President Moon Jae-in on Friday called for an inspection of events linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in tracking the COVID-19 outbreak.

“A thorough inspection of attendees of services and the funeral is needed,” Moon said at an emergency briefing by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.

The Shincheonji Church of Jesus is at the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. The religious sect is considered heretical by mainstream Christian churches.

The funeral refers to that of a brother of Shincheonji Church of Jesus’ founder, which was held at Cheongdo Daenam hospital.

The hospital and Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu have been linked to nearly 60 confirmed COVID-19 patients this week.

At the briefing, Chung laid out plans to designate Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province as a special contagious disease control area.

Chung also said the list of Daegu Shincheonji Church of Jesus’ congregation would be secured and concerned individuals would be placed under home quarantine and tested for the virus.

In response, Moon urged the prime minister to execute the measures as quickly as possible.

Moon added that the authorities should not rely solely on information provided by the church in drawing up response measures.



By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)