'Prosecutor Avoidance' Shincheonji Member Reported Today... Hanmaeum Apartment Controversy Spreads (Comprehensive)

Among 8,178 Primary Management Subjects, 50 Have Not Been Tested
If Testing Is Avoided Until Today, Legal Action Will Be Taken...Strong Response
Hanmaeum Apartment 'Shincheonji Group Residence' Controversy Also Spreads
Daegu City Explained but Unconvincing... "Investigation Will Follow Once Calm"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Daegu City has issued a final ultimatum to report Shincheonji Church of Jesus Daegu congregation members who are resisting without undergoing testing for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 9th, at a regular briefing held at Daegu City Hall, Mayor Kwon Young-jin stated, "It has been confirmed that 50 congregation members have not yet been tested," adding, "If they do not undergo diagnostic testing by today, they will be immediately reported."

◆50 'Test Avoiders' to be Reported Today= Currently, Daegu City manages a total of 10,471 Shincheonji congregation members. Among the 8,178 primary management targets, 8,128 (99.4%) had been tested by the previous day, leaving 50 untested individuals.

The city announced plans to conduct a full survey of specimens from Shincheonji members, where cluster infections occurred, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but cooperation has been insufficient due to scheduling and other reasons, causing difficulties.

In response, Mayor Kwon warned the day before, "All Shincheonji congregation members who do not get tested by the 9th will be reported."

As conflicts between Daegu City and Shincheonji members intensified, Shincheonji also issued a public statement the previous day, declaring, "In cases of noncompliance with health authorities' instructions, loss of contact, or desertion, strong disciplinary actions such as banning attendance at worship services will be enforced even after the COVID-19 situation has stabilized."

As of 7 a.m. that day, 10,220 (97.6%) of the 10,471 Shincheonji members had undergone diagnostic testing, and among the 9,651 whose test results were notified, 4,137 (42.9%) were confirmed positive.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆Hanmaeum Apartment 'Shincheonji Collective Residence'... Suspicions Spread= Controversy is also growing regarding the fact that 46 out of 94 Shincheonji members living collectively in Daegu's Hanmaeum Apartment were confirmed positive for COVID-19. Daegu City explained that there was no involvement of public officials in their collective residence and that the announcement was not delayed, but local citizens' suspicions and anxieties are increasing.

Since the 19th of last month, a total of 46 COVID-19 confirmed cases have occurred in Hanmaeum Apartment, a municipal rental apartment located in Dalseo-gu. The total number of residents is 140. The infection rate among residents is about 33%, representing a large-scale cluster infection in a single apartment.

The issue is that the proportion of Shincheonji members among the residents of Hanmaeum Apartment, which is directly operated by Daegu City, is excessively high at 66%. This apartment is available to unmarried female workers under 35 years old working in Daegu, but it has effectively been used as a collective residence facility for Shincheonji. This has sparked suspicions that Daegu City gave preferential treatment to Shincheonji.

Mayor Kwon pointed out that there are vacancies in the apartment and explained, "It is not a place to give preferential treatment," but the controversy has not subsided. Even if, as Daegu City explains, Shincheonji members arranged for many members to live there among themselves, if this has been operating for a considerable period, it is highly likely that public officials were also aware of it.

◆Daegu City's Unclear Response to Hanmaeum Apartment= Daegu City's delayed response and announcement have also been controversial. After 13 confirmed cases occurred en masse on the 24th of last month, 1 to 8 confirmed cases appeared almost daily. However, Daegu City only became aware of this on the 4th and announced it after media reports on the 7th.

Considering that Daegu City does not disclose individual confirmed patients' movement paths to citizens, residents nearby were exposed to infection risk without protection for a full two weeks before the cohort quarantine (group isolation) on the 4th.

Some suggest that since the first confirmed case in Hanmaeum Apartment appeared the day after Daegu's first confirmed case (patient number 31), it is possible that infection occurred before patient 31. In this case, controversy over Daegu City's inadequate response causing mass infections is inevitable. Daegu City stated, "An epidemiological investigation is underway regarding Hanmaeum Apartment," and has not disclosed the exact transmission route of confirmed cases.