Seoul’s Big Detective Work: A Christian Sect in the Crosshairs
Picture this: the Seoul mayor, Park Won‑soon, floods Facebook with a dramatic plea. “Where are you, the leaders of the Shincheonji Church? Can we be in the same place?!” Now, that’s one way to set a webpage’s mood for an explosive news story.
Why the Sudden Heat‑up?
- COVID‑19’s Silent Guest: Over 4,000 confirmed cases in South Korea—most of them traced back to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a hush‑hush sect founded by Lee Man‑hee.
- Mayor Park insists the church refused to cooperate with the government, allegedly letting the virus spread unchecked.
- After a criminal complaint was filed in the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee and 12 other key figures are now on the docket for potential murder and disease‑control violations.
What’s the Larger Picture?
Daegu, the city where the outbreak spiraled, had about 3,000 cases tied to its church branch. A special believer had attended services twice after a positive test in February, making the blasts of contagion inevitable. Nearby, another 600 cases popped up in Daegu’s surrounding province.
How Is the Church Responding?
While the government guards its lists—317,320 members—some local municipalities aren’t fully transparent, claiming the numbers may not be exhaustive. The church, on its part, refused to admit culpability. Instead, it issued a plea to stop “stigmatisation, hatred and slander.” A classic cannot‑counter‑big‑policy‑and‑still‑hold‑hands‑with‑civil‑society move.
Bottom Line
Seoul’s leadership wants to close the loop: they’re asking a crime‑magnitude investigation to hold the church leaders accountable for the COVID sting. Meanwhile, the world keeps watching, juggling statistics that speak in the number of 476 new cases on a single Monday and a total that tops 4,200, with 22 souls lost.
Stay tuned—because every headline in pandemic literature has a plot twist waiting for the next update.
