Controversial pastor blamed for virus resurgence imprisoned again

Jun Kwang-hoon, center, a pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, is escorted by the police as the Seoul Central District Court canceled his bail, Monday. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Populist conservative pastor Jun Kwang-hoon, who is at the center of recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections, was jailed again Monday after the Seoul Central District Court revoked his bail.

The court accepted the revocation request from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and also confiscated a 30 million won ($25,284) bail bond.

The pastor of the Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul, a hotbed of the recent new resurgence of the coronavirus, was accused by prosecutors last month of violating his bail conditions by participating in a mass anti-government demonstration in Seoul, Aug. 15.

The decision comes 140 days after Jun was released on bail during an investigation into charges he violated the Election Law ahead of the April 15 general election. He was also charged with libel against President Moon Jae-in. Jun's conditions for bail included a ban on attending all illegal rallies or protests, or those related to the investigation.

Prosecutors plan to execute an arrest warrant for Jun in the morning and send him back to a detention facility. The pastor tested positive for COVID-19 two days after he took part in the Aug. 15 rally. He was subsequently hospitalized and later discharged Sept. 2.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 119 new COVID-19 infections for Sunday, including 108 local ones, raising the total caseload to 21,296. Among the 119 local cases, the majority came from the greater Seoul area, including 47 in the capital, 30 in Gyeonggi Province, and one in Incheon, west of Seoul. Two more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 336, and the fatality rate to 1.58 percent.

Although the day's additional cases marked the fifth consecutive one of less than 200, and the fewest since Aug. 27, when daily new cases reached a peak of 441, the health authorities remain alert over continued sporadic infection clusters across the country.

Cases tied to the Sarang Jeil Church, reached 1,162 as of noon Sunday. The church-tied cases marked the largest cluster in the country following the more than 5,000 infections traced to the minor religious Shincheonji sect reported in Daegu in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak in late February and early March. Some 527 patients have been reported in relation to the anti-government rally in the capital.

Nine cases were detected in the southeastern port city of Busan and the southwestern city of Gwangju reported seven new infections.

“Today's statistics alone cannot conclude that the spread has subsided yet, so we can't let our guard down in containing the highly contagious virus,” KCDC Director Jeong Eun-kyeong said in a regular briefing. “The positive signs in the virus fight are mainly due to the public's effort to comply with stricter social distancing rules.”

The government extended its tougher social distancing measures by another week in the greater Seoul area from Monday. Under what has been dubbed Level 2.5 curbs, eating at restaurants and small eateries is only allowed until 9 p.m., while franchise coffee chains, bakeries and ice cream parlors are permitted to offer only takeout and delivery services.