Singapore arrests 21 members of South Korean religious sect

Lee Man-hee, founder and leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, bows ahead of a news conference at his villa in Gapyeong, 60 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on March 2, 2020. The religious sect has been at the center of the new coronavirus outbreak in South Korea. (Yonhap)

By Ivan Lim
Former AJA President, Contributor to AsiaN

SINGAPORE: Singapore has arrested a local group of 21 people linked to the secretive Shincheongji Church of Jesus (SCJ in South Korea, seeking to nip in the bud threats to public order and safety.

In a sweep on Monday, police officers from the Criminal Investigation Department took in nine men and 12 women for questioning in connection with activities of the unregistered local chapter of SCJ. In February, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the group of 100 members was under probe for alleged breach of security laws.

According to the MHA, SCJ has raised concerns for alleged malpractices such as infiltrating and disrupting established Korean churches. It has been accused of using deception and secrecy to trick people into joining its activities.

In February, MHA had sent home five South Korean key figures in the local chapter and the dissolved the group’s front entities. Law and Home Affairs Minister K.Shangmugam also warned of banning local SCJ activities.

MHA said that despite the actions taken, the local SCJ chapter resumed its activities covertly, under the direction of its South Korean parent chapter.

As such, the CID is investigating the SCJ chapter members for potential offences under the Societies Act. Those found guilty of being members of an unlawful society may be jailed for up to three years or fined up to $5,000 or both.

MHA says the Republic allows people freedom to choose their religions and worship freely. However, it would not allow members of any unlawful societies or persons associated with them to threaten Singapore’s public safety, peace and good order

The church, which claims a 300,000 world-wide membership, was founded in 1984 by South Korean Lee Mun Hee, who arrogated to himself the sole prerogative to interpret the Bible.

The parent SCJ church in Metropolitan Daegu City came under the spotlight in February when a 61-year-old woman member was tagged a Covid-19 ‘super-spreader.’

She was reported as refusing to be tested despite showing Coronavirus symptoms and attended the church at Daegu twice with more than 1,000 members in close ranks as is their manner of worship.

Later, there was a reported spike in the infection cases in Daegu which has a population of 2.5 million.