<중대본> Secures Complete List of Shincheonji Members... All Members Under 'COVID-19' Investigation (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) has agreed, through consultations with the Shincheonji Church, to receive the full list of all Shincheonji church members nationwide along with their contact information. The CDSCH plans to conduct investigations on all members for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) as soon as the list is secured.

On the 25th, the CDSCH stated, "On the previous day, the 24th, led by the Chief of the Civil Affairs Office of the Prime Minister's Secretariat, we closely consulted with the Shincheonji side and secured their cooperation to provide the full list of members, actively cooperate with health authorities' testing, and encourage trainees to undergo examinations."

They added, "We actively persuaded that the cooperation of the Shincheonji Church is absolutely necessary to protect the lives and safety of the public," and explained, "At the all-government countermeasure meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in on the 23rd, after raising the crisis alert to the highest level, 'serious,' we emphasized our determination that if there was no voluntary cooperation from the Shincheonji Church, legal measures would have to be taken, which ultimately led to the Shincheonji side's proactive cooperation."

The Shincheonji Church will first provide the list of high-risk members who either visited the Daegu church from other regions during January to February this year or who are Daegu church members that visited other regions during the same period, and will provide the full list of members as soon as possible.

However, to alleviate concerns about personal information leakage, they requested the government to prepare measures to prevent and maintain the security of personal information.

The CDSCH plans to immediately distribute the member list received from the Shincheonji Church to public health centers and local governments nationwide, and each public health center and local government will begin COVID-19 infection investigations targeting members residing in their respective jurisdictions.

The CDSCH stated, "We will swiftly conduct investigations on all Shincheonji Church members and complete them in a short period," and added, "We will transparently disclose the progress regularly."

They further added, "The CDSCH will begin detailed practical consultations related to this from today and plans to proceed swiftly."