As of 17th May 2020, South Korea has registered 168 known cases of COVID-19 from a case that emerged in Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife scene in early May 2020. Korean media has not shied from voicing its criticism of the incident with young men and women fearful of coming forward for testing of COVID-19 for fear of having their names made public. Yet on May 10th, the South Korean prime minister spoke at a meeting of the conference of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19, saying, "In the viewpoint of quarantining, denunciation of a particular group doesn't help. If contacts avoid diagnostic testing out of fear of criticism, our whole society will have to shoulder all the consequences."
The response by the Korean central government and local governments to a potential second outbreak of COVID-19 has been radically different to their response to the primary outbreak that centred on "patient 31" on February 20th - the 31st confirmed case of a female congregation member of Shincheonji Church in Daegu. The central government and local government officials immediately labelled Shincheonji Church as the 'epicenter' of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, enforcing "maximum measures". Shincheonji Church responded to all government instructions and immediately shut down its Daegu branch church, all 73 branch churches throughout South Korea and all branch churches worldwide, forbidding gatherings of any kind with services being held online. Although megachurches throughout Korea resumed worship service two weeks ago, Shincheonji Church has decided to remain shut until the pandemic has come to a complete end.
Moreover, the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Seoul's Itaewon neighbourhood took place as social distancing measures were being relaxed while the unfortunate case in Shincheonji Church, Daegu, occurred during a worship service when there were no social distancing measures deemed necessary by the government. “Patient 31” and Shincheonji Church were following government guidelines at that time.
As the Korean prime minister said, denouncing a particular group is wrong and the virus can be transmitted to anyone within a confined space. Yet Shincheonji Church members have been on the receiving end of very severe persecution that has led to two deaths because of their affiliation to Shincheonji Church. Moreover, domestic and international media outlets and Korean politicians have framed Shincheonji Church a 'cult' and the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
Renowned Italian sociologist and founder and Managing Director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), Massimo Introvigne, discussed the issues facing Shincheonji Church amid the pandemic. Dr. Introvigne has highlighted his concerns about the victimisation of Shincheonji Church by Korean and international media outlets, saying, “Shincheonji has become a scapegoat during this epidemic.” He added, "I was horrified to come across so much inaccurate nonsense about Shincheonji in international media outlets." Moreover, in contrast to media allegations made from 18th February that Shincheonji Church had supplied incorrect data of its churches, members and buildings worldwide, the Korean deputy minister of Health, Kim Kang-lip himself said that the “discrepancies were minor and that Shincheonji had not been guilty of supplying incomplete or false data.”
Shincheonji Church has published its statement in response to media allegations as follows:-
“This is our earnest request: please stop the cursing and hatred towards Shincheonji. And we ask some media outlets that are slandering and suppressing Shincheonji using unconfirmed information and fake news to stop immediately.”
Shincheonji Church's response to allegations in light of COVID-19 can be found here:-
News Publications
After the Coronavirus in South Korea: Intolerance Against Shincheonji (EIN Newswire 08/05/2020) ▶https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/516496839/after-the-coronavirus-in-south-korea-intolerance-against-shincheonji
Broadcasting Centres Raise Audience Ratings through 'Shincheonji Hatred'…“Enormous and Malicious Influence on National Progress” (Cheonji Daily 18/03/2020)
Controversy over Gyeonggi Provincial Government’s Response to COVID-19 as number of infected members from the established church is 2.4 times higher (Cheonji Daily 18/03/2020)
"Coronavirus and Shincheonji: Stopping the Witch Hunt" (02/03/2020) ▶https://www.cesnur.org/2020/shincheonji_appeal.htm
Coronavirus: USCIRF decries South Korea for blaming Shincheonji Church (Muslim Community Report 10/03/2020)▶http://bit.ly/2Qhpmdz
Four criticisms of 'Shincheonji Doctrine' brought to light… If you only believe in external sources, that’s a 'disgrace' (Cheonji Daily 04/03/2020) ▶https://bit.ly/2wGAslq
IndependentFromBeliefs (March 2020)
International NGOs Warned the South Korean Human Rights Crisis in the Coronavirus Outbreaks (NAWE 16/03/2020)▶https://www.nawe.bi/International-NGOs-Warned-the-South-Korean-Human-Rights-Crisis-in-the.html
Lies regarding the Coronavirus about Shincheonji 신천지 (03/03/2020)
Prohibition of 'Hateful, Speculative and Distorted' Reporting Proposed under Natural Disasters Act (EDaily 17/03/2020)
Prosecution investigates membership list provided by Shincheonji Church Headquarters: “No hidden members; they reported a true list” (Newsis News Agency 17/03/2020)
Quarantine Official: "Confirmed case of COVID-19 in Daegu had existed before ‘patient 31’" (Daum News 22/03/2020)
Quarantine Official: "Confirmed case of COVID-19 in Daegu had existed before ‘patient 31’" (Naver 22/03/2020)
"Shincheonji didn't lie about membership figures." (The Korea Herald 17/03/2020)
Understanding Pandemic Monitoring Without Scapegoating: The Truth about Shincheonji (11/05/2020)
White Paper on Shincheonji and Coronavirus
Massimo Introvigne, Founder of Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) (17/03/2020)
Rosita Šorytė International Observatory of Human Rights of Refugees (IOHR) ▶https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8IqLUegjT4
Alessandro Amicarelli, Attorney, European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) ▶https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9NlpXQC9E
Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF)
Official COVID-19 Response by Shincheonji Church of Jesus
•0307 Chairman Man Hee Lee asks "all congregants to fully cooperate for disease control" in a special announcement
•0302 Statement at Press Conference of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19
•0302 Regarding COVID-19 Testing of Chairman Lee, Man-hee of Shincheonji Church of Jesus
•0301 Letter of Appeal to Political Leaders
•0228 Letter of Appeal from Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Regards to COVID-19
•0226 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Provided a List of All Members to Public Health Authorities
•0223 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19
•0222 Over 1000 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Locations Disinfected and Closed Down in Korea
•0221 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Closed Down Its Churches and Affiliated Buildings from 18 Feb
•0220 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19 Countermeasures and Fake News
•0219 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
•0218 Notice on the Worship Service of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Regards to COVID-19
COVID-19/Fact Checker: Q&A on Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
A lot of people think that the cause of the coronavirus incident is Shincheonji, but, a recent article shows that rumors are not true.
ReplyDelete