Tag: Shincheonji

It can be argued that Lee Man-hee’s acquittal shows that the government was looking for a scapegoat to blame for the first major COVID outbreak last spring and he was the easy mark:

A local court on Wednesday acquitted the leader of a minor religious sect of charges of obstructing the government’s response to COVID-19 during an outbreak at his church last year.

Lee Man-hee, the 89-year-old founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was indicted in August on charges of misleading health authorities on the size and locations of the church’s gatherings in February, which were blamed for a massive spike in coronavirus cases in the country.

Prosecutors sought a five-year prison sentence and a 3 million won (US$2,738) fine for Lee, saying he mocked the government’s authority and obstructed its efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the leader of the Shincheonji Church will be the fall guy for his church spreading coronavirus in Daegu:

The leader of a minor religious sect at the center of the early coronavirus outbreak in South Korea was arrested early Saturday for allegedly obstructing the government’s efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.

A local court in Suwon, south of Seoul, issued an arrest warrant for Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. 

Lee, 89, is suspected of submitting false documents to health authorities on the number of participants at the sect’s gatherings and where the gatherings took place in February, when the fringe religious sect became a hot spot of the virus spread in the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

He is also accused of embezzling 5.6 billion won (US$4.68 million) from church funds and holding unauthorized religious events from 2015-19.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is what the founder of the Shincheonji church had to stay about the spread of the virus through his church in Daegu:

Lee Man-hee, founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, issued an apology Monday as his secretive sect is investigated for manslaughter for refusing to cooperate to stop the deadly coronavirus outbreak.  

“Regarding the mass infections linked to Patient No. 31, I, as the leader of Shincheonji, offer a sincere apology to the people,” said Lee, 88, in a press conference. “We had no intention [to allow it], but many were infected. We did our best, but we could not completely stop [the spread of the disease]. I apologize to the people.”

After Patient No. 31, a 61-year-old woman and a Shincheonji follower in Daegu, was diagnosed last month, health officials said she may have helped spread the disease. As of Monday morning, 3,260 infections were reported in Daegu and nearby North Gyeongsang. 

In his first public appearance since the church emerged as a nexus in the outbreak, Lee, who founded the controversial doomsday sect in 1984, said Shincheonji is “actively cooperating” with the government and all gatherings of the followers have been stopped. “We will do our best to offer all human and material resources to the government,” he said. 

After reiterating apologies and begging for forgiveness from the government, Lee dropped to his knees and touched his head to the ground twice. “Now is not the time to investigate who is at fault,” he said, “and heaven will help us.” He also asked the public not to “misjudge” his followers. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but Lee Man-hee seems a bit shall I say not all there. However, prosecuting this guy for manslaughter seems to be political to me, unless the church was intentionally spreading the virus which I have seen no evidence of.