Religious group accused of coronavirus spread faces W100b claim

Korea’s former epicenter Daegu is pursuing a claim for damages against the religious group Shincheonji, which is linked to 61.8 percent of the city’s total 6,900 cases of the novel coronavirus.

Daegu Office said in a Monday briefing that it has filed a claim with the district court seeking some 100 billion won ($82.3 million) for losses suffered as a consequence of the disease spreading through the church.

“The church interfered with the city’s contact tracing efforts by falsely reporting when and where the services had taken place and omitting the full list of followers who were present,” the city’s special political advisor Jung Hae-yong told reporters.

He said the church’s failures to cooperate with the disease control authorities were responsible for hampering the early response and subsequently worsening the outbreak in the city, which had been Korea’s worst to date.

From investigations undertaken in March, Jung said the city also found the church held worship events despite an administrative order barring mass gatherings.

Prior to the lawsuit, the city had asked the court to seize some of the group leader Lee Man-hee’s assets including the church building there in the southern district of Nam.

This is the second complaint lodged by a municipal government against Lee, who claims he is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

On March 1, Seoul City government reported Lee and the rest of the church leadership to the prosecution on multiple criminal suspicions including murder and violations of laws on infectious disease control.

By KIm Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)