A pastor who was a leader of the Korean Methodist Church (KMC), one of Korea's major Protestant denominations, criticised the health authorities' prevention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic and blamed the previous government for the spread of COVID-19 from China. The pastor claimed that Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church of Jesus) was used as a scapegoat for the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Earlier, on the 7th September, at the Korean Evangelical Council (Hanbok Association) September monthly prayer breakfast and theme presentation held at Grace Gwangseong Church, Pastor Seong-woong Won, who served as the director of the Seoul Conference of the Korean Evangelical Council, asked, 'How should the Korean Christian Church have coped during the era of the coronavirus pandemic?' He gave a presentation on the topic.

According to the full presentation published by the Protestant media 'News Power', Pastor Won said, “Due to the COVID-19 virus that has continued for three years, not only society but also the worship and religious lives of Christian churches have suffered great difficulties.” “Following the announcement that members of Shincheonji Church in Daegu had spread the coronavirus in our country, the public’s complaints were directed at Shincheonji Church,” he said.

He said, “This was an attempt to use Shincheonji Church as a political scapegoat,” and added, “It is similar to the case of the ferry sinking of MV Sewol, which distorted the public’s attention by focusing on the religion of Byung-eun Yoo, the owner of the Sewol ferry, by reporting on it even before a scientific cause analysis was conducted.”

At the same time, he said, “Nero, the Roman emperor of the 1st century AD, when rumours began to circulate that the great fire that occurred in the city of Rome at that time was ‘arson,’ devised a plan to divert the resentment directed at him towards the Christians of the time. They spread a false rumour that the Christians had set fire to the city of Rome. Nero then conducted a large-scale persecution of Christians, and during that period, the apostles, including Peter and Paul, and numerous believers were martyred.”

Pastor Won also said, “I cannot help but point out that the health authorities’ guidelines were excessive and biased purely towards Protestant churches.” He added, “The authorities thought that the cooperation and compliance of the churches in Korea was the church’s ‘obedience,’ and beat the church like a ‘neighbourhood drum.’ They continued without hesitation to criticise and blame Shincheonji Church for the worsening coronavirus situation.”

He emphasised, “When it comes to worship and religious life, church leaders must be authorised to issue guidelines for worship even during times of emergency so that they can have autonomy and exercise self-control and restraint themselves.”

Pastor Won also spoke about his position on the principle of the separation of church and state. He said, “The principle of ‘separation of church and state’ is the separation of spheres and the principle of mutual respect to ensure that politics is not under the church and the church is not a servant of politics,” and added, “Our country (Korea) is a country without a state religion, but freedom of religion that is guaranteed by the constitution for all people.” “Freedom of worship, which is the essence of religious freedom, cannot be sanctioned by the state or government under any circumstances, including war or epidemic,” he argued.