South Korea church leader apologizes for coronavirus spread

March 02, 2020

A Christian sect leader apologized Monday for the coronavirus spreading across South Korea after accusations his church was responsible for a majority of the infections in the Asian country.

Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, made his first public appearance since the virus broke out in South Korea more than two weeks ago. He knelt down as a gesture to illustrate his remorse.

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The 88-year-old leader of the church confirmed that one member had infected numerous others, calling the epidemic a “great calamity.” He added: “We did our best but were not able to stop the spread of the virus.”

Members of the fringe Christian group are believed to have infected one another and then traveled around the country.

Some mainstream Christian groups reject Shincheonji as a religious institution, claiming it to be a cult.

Proposed murder charges

Lee Man-hee is a self-proclaimed messiah and Seoul’s city government have asked prosecutors to press murder charges against him for failing to cooperate in efforts to contain the virus. The city government said it had filed a criminal complaint with the the capital’s Central District Prosecutors’ Office, asking for an investigation of Lee and 12 others on murder charges and violations of disease control. Lee has denied the allegations saying he has been fully compliant with the authorities.

However, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said that if Lee and other leaders within Shincheonji had cooperated, measures could have been implemented to prevent deaths from the virus. Park described Lee as “the chief director of this crisis” in a Facebook post late on Sunday.

Of the 599 new cases in South Korea announced on Monday, 377 were from the country’s fourth largest city, Daegu, home to a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, to which the majority of the country’s cases have been traced after some its members visited China’s Wuhan city, the epicenter of the disease. More than half of South Korea’s 4,000 cases have been linked to Shincheonji.

Love in the time of coronavirus

Love goes on

A happy bride and groom celebrate their romance in a mass wedding ceremony at the Cheong Shim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, a northern city in South Korea. The wedding took place on February 7, before mass cases of the virus were detected in the country.

Love in the time of coronavirus

Masked kisses

220 couples in the central Filipino city of Bacolod exchanged their vows and kisses on February 20 in a government-sponsored mass wedding. “It feels different to kiss while wearing masks, but it is required,” Groom John Paul told Australia’s ABC news.

Love in the time of coronavirus

Valentine’s Day during crisis

A bride in the Filipino capital of Manila wore a protective mask as she waited to walk down the aisle during a mass wedding at Manila Hotel Tent city. The wedding took place on February 14 – Valentine’s Day, a popular date for mass weddings in the country. The Philippines has three confirmed cases of the coronavirus and one person has died so far.

Love in the time of coronavirus

Going ungloved

One mass wedding in South Korea distributed 30,000 face masks to the crowd, according to French news agency AFP. The wedding took place at the Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon who is revered as a messiah by his followers.

Love in the time of coronavirus

Newlyweds

Festivals, graduation ceremonies and K-pop concerts have been cancelled over fears big events could lead to virus transmission.

Love in the time of coronavirus

Face masks a choice

While masks were distributed to participants and guests, not everyone chose to wear one.

Love in the time of coronavirus

Happy mood

A festive mood filled the venue. Many of the couples’ family and friends also attended the ceremony. Mass weddings in South Korea date back to the early 1960s.

Author: Melissa Sou-Jie Van Brunnersum