Shincheonji Church of Jesus Official Statement

Shincheonji Church of Jesus Official Statement

Greetings, fellow citizens. We are Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

We deeply regret that many Shincheonji believers and citizens have been infected with “COVID-19,” which has caused great concern to the public. Shincheonji Church of Jesus is cooperating with health authorities through all means to prevent the spread of “COVID-19.”  

Shincheonji Church of Jesus has announced to all 245,000 Shincheonji believers - including 9,294 believers in Shincheonji’s Daegu Church and 201 recent visiting believers to the Daegu church - to refrain from outside activities.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus provided an initial list of church members who had all gathered in one place for evening worship service to the Daegu Metropolitan Government following confirmation of "Patient 31" on the 18th, and also provided the final list to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on the 19th, at 6am. In response to the additional confirmed cases, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) requested a full list of all believers at Daegu church on the evening of the 19th, which Shincheonji Church provided on the 20th.

Currently, 9,294 believers in Shincheonji’s Daegu Church have been quarantined, and all believers in Shincheonji Church have been examined for “COVID-19.” Since the 18th, all church activities including meetings, worship services and evangelism has ceased. Shincheonji Church has been checking up on believers who exhibit symptoms similar to “COVID-19” and is closely communicating with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Moreover, as of the 18th of February, Shincheonji Church closed 1,100 churches and affiliated institutions throughout Korea when the first patient was confirmed in the Daegu church, enforced disinfection measures up until the 21st, released the current disinfection and prevention status, and provided the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) with the addresses of all churches and affiliated institutions on the 22nd. This was disclosed on the official website of Shincheonji Church for all citizens to verify for themselves. 

Moreover, Shincheonji Church identified 201 believers who had visited Daegu church from the end of January to February 18^th, instructed them to be isolated, go into quarantine and inform their health center, and also provided a list to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), Seoul Metropolitan Government (Gyeonggi Province) and other local governments.

According to data published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) at 9am today, 309 of all 556 “COVID-19” patients are affiliated to Shincheonji Church of Jesus. In order to minimize infection spread to the community, Shincheonji Church has been closely communicating and engaging with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) by checking symptoms of all believers of the Daegu church and those who had visited the church in person.

Furthermore, together with health authorities, we continually contacted 670 unresponsive members of Shincheonji Daegu Church - 417 of whom were examined and 253 previously unreachable because of long-term absence contacted through all means possible.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus is now making every effort to work together with the government and public health authorities to prevent the spread of “COVID-19” and is responding with full force in every way. Since early January and in order to protect believers, the General Assembly Headquarters of Shincheonji Church issued four official mandates ordering all 74 churches nationwide to ban visitors to and from China, those in close proximity to visitors from China, and contact with people with fever or cough-like symptoms, and has banned all gatherings since the 18th of February.

Shincheonji Church of Jesus is fully informed of, and responding, to the public’s concern of "COVID-19" but it cannot help but be concerned about the deliberate and continual slanderous reports that "Shincheonji Church is intentionally concealing this situation."

Shincheonji Church of Jesus is in close communication with health authorities and is committed to seeing an early end to this crisis. Please stop the speculative and unconfirmed malicious reports about Shincheonji Church.

In order to bring an early end to this situation, the entire list of believers of Daegu Church has been handed over to health authorities, but this list has been leaked and unlawful things have happened to believers of Shincheonji Church including forced leave, discrimination, insult and even pressure to quit their works.

Believers of Shincheonji Church are Korean citizens who have been living their daily lives following disinfection measures imposed by the authorities, and are now victims of "COVID-19". 

"COVID-19" is a disease that originated in China and has spread to South Korea. We sincerely ask the public to be aware that Shincheonji Church of Jesus and its believers are the biggest victims of "COVID-19" and to refrain from any hateful or groundless accusations against believers of Shincheonji Church. 

The current situation must be resolved in cooperation with the government and all citizens, including Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Once again, Shincheonji Church will cooperate with all our might to bring a swift end to this crisis. We also urge you once again to take this opportunity to actively cooperate with the authorities.

We hope that this situation winds down as soon as possible and we wish patients a speedy recovery.

Thank you.

COVID-19 Countermeasures, General Assembly Headquarters, Shincheonji Church of Jesus