"Moon Jae-in, Step Down Quickly" Jeon Kwang-hoon Pushes Weekend Rally... Will the COVID-19 Crisis Worsen?

Moon Jae-in Resignation National Struggle Headquarters to Gather Around Gwanghwamun at 11 AM on the 22nd
Political Circles and Seoul City Urge Against Assembly Due to COVID-19 Impact
Jeon Kwang-hoon Side "Plans to Proceed with Weekend Rally as Scheduled"

Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, President of the Korea Christian Federation and General Representative of the National Struggle Headquarters for the Resignation of Moon Jae-in (Beomtu-bon), is speaking at the "National Rally for the Resignation of the Moon Jae-in Government" hosted by the National Struggle Headquarters for the Resignation of Moon Jae-in in front of the Kyobo Building in Seoul on the afternoon of the 4th of last month. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] As the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) exceeded 150 as of the 21st, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would make every effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection, including restricting rallies at Gwanghwamun Square. However, conservative groups criticizing the Moon Jae-in administration have stated their intention to proceed with the weekend rallies as scheduled, making clashes inevitable.

Conservative groups such as the 'National Struggle Headquarters for the Resignation of Moon Jae-in' (Beomtu-bon), which have held rallies at Gwanghwamun every weekend, plan to go ahead with the rally scheduled for this weekend.

Beomtu-bon is led by Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon (64), the representative chairman of the Christian Council of Korea. The rally this weekend is scheduled to be held on the road in front of the Kyobo Building in Gwanghwamun, Jongno-gu, Seoul, starting at 11 a.m. on the 22nd.

After the rally ends, they have reported to the police that they will march from 3 p.m. along Sejong-daero, Jongno, Jahamun-ro, and up to the front of the Blue House Sarangchae. Beomtu-bon is known to plan to continue weekend rallies until the general election.

A Beomtu-bon official told a media outlet, "Regardless of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's announcement banning rallies, we plan to proceed with the weekend Beomtu-bon rally as is." He added, "If it becomes difficult to use Gwanghwamun Square, we will continue the rally at another location."

The Uri Party also has no immediate plans to cancel the rally. A representative explained, "There is no plan to cancel the rally," and added, "We will make a final decision this afternoon."

An epidemiological investigation of a woman in her 40s who visited Busan Haeundae Paik Hospital for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was conducted, leading to the temporary closure of the hospital's emergency room on the 19th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon held an emergency briefing in the morning and stated, "To protect the elderly who are vulnerable to infectious diseases, we will ban the use of Seoul Plaza, Cheonggye Plaza, and Gwanghwamun Square, where many citizens gather." He continued, "We are notifying groups planning large-scale rallies of the ban and plan to request cooperation from the police."

Calls to refrain from rallies also came from the political sphere. Park Ju-min, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at the party's Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 21st, "There is one more person I would like to ask to refrain from rallies: Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon." He added, "They are preparing for a large-scale rally this weekend, but such a large rally is not desirable in this situation. I ask them to reconsider."

Supreme Council member Seol Hoon also pointed out, "Pastor Jeon is continuing to hold weekend rallies, which is highly reckless and likely to become a second Shincheonji rally." He questioned, "If a situation like the Daegu Shincheonji rally occurs at the weekend rally, how will they take responsibility?"

Participants in the Beomtu-bon rallies led by Pastor Jeon have been escalating their harsh criticism of the Moon Jae-in administration day by day.

Earlier, on the 9th (Sunday) at around 10:30 a.m., Pastor Jeon said at the Beomtu-bon rally held in front of the Kyobo Building in Gwanghwamun, "Moon Jae-in, step down quickly while you still can."

On that day, rally participants began with hymns and prayers. According to the report, about 5,000 participants filled approximately 100 meters of four lanes on Sejong-daero towards Gwanghwamun.

Pastor Jeon preached on the importance of meeting parents, siblings, and friends, saying, "After that, you must meet your country's president and ruler well. We met President Rhee Syngman and President Park Chung-hee well, and that is how we became the Republic of Korea today."

Meanwhile, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of 9 a.m. on the 21st, 52 additional COVID-19 patients were confirmed domestically. This brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea to 156.