Park Won-soon "Government's Initial Response Was Good... Situation Became Serious After Shincheonji Patients Emerged"

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is having a conversation with Kim Seong-heon, President of the Seoul Federation of the Korea Senior Citizens Association, and others before the COVID-19 response meeting held at the Seoul Federation of the Korea Senior Citizens Association in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 27th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon emphasized that the responsibility for the large-scale infection outbreak lies with Shincheonji Church of Jesus, stating, "I thought the government's COVID-19 quarantine policy was well executed up to patient number 30, but after patient number 31, a Shincheonji patient appeared, and the spread became uncontrollable."

On the 27th, Mayor Park appeared on MBC's '100-Minute Debate' and said, "The epicenter and vector of this COVID-19 outbreak is the group called Shincheonji."

He continued, "The philosophy and principle of infectious disease prevention is transparency, but Shincheonji practices secrecy and does not properly disclose where and what they are doing," pointing out, "This is tantamount to murder by implied intent."

Mayor Park stated, "In fact, more than 53% of all confirmed cases are either Shincheonji members or related to Cheongdo Daenam Hospital, so it cannot be overlooked," adding, "The special task force called all 28,300 Shincheonji members throughout the day, but 1,500 of them either did not respond or refused to answer."

He criticized, "These people could be high-risk groups. This is a responsibility that Chairman Lee Man-hee must bear," and said, "This is not a situation where he can be in hiding. He must come forward, apologize to the public, and have other believers undergo testing."

Regarding the government's quarantine policy, he said, "The government did not do everything perfectly, but they are listening to local governments and field reports. They accepted Seoul City's proposals such as expanding case definitions and strengthening surveillance systems," evaluating the initial response as good.

He added, "During the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak, the central government did not listen to local governments. That is why I held an emergency press conference at 10 o'clock," and said, "Now, local and central governments are communicating. Rather than blaming anyone, it is important to overcome the issue of the religious group Shincheonji and resolve the infectious disease."

He concluded, "In times of emergency, there is no distinction between ruling and opposition parties, nor between progressives and conservatives," emphasizing, "Criticizing the government does not solve the problem; we must gather opinions on how to respond to the infectious disease crisis."