No Change Registration After Headquarters Office Relocation
Loss of Religious Organization Status Upon Corporation Cancellation
Submission of False Believer List and Other Acts
Judged as Harmful to Public Interest
Hearing Scheduled for the 13th
The Shincheonji Seoul Headquarters located in Sadang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul is currently closed. (Photo by Lee Hyun-joo)
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The Seoul Metropolitan Government made a sudden visit to the Shincheonji Seoul Headquarters to inspect its operational status. It is interpreted as a step toward forcibly canceling the corporation status of Shincheonji, whose official name is the "Saehanul Saettang Evidence Tabernacle Church Jesus Mission Association."
At around 9:40 a.m. on the 9th, a joint inspection team from Seoul City and Dongjak-gu visited the Shincheonji Seoul Headquarters located in a five-story building in Sadang-dong, Dongjak-gu, received documents related to its operations, and conducted an on-site inspection. One executive from the Shincheonji Gwacheon National Assembly came out and handed over documents, but it is known that minutes of the assembly meetings, business plans, and income and expenditure ledgers were not submitted. Some of the obtained materials are expected to be used in the process of canceling Shincheonji’s corporate status.
The office in question is the Seoul headquarters that Shincheonji has disclosed. It is one of the 170 locations listed in the ledgers submitted by Shincheonji, but it was not originally known as the Seoul headquarters. The registered address for Shincheonji’s corporate registration is currently in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu. According to Seoul City, Shincheonji moved its office last year but did not carry out the change registration reflecting this fact within three weeks.
Seoul City judged that Shincheonji committed acts harmful to the public interest, such as submitting false member lists related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and is proceeding with the cancellation of permission under Article 38 of the Civil Act (Cancellation of Permission for Establishment of Corporation). A hearing for this is scheduled for the 13th. Shincheonji has not yet informed who will attend. If the corporation is canceled, Shincheonji will lose its status as a religious organization and will be reduced to an informal group. It will also no longer be eligible for tax benefits.
Shincheonji was granted corporate status by Seoul City in November 2011 under the name "Eternal Gospel Jesus Mission Association." In April 2012, the current chairman of the National Assembly, Lee Man-hee, was registered as the corporate representative, and in July of the same year, the name was changed to Saehanul Saettang Evidence Tabernacle Church Jesus Mission Association. Seoul City understands that this corporation oversees all Shincheonji churches nationwide and that no Shincheonji-related corporations are registered in other local governments besides Seoul. Kim Kyung-tak, head of the city’s Cultural Policy Division, said, "We believe they have not complied with the legal obligations required as a corporation," adding, "We will also review whether there are any omissions or duplications in the previously obtained materials."
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