Foreign Media: "Korea's Quarantine Efforts Undermined Due to Jeon Gwang-hoon Church"

Major Foreign Media Focus on Korea's Cluster Infections
BBC "Many New Cases Linked to Sarang Jeil Church"
NYT "Jeon Kwang-hoon Delivers Passionate Speeches with Baseless Claims"

Jeon Gwang-hoon, Senior Pastor of Sarang Jeil Church / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] As hundreds of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have emerged at Sarang Jeil Church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, leading to a domestic cluster infection outbreak, major foreign media outlets including the BBC have focused attention on Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon and Sarang Jeil Church.

On the 17th (local time), the British public broadcaster BBC reported, "279 new COVID-19 infections occurred in South Korea in one day on Sunday," adding, "A significant number of these are linked to Sarang Jeil Church, which has been critical of President Moon Jae-in."

The BBC explained, "Sarang Jeil Church, which has about 4,000 congregants, showed a positive rate of 16.1% according to a full-scale investigation," and "More than 200,000 Korean citizens have expressed anger toward the church by demanding Pastor Jeon's re-imprisonment on the national petition board."

The U.S. media outlet The New York Times (NYT) also provided a detailed introduction of Pastor Jeon in an article published the day before (on the 16th). The outlet reported, "Pastor Jeon has been behind anti-Moon Jae-in protests held in central Seoul over the past few months," describing him as "a figure who delivers passionate speeches filled with provocative and baseless claims."

The U.S. Wall Street Journal (WSJ) pointed out in an article published on the same day that this cluster infection has undermined South Korea's COVID-19 prevention efforts.

The WSJ reported, "Due to the recent spread of COVID-19 and its connection to Sarang Jeil Church, South Korea's prevention efforts, which had been successful over the past several months, have been undermined," adding, "There are concerns among South Korean health authorities who have been on alert for a second wave of COVID-19."

On the afternoon of the 15th, Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church is speaking at a rally condemning the government and ruling party held in front of Donghwa Duty Free Shop in Jongno-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, according to health authorities on the 17th, the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 188 from the previous day, marking four consecutive days of triple-digit cases since the 14th. Confirmed cases were concentrated in the metropolitan area, with 89 in Seoul and 67 in Gyeonggi Province.

The government stated that the current COVID-19 spread pattern is more dangerous than the infection situation in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions that occurred in February and March, urging local residents to actively cooperate with social distancing measures.

Kim Kang-lip, the first chief coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, explained at a regular briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex, "The current situation in Seoul and Gyeonggi reminds us of the Daegu and Gyeongbuk cluster infection incident, but in terms of infection patterns and quarantine response, it carries more dangerous factors than back then," adding, "In the Daegu and Gyeongbuk outbreak, although the scale of infection transmission was large, cluster infections occurred mainly among members of a single group, and most patients were young, resulting in a relatively low fatality rate."

Chief Coordinator Kim emphasized that the prolonged COVID-19 situation has lowered public vigilance, which could lead to further spread of infection, stating, "Currently, Seoul and Gyeonggi are in a critical situation where infections can occur anytime and anywhere. Active cooperation from local residents in 'social distancing' is more crucial than anything else."