Around 85,000 believers of Shincheonji Church of Jesus are seen attending an event held in Daegu Stadium, Sunday. Newsis

By Lee Yeon-woo

Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a new religious movement founded in Korea in 1984, has found itself at the center of controversy again for hosting a mass gathering Sunday in the southeastern city of Daegu, amid worries about a "twindemic" this winter and the trauma from the deadly Oct. 29 crowd crush tragedy still fresh.

The controversial church caused a scandal three years ago early in the COVID-19 pandemic for holding a mass gathering in the same city, which triggered the nation's first major virus outbreak.

Even though no major incidents were reported following the Sunday event that attracted about 85,000 people, some raised questions about whether it was appropriate for Daegu Metropolitan City to allow such a massive event at this time.

According to the police, Shincheonji held its annual "completion ceremony" in Daegu Stadium, Sunday, to welcome new members who have recently completed studying its teachings. The event had been held virtually for the past two years to follow COVID-19 quarantine rules.

It is known that 85,000 among the 106,000 new graduates attended the event this year. Lee Man-hee, the 91-year-old leader of Shincheonji, was also present.

"Participants left the stadium one after another on rented buses, and nothing unusual was found at the event," the police said.

Public opinion, especially in Daegu, has been against Shincheonji since 2020 when a church gathering triggered mass infections in the city which spread across the country.

This time, Shincheonji had said this ceremony was being held offline to improve the church's "tarnished image" due to COVID-19. To do so, they had submitted a draft of safety measures to the local government, in which they said that every participant would wear a mask at the stadium, the public bathrooms would be stocked with hand sanitizer and people showing COVID-19 symptoms would take a rapid antigen test immediately. In addition, they arranged 15,000 safety workers for the event.

Due to safety concerns, Daegu stationed 400 police and 84 firefighters at the stadium as well.

Despite the efforts, citizens criticized Shincheonji for holding such a large event at this moment, stating that it's been less than a month since the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy, and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is still increasing.

One Daegu citizen who had gone for a walk around Daegu Stadium with two children said in a media interview, "It seems like just yesterday the Itaewon tragedy happened. I think it is a bit hasty to allow holding an event for hundreds of thousands of people to gather now."

Another Daegu citizen said, "Daegu has suffered so much due to Shincheonji believers early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The city should have banned the event considering the public sentiment."

Daegu Metropolitan Council members also held a press conference last Friday and urged the city government to revoke permission to hold the event.

However, the city government said the city's authorities had no choice but to grant permission.

"People from all walks of life expressed their concerns about the permission to allow them to hold the mass gathering," Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo said in a social media post. "I was told that the city authorities found no convincing reason to impede the freedom of religion."

Prior to the event, Hong said that the city authorities had a meeting with the police and firefighters to check safety measures, traffic and other related issues to ensure the mass gathering would be held safely.