South Korean Shincheonji Church Leaders Free From Legal Calls For The Spread Of COVID-19

JAKARTA - A South Korean (South Korean) court acquitted the leader of the Shincheonji Church of charges of obstructing efforts to prevent the first major spread of COVID-19. The spike in COVID-19 cases in Daegu City is the first to occur outside China.

Quoting Reuters, Wednesday, January 13, 2021, a church leader named Lee Man-hee, was accused of violating the Contagious Disease Control and Prevention Act (UU). As a result, he refused to provide a list of church members requested by the health authorities to track the transmission of COVID-19.

Shincheonji Church was at the epicenter of the first major COVID-19 epidemic outside China in early 2020. Nearly 4,200 of its 310,000 followers became infected with COVID-19 after attending services at the church.

Authorities at the time complained that Lee Man-hee had not fully cooperated. He was reluctant to provide a list of names of people who might attend services at the church.

Lee Man-hee denied that he had done anything wrong. He apologized that several church members had contracted the coronavirus. The Suwon District Court later acquitted him of the charges, saying the list of church members was not a key element of the epidemiological survey as defined in the law.

The court, however, found Lee guilty of embezzling 5.6 billion won in church funds to build residences and use government facilities for religious services without his consent. As a result of this action Lee Man-hee was given a suspended four-year prison sentence.

The church welcomes Lee Man-hee's release of guilt for the spread of COVID-19. But the church expressed "deep regret" that he had been convicted on other charges. Lee Man-hee's side will appeal to prove his innocence.

On February 18, 2020, a woman or what was called the 31st patient of COVID-19, was known as a super spreader in South Korea. The woman participates in mass events for the Shincheonji Church congregation.

Patient 31 passed the virus on to other congregations as well as other residents in Daegu City. Suddenly the COVID-19 cases in South Korea jumped drastically in the span of two weeks. The peak is on February 29, 2020, when in one day there are more than 800 new cases of COVID-19. Most of the new cases were from Daegu City.

The South Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) immediately investigated the followers of the Shincheonji Church. Authorities believe that members of the group infected each other during the worship process and spread to South Korea undetected.

As a result of the incident, Shincheonji Church has faced sharp criticism at home. Lee Man-hee apologized to South Koreans in March 2020 for the number of cases related to him. But the church rejected claims that his actions contributed to the spread of the virus.

In August 2020, Lee Man-hee was arrested by the authorities for withholding information about church congregations and other gatherings. The church argued that Lee Man-hee was concerned about the privacy of his members, but never withheld information from the authorities.