"Shincheonji Threats" Choo Mi-ae Requests Police Protection... Lifted Yesterday

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is moving to attend the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Jang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] It has been confirmed that Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae requested police protection due to threats from members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji).

According to the legal community and police on the 11th, Minister Choo reportedly requested police protection on the 31st of last month. That day was the date of the pre-trial detention hearing for Lee Man-hee, the president of Shincheonji.

Prior to this, on the 30th of last month, Minister Choo posted on Facebook, "After Lee Man-hee was investigated by the prosecution, an unusually large amount of mail began arriving at the Ministry of Justice Minister's Secretariat," adding, "All of them contained messages claiming that the crackdown on Shincheonji was unjust."

In February of this year, when a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread within Shincheonji, Minister Choo ordered the prosecution to conduct a forced investigation into Shincheonji.

It has been confirmed that the protection for Minister Choo was lifted the day before.