17/03/2020
More about the Korean church group below (a bit spooky)...
This is taken from an article published on the 24th of February (source given at the end)...
South Korea's government says it is in a critical struggle to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus from the disease's epicenter in Daegu. It has given itself four weeks to stabilize the situation in the city of 2.5 million, some 150 miles southeast of the capital, Seoul.
"If authorities fail to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in Daegu, there is a high possibility that COVID-19 could spread nationwide," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters on Monday.
Most of South Korea's 833 cases, as of Monday, are in Daegu. And most are connected to an obscure religious group called the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.
Shincheonji is a South Korean-based megachurch frequently accused of being a secretive cult.
The group is apocalyptic and messianic in character, and has been described as a doomsday cult. The group's founder and leader Lee is a self-proclaimed messiah. Known for its secretive nature, adherents believe that Lee is the returned Jesus Christ and that the Holy Bible is written in secret metaphors which only Lee can correctly interpret. The group believes that on the Day of Judgment, Lee will take 144,000 adherents to Heaven with him, where they will enjoy eternal life.
A spokesman from Shincheonji defending the secrecy of the church....
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51695649
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/24/808914718/secretive-church-sect-at-the-center-of-south-koreas-coronavirus-outbreak
