Q1 2020: Shincheonji Church & COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea

by - 15:50

According to Worldometer, there are 9786 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 162 deaths in South Korea, as of March 31st 2020. Following the confirmed diagnosis of the 31st patient on 18th February, there was a significant increase in the number of cases nationwide. 'Patient 31' is a congregation member of Shincheonji Church in Daegu. Domestic media outlets immediately attributed the growth of domestic cases to Shincheonji Church and published numerous allegations including that Shincheonji Church submitted inaccurate reports of its churches, congregation members and affiliated buildings worldwide to government and health authorities, and tried to impede efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Yet a team of forensics dispatched by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) carried out thorough investigations at Shincheonji Church's headquarters in Gwacheon and concluded that there was very little difference between the lists submitted to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and local government authorities. However, just a handful of domestic media outlets decided to publish these findings.

Domestic media continued to publish numerous wild accusations against Shincheonji Church based on mere rumour and hearsay in an attempt to permanently damage the church and its membership which numbers roughly 245,000 worldwide.  The callousness of the media in publishing claims that have no factual evidence has fuelled severe anti-Shincheonji sentiment. After Shincheonji Church of Jesus handed over its list of Daegu church members to public health authorities on February 19th, congregation members’ personal information was leaked, resulting in roughly 4000 church members receiving severe persecution that includes forced leave of absence from work, domestic violence, discrimination and insult. Two women even took their own lives; one of these two congregation members who was living in Ulsan had been suffering long-term domestic abuse from her husband because of her affiliation to the church, which she had previously reported to police authorities. What makes this even worse is that foreign media outlets have jumped on the bandwagon, publishing these lies far and wide without factchecking for themselves.

An increasing number of leading human rights organisations including the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and influential religious leaders of the Christian and Muslim faith are speaking out and denouncing the media's deplorable practices with changes to journalistic ethics and standards being drafted by democrats in South Korea.

Shincheonji Church has done everything in its power since the confirmed diagnosis of 'Patient 31' to comply with local health and government authorities and curb the spread of this vicious pandemic, which no one would have asked for, and regularly publish and update their efforts on their official website:-
http://enblog.shincheonji.kr/p/coivd19-response.html

Shincheonji Church recently stated that cases related to human rights violations in relation to the coronavirus have exceeded 7000 nationwide. Its church members are one of the biggest victims of COVID-19 in South Korea. Yet with growing calls for justice and factually objective-based reports, my belief is that the second quarter of 2020 will help change the public's gross misconceptions about Shincheonji Church.

News Publications
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)

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)

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5 comments

  1. Unknown2 April 2020 at 05:13

    偽ニュースに揺れないで真実を見てお互いに頑張りましょう。

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown2 April 2020 at 06:52

    Many people want to break the prejudice or awareness of the Shincheonji and come to the Shincheonji where the truth is together.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown3 April 2020 at 00:21

    I would like to abandon my misunderstandings and prejudices, and many people would admit the words from there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jzi-Nyle3 April 2020 at 17:51

    Thank you for sharing this helpful information!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ellie Charlotte24 April 2020 at 17:32

    The more I read these articles, the more I feel that people seem to be not interested in the truth. Only find provocative things. Truth is not interested in them. Thank you for writing a good article, noah.

    ReplyDelete

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