Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Conservative pastor holds rally at his church despite intensifying criticisms
People take part in a rally hosted by Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, head of the Christian Council of Korea, Sunday. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
A conservative civic group decided to hold a rally in a church instead of its usual massive outdoor rallies, Sunday, showing a complete lack of concern for warnings that mass gatherings would increase the fast spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The group said it hosted the anti-government rally at a church in Seoul, to mark the March 1 Independence Movement Day, while it had called off its weekly outdoor rally Saturday.
The organization made the decision to “allay people's worries” over the spread of the virus. Jun has been leading the weekly rallies during weekends at Gwanghhwamun Plaza. Most participants of the rallies are senior citizens who are considered to have more vulnerable immune systems, so the group's mass gatherings had stoked serious concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
Jun has been detained since Monday for breaking the Election Law by asking participants in a rally to support a specific political party in April's general election. The pastor filed for a review of the legality of his confinement, but a Seoul court decided Thursday to keep him in custody.
Although the Seoul City Government has banned rallies at major public squares, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism urged religious groups to refrain from such demonstrations and weekend masses, the group had not changed its stance up until Saturday.
As criticism intensified, Jun insisted that what they held was a worship service, not a rally, and that the March 1 rally at Gwanghwamun had been reported to the Jongno Police Station. When the police refused to give permission, the group filed an injunction with the Seoul Administrative Court to suspend the police's prohibition of the rally. The court, however, dismissed the case brought by the organization against the superintendent of Jongno Police Station.
With the court's decision, the police were able to take measures such as blocking the entry of participants in advance, and breaking up the rally.
The conservative group decided to proceed with the event at their church despite the warnings. The group blames the rapid spread of the COVID-19 on the Moon Jae-in administration saying it failed to impose an immediate quarantine in the early stages of the viral outbreak.