In South Korea, a populist pastor and his followers are spreading Covid-19 and the anti-government sentiment
The massive demonstration on August 15th, led by Jun Kwang-hoon, a far right-wing pastor, prompted South Korea to witness the surge of Covid-19. He organized the protest in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, to call for the impeachment of Moon Jae-in, the left-leaning president of South Korea. Thousands of self-proclaimed Christians from Sarang Cheil Church, a church led by Jun, and far right-wing figures attended the demonstration.
Jun participated in the demonstration, even though the Seoul City official has ordered him to be quarantined due to the Covid-19. Couple of days after the demonstration, he tested positive. Moreover, Jun didn’t wear a face mask during the demonstration, and some far right-wingers shared a microphone with the populist pastor, giving speeches, denouncing the government for baffling reasons: The Moon’s administration is supporting communism, threatening the national security while accelerating the recession. And, hundreds of people, who attended the anti-government protest, were also infected with the virus.
After the demonstration, the daily new cases in South Korea started to record over 200 cases. Given that Korea’s daily new cases were just two digits for the past couple of months, the Covid-19 cases are now exponentially growing. Sarang Cheil Church, which became the hotbed of coronavirus, has to cooperate with health workers and the government officials to eradicate the virus. Rather, the church officials and worshippers of Sarang Cheil Church, who are mostly the die-hard supporters of the far right-wing party, are disturbing the government to trace the whereabouts of Covid-19 patients and those who contacted them.
The government asked Sarang Cheil church officials to submit the list of demonstrators and worshippers of Sarang Cheil Church to contain the virus. The church officials, however, deliberately faked the list, making the government harder to fight against the pandemic. Kim Gang-lip, the vice health minister, said that the health authority has difficulty in tracing patients and their contacts due to the inaccurate list from Sarang Cheil Church. He also warned against the second wave of Covid-19 in Korea.
On August 20th, the officials of Seoul city and the health authority visited Sarang Cheil Church to find out the accurate list of Sarang Cheil Church followers and the participant of demonstration in Gwanghwamun. Then, the worshippers of the populist church blocked the entrance of the city officials into the church, claiming that they are not linked to the massive demonstration and the spread of Covid-19. Verbal abuses against the city officials were also reported.
Moreover, Sarang Cheil church ordered its followers to refrain from taking Covid-19 test for the demonstration on August 15th. Jun claimed that the outbreak of coronavirus is a groundless rumor. Like the pastor, worshippers of his church violate the government’s guideline for the prevention of pandemic: some of them, who’ve been hospitalized after being tested positive, ran away from quarantined places, wandering around busy districts in Seoul, travelling the capital by using transportations. Korean citizens were appalled by Sarang Cheil Church followers for senselessly behaving like Shincheonji, a religious cult which is blamed for the outbreak of the coronavirus in February.
Jun Kwang-hoon and churchgoers of Sarang Cheil Church, however, still demonize the government, trying to provoke the anti-government sentiment amid the rise of Covid-19. Last week, Jun published his official statement, claiming that the government is manipulating the number of Covid-19 patients. The government, Jun asserted, forced his church followers into taking a coronavirus test to report more Covid-19 cases in the country — a thinly-veiled rhetoric to fuel anti-government sentiment.
After being hospitalized to treat Covid-19, the populist pastor has blasted the government once again: The government is faking the number of Covid-19 patients; Moon Jae-in is persecuting Christians by taking advantage of the pandemic to spread Communism across South Korea.
No wonder citizens are slamming Jun and Sarang Cheil Church for violating the government’s guideline for Covid-19, leading Korea to see the spike in the virus again. Koreans are fretting that the country risks facing the second wave of Covid-19. And, some cities, including Seoul, Gyeonggi province and Busan, tightened social distancing.
With a rise of coronavirus, the increasing number of people are calling for the government to stop paying insurance benefits for those who are infected with Covid-19 after attending religious services in Sarang Cheil Church or a massive demonstration in Gwanghwamun. Moreover, as of August 24th, over 380,000 people signed up for the petition on the official website of Blue House, the presidential office in South Korea, that urges the government to arrest Jun Kwang-hoon.
For the recent 10 days, newly confirmed Covid-19 cases have surged, and most patients are related to Sarang Cheil Church and the anti-government demonstration on August 15th. Jun Kwang-hoon and worshippers of Sarang Cheil Church obviously broke the government rule, causing harm in the Korean society by spreading the pandemic. Whatever their causes, they were wrong to participate in the demonstration without face masks in the Covid-19 era. Jun Kwang-hoon and worshippers of Sarang Cheil Church deserve to be punished for violating the government’s guideline for the Covid-19.
