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Shincheonji founder under criminal investigation
Former members of Shincheonji Church and activists demonstrate in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul on Thursday, condemning church founder Lee Man-hee for playing a role in spreading the coronavirus. / Yonhap
By Kim Se-jeong
By Kim Se-jeong
Suwon District Prosecutors' Office is investigating Shincheonji Church founder Lee Man-hee for his alleged role in the fast spread of the coronavirus in Korea, the office said Sunday.
Of 3,526 confirmed patients, 2,113 are Shincheonji members, according to the government, Sunday.
Last Thursday, a group of former Shincheonji members filed a criminal investigation with the prosecutors' office accusing Lee of disrupting the government's effort to contain the virus.
“By submitting fake documents, he has impeded the government in its epidemiological efforts against the new coronavirus,” the group said in front of the district prosecutors' office. Failing to comply with the government in the infectious disease-led crisis can be punished with up to two years' jail.
Initially, the church refused to share the list of more than 200,000 church members with the government. Under growing pressure, the church finally handed the list to the government, but still drew criticism because it was allegedly incomplete and inaccurate.
The group claimed Lee was behind the church's misinformation attempt.
On Sunday, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon also asked chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl to detain Lee quickly.
“The prosecution must detain him for the spread of the new coronavirus,” Park wrote on Facebook. “That's what the prosecution is for. If the church and Lee do not act, the city will also request a criminal investigation for homicide by willful negligence.”
Earlier, Park complained that the list of members the church provided did not match the names the city obtained itself. Park accused the church of doctoring the list.
In addition to the false information in the documents, the sect also lied about its missionary work in Wuhan. The church repeatedly denied until last week that it had made new converts in the Chinese city, which is the epicenter of the new coronavirus. The Ministry of Justice said Saturday that 42 Shincheonji members had entered Korea from China since July.
If the prosecution detains Lee, it would be another high-profile case involving a religious sect. In 2014, the prosecution hunted down another religious sect leader blamed for the Sewol ferry disaster, in which more than 300 passengers died.
A Shincheonji expert said secrecy was the sect's defining trait and that the church would not fully comply without a show of physical power.
The expert also warned that the number of confirmed cases would continue to grow unless the government cracked down on the church's missionary work, whose main strategy is to join other churches as supposed new converts and then poach the churches' members.