‘Quarantine Obstruction’ Daegu Shincheonji Church Officials Acquitted Confirmed

Court: "Request for church member list submission is not an 'epidemiological investigation' under the Infectious Disease Control Act"

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Executives of the Shincheonji Daegu Church, who were accused of submitting incomplete member lists despite being requested by health authorities to provide the full list in relation to a COVID-19 cluster infection, have been acquitted.

Earlier, Lee Man-hee, the 91-year-old Shincheonji Chairman, who was indicted for obstructing COVID-19 prevention measures, was also recently acquitted of charges violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) announced on the 15th that it upheld the lower courts' rulings acquitting the church officials who were tried on charges of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and obstruction of official duties by deception.

In February 2020, as infection cases spread centered around the Shincheonji Daegu Church, the Central Disease Control Headquarters and others requested the church to submit a list of members. The Daegu church submitted a list of 9,293 members out of a total of 9,785, excluding 492 members, to the health authorities. However, the investigation authorities indicted the church officials, alleging that the church deliberately omitted some members to obstruct epidemiological investigations.

Both the first and second trials acquitted the defendants. The courts ruled that "the request for submission of the member list cannot be regarded as an ‘epidemiological investigation’ under the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, so even if the defendants submitted false data or intentionally omitted members, they cannot be punished."

This means that the provisions of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, which punish those who refuse, obstruct, or evade epidemiological investigations without justifiable reasons, cannot be applied to punish the defendants.

The Supreme Court also agreed with the lower courts' judgment.

Meanwhile, after this incident, in September of the same year, a provision was newly established in the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act to punish cases where member lists are deliberately omitted or not submitted.