Koreans accuse religious cult of spreading coronavirus

This 2014 video is called Korean Cults – Shincheonji 신천지.

This blog paid attention to the South Korean Shincheonji religious cult before.

Their leader is 88-year-old Lee-Man-hee, about whom the organisation claims he is immortal and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

They are known for, eg, having a pseudo-peace movement. Allied to, eg, the Bahrain dictatorship, which, far from bringing peace, wages war on most of the Bahraini people who want democracy. And which stokes war in Syria and in Yemen.

Now, more Shincheonji news.

This Associated Press photo shows the entrance of the Shincheonji church in Daegu getting coronavirus decontamination.

Translated from Dutch NOS radio today:

Cult in the spotlight after South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak

In South Korea, all eyes are on a controversial church community. Because the number of detected coronavirus infections has more than doubled in the country in the last 24 hours, and most of it is associated with the Shincheonji church. That is an international Christian community, accused of being a cult.

229 new corona infections have been added since yesterday. This puts the total in South Korea at 433.

Nearly half of these have, according to the South Korean health authority, a direct relationship with the closed church community. But the authorities suspect that the share will increase even further. 9336 church members are kept in quarantine, more than 500 of them show symptoms.

President Moon Jae-in has called for a thorough investigation into the funeral of a prominent Shincheonji member. Because that three-day ceremony was held in the funeral parlor of Daenam Hospital in Chengdu – which is now one of two outbreak centers. Together with the nearby millions of inhabitants city of Daegu, where the church holds services.

“Also church in Wuhan”

Surprisingly, the group’s website is said to have said that a church was opened last year in Wuhan, the Chinese metropolis that is considered the center of the global outbreak. The independent Chinese news site Caixin Global writes that this information has been removed from the site. …

If it is true that there was a Shincheonji church in Wuhan, it provides an explanation of the cause of the South Korea outbreak. The health authority is investigating the ties between church members in South Korea and China. …

The church reports on social media that more than 100,000 ‘students’ have been trained. It also says that the movement has 300 centers in fifteen countries, including the Netherlands. …

Followers pray on the floor side by side on their knees. The South Korean health authorities suspect that this has contributed to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

The religious movement has been controversial for years, eg, things because of the infiltration of other churches, critics say. “They infiltrate our churches and try to lure people into their Bible studies. When they sign up for it, it is not immediately said that the lesson is part of Shincheonji”, said a documentary maker from a Christian TV station in South Korea two years ago.

Many churches in South Korea are said to have a sign with “Shincheonji not welcome” at the door.

SOUTH KOREAN VIRUS CASES SURGE The number of coronavirus deaths has risen to 2,619 worldwide. There are more than 79,000 cases globally, and 27 deaths outside mainland China. South Korea announced 231 new cases today, with the nationwide total surging past 830. Over half of those are associated with a religious group. Iran’s health ministry has confirmed 43 cases of the virus, including eight deaths. Lebanon and Israel have also reported their first cases. [CNN]

Coronavirus cases outside China are alarming, global health officials say: here.

TRUMP ASSURES THAT CORONAVIRUS IS ‘UNDER CONTROL’ President Donald Trump tweeted that the coronavirus is “very much under control” in the U.S. and that the stock market looks “very good” — on the day the market plunged 3.5% over fears about the spread of the illness, its biggest drop in two years. The World Health Organization warned all nations to prepare for a pandemic of the virus, officially labeled COVID-19. [HuffPost]