the goal of stabilizing the situation in Daegu within four weeks,” he added during a Tuesday briefing, reported the AFP.

 

Shincheonji is regarded as a doomsday cult by many mainstream churches in the country due to its secretive nature and founder Lee Man Hee’s assertion that he is the second coming of Jesus and will take 144,000 followers to heaven on Judgment Day.

Sputnik reported last week that the church had temporarily shuttered the doors of its branch in Daegu. However, Moon announced on Sunday that the government had ordered the closing of all Shincheonji churches in the country, noting that it was “a fair and inevitable step” in favor of public health as the coronavirus crisis in South Korea had entered into a “totally different phase since the mass infection at Shincheonji,” reported the Washington Post.

 

According to the Korea Herald on Monday, a petition calling for the dissolution of the church has gained over 552,000 signatures since its Saturday posting. The Blue House is expected to officially respond to the matter in the coming days, as the petition has met the required threshold of 200,000 signatures in one month.

Lee and Shincheonji have maintained that the followers of the church are the true victims, and in an online letter, the self-proclaimed messiah noted that his church has “been actively cooperating with the government to prevent the spread of the virus and overcome the outbreak,” reported the AFP.

韓国政府　「新天地イエス教」信者全員のウイルス感染検査へ

韓国政府は25日、緊急措置として、宗教団体「新天地イエス教」指導部が加入者名簿の提出に応じた後、加入者全員に対し、新型コロナウイルスの有無を検査することを明らかにした。

この緊急措置は、韓国内の800人以上の感染者のほぼ60％が同団体の南東部の大邱市周辺に住む信者であることを受けて発令された。同団体の大邱市の礼拝堂で感染が一気に広まった事実が確認されている。

24日夜の段階で韓国の公式的な発表では国内の感染者数は833人、そのうち8人が死亡している。

한국, 코로나19 감염자 977명 사망자 10명

한국의 코로나19 감염자가 970명이 넘고 사망자는 10명에 달했습니다.

문재인 대통령은 대구를 방문해 감염 확산을 막기 위해 전력을 다하겠다고 강조했습니다.

문재인 대통령은 25일 오후 코로나19 감염자가 집중적으로 발생하고 있는 대구를 방문해, 현지 병원 등에서 보고를 받았습니다.

이어 대구 시장 등과 대응책에 대해 협의하고 "이번 주 안으로 확진자 증가세에 뚜렷한 변곡점을 만들어내야 할 것"이라며 감염 확산을 막기 위해 전력으로 대응하겠다고 강조했습니다.

대구에서는 신흥종교 신천지 교회에서 집단 감염이 발생해 급속도로 감염이 확산된 것으로 보여 정부가 신도 명단을 확보했고 전원 조사할 방침이라고 밝혔지만, 집단 감염이 발생한 상세 경로는 밝혀지지 않고 있습니다.

한편 한국 정부는 25일 오후 코로나19 감염자가 25일 오전보다 84명 늘어 977명이 됐으며, 사망자는 10명이라고 발표했습니다.

또, 대한항공의 국제선 승무원 1명이 코로나19에 감염된 것으로 밝혀져 감염 경로 등을 확인하고 있습니다.