Long-maligned religious group Shincheonji draws new scrutiny over political collusion claims

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, then the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, left, meets Lee Hee-ja, the chair of the Korea Geunwoo Association, at a restaurant in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Jan. 16, 2022. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

[EXPLAINER]
 
Six years after it first attracted national attention for its role in Korea’s initial mass outbreak of Covid-19, the secretive Shincheonji religious movement has come under renewed focus for allegedly helping to propel former President Yoon Suk Yeol to power.
 
Ongoing probes into Yoon’s administration have uncovered evidence that the group, formally known as the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, mobilized its members to influence the conservative People Power Party’s (PPP) presidential primaries ahead of the 2022 election.
 
While Shincheonji denies these claims, the accusations have stirred public anxiety about the organization’s reach beyond religion.
 

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The latest controversy follows years of public misgivings regarding Shincheonji, whose reputation was severely damaged during the early months of the pandemic.
 
That episode hardened perceptions that the group — long characterized by critics as a cult — was resistant to outside scrutiny even during a public health crisis, though courts later dismissed some criminal charges against its leaders related to their lack of cooperation with epidemiological investigations.
 
As investigators probe Shincheonji’s alleged political activities, the group once again finds itself at the center of a broader national debate over how a democratic society committed to freedom of religion should respond to religious organizations accused of deception, social harm and covert political influence.
 

Kim Tae-hoon, chief of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and head of the joint investigative team probing allegations of religious-political collusion involving the Unification Church and Shincheonji, commutes to the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 8. [NEWS1]

What are the latest allegations?
 
The latest controversy centers on claims that Shincheonji members were encouraged to join the PPP in large numbers during the party’s 2021 presidential primaries, which Yoon ultimately won.
 
The allegations are based in part on statements by former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and testimony from former Shincheonji insiders who say the effort was coordinated.
 
According to these accounts, members were urged to sign up for PPP membership to block other presidential hopefuls seen as hostile to Shincheonji, including current President Lee Jae Myung, who at the time was a prominent figure in the liberal Democratic Party.
 

Yoon, by contrast, was allegedly viewed by Shincheonji’s leadership as a candidate unlikely to pose an existential threat to the group, according to an insider questioned by a joint investigative task force composed of police and prosecution officials.
 
The insider, who has remained unnamed in domestic media reports, told investigators that Shincheonji’s leadership decided to push members to support Yoon “to repay him for blocking raids into the group’s facilities on two occasions” during his tenure as prosecutor general.
 
Earlier this month, Hong claimed the PPP saw a influx of approximately 190,000 new members in the months leading up to the primaries in November. He further estimated that 100,000 of these new party members were affiliated with Shincheonji.
 
A photograph of Yoon meeting the head of an association with ties to Shincheonji in January 2022, which resurfaced recently, has further fueled suspicions of improper political meddling by the group.
 
Shincheonji, for its part, has categorically denied directing members to engage in organized political action, stating that it does not support any political party and that its followers act independently as voters.
 
While Korean law places no restrictions on individual political participation by religious believers, religious organizations risk violating election laws if they encourage members to vote for a specific candidate or party.
 
Article 85 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that no person may engage in political activities targeting members of an educational, religious or professional organization by taking advantage of their position within the group.
 
The ongoing controversy has raised concerns about whether secretive religious movements can exert influence within democratic institutions without public visibility.
  

The residence of Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi, as photographed on March 2, 2020 [NEWS1]

Why is the group seen as a cult?
 
Founded in the 1980s, Shincheonji identifies itself as a Christian church, but its teachings sharply diverge from those of mainstream Protestant and Catholic denominations. The group’s name, which in Korean means “new heaven and new earth,” reflects its theological emphasis on select passages from the Book of Revelation, written in the first century A.D.
 
While mainline churches typically interpret Revelation as an allegorical warning to early Christian communities against assimilation into Roman imperial culture, Shincheonji teaches that the book describes prophecies now being fulfilled through contemporary events.
 
Shincheonji is also distinctive in its belief in a single human leader, described as the “promised pastor” or “overcomer,” through whom the true meaning of Revelation is revealed. The group teaches that faith in this leader and acceptance of his interpretation of Revelation are essential to salvation.
 
The organization further gives literal institutional form to Revelation imagery by dividing members into “12 tribes.” The figure of 144,000 believers saved in the biblical narrative is treated as a concrete organizational goal rather than as symbolic language.
 

A sign outside a mainstream Protestant church in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, forbids Shincheonji members from entering in this photograph taken on March 1, 2020. [YONHAP]

 
How does Shincheonji recruit members?
 
Shincheonji’s recruitment practices have drawn repeated criticism from courts, churches and families. Unlike most churches, Shincheonji proselytizers have been accused of concealing their affiliation during early contact with potential recruits.
 
Former members have described being invited to Bible studies or religious classes presented as nondenominational. Only weeks or months later, they say, were they informed that the teachings originated from Shincheonji.
 
Korean courts have ruled in civil cases that such delayed disclosure can violate an individual’s freedom of religion by denying informed consent at the outset.
 
In March 2022, the Daejeon District Court ordered a Shincheonji recruiter to pay 5 million won (about $3,400) to a former member who sued for emotional distress and violation of religious freedom. The court ruled that recruits may become socially and emotionally dependent on the group before learning its true identity, making withdrawal difficult.
 
Critics also accuse Shincheonji of targeting mainstream churches by sending so-called “harvesters” to draw away parishioners, leading some churches to post notices on their doors barring entry to Shincheonji followers. Shincheonji denies using deception, arguing that gradual instruction is common in religious education.
 
Nevertheless, former members describe a structured initiation process marked by frequent evaluations, pressure to recruit others and warnings that doubt reflects spiritual failure. In a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, human rights advocates said these practices blur the line between persuasion and coercion.
 

The mother of a Shincheonji member holds up a sign denouncing the group as a cult in front of Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee's residence on March 2, 2020. [BYUN SUN-GOO]

 
What’s it like to be a Shincheonji member?
 
Accounts from former Shincheonji members portray an organization built around indoctrination and strict discipline. Worship services involve detailed explanations linking current events to biblical prophecy. Attendance and doctrinal mastery are closely monitored, former members say.
 
Advancement within the organization depends not only on knowledge but also on obedience and performance, particularly in evangelism. Questioning leadership or doctrine is frequently framed as evidence of weak faith.
 
Shincheonji’s teachings further emphasize the “chosen” status of members, who are taught that criticism of the group from families, mainstream churches or the media fulfills biblical predictions of persecution.
 
In interviews with Korean media, former members have said such theology often leads to their alienation from family and friends outside the group and a loss of personal identity.
 
Some former members recall positive aspects of their time in the group, including strong community ties and structured religious study. Others describe leaving Shincheonji as deeply traumatic due to ostracism from other members who remained in the group.
 

Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee kneels in apology before reporters at a press conference on March 2, 2020, weeks after Korea's first major outbreak of Covid-19 began at one of the group's congregations in Daegu. [NEWS1]

How did the group first become a national lightning rod?
 
Although Shincheonji had been the subject of warnings from mainstream Korean churches for decades, its relative obscurity ended abruptly in February 2020, when health authorities traced a large Covid-19 cluster to a woman, identified only as “Patient 31” by authorities, who attended services at the group’s Daegu congregation.
 
The outbreak accounted for thousands of early infections and threatened to overwhelm Korea’s health care system.
 
Officials said members attended densely packed services and were dissuaded from missing gatherings despite government messaging discouraging large gatherings. Public speculation also circulated that church members had engaged in overseas proselytization in Wuhan, China, where the virus was first detected. Authorities accused Shincheonji of initially delaying cooperation with contact tracing and failing to promptly provide membership lists.
 
Criminal charges filed against Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee in August 2020 included allegations that he obstructed epidemiological investigations by withholding information on members and church locations from health authorities. The Supreme Court ultimately acquitted him of the most serious charges two years later, ruling that the public health laws in effect at the time did not clearly criminalize some of his alleged conduct.
 

President Lee Jae Myung, left, greets leaders of Korea's main religious traditions before a luncheon at the Blue House in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 12. [NEWS1]

What potential consequences does the group face?
 
Although the Korean Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, repeated scandals involving Shincheonji and other new religious movements, such as the Unification Church, have fueled demand for legal safeguards against their alleged abuses.  
 
Critics of these groups argue that freedom of belief does not extend to deception, coercion or covert political mobilization by religious cults.
 
This appears to be the stance held by President Lee, who characterized collusion between religious and political groups as paving “the path to national ruin” in his New Year’s press conference last week.  
 
He said allegations involving Shincheonji and the Unification Church must be “punished sternly,” stressing that organized election interference and political persuasion by religious groups was akin to “pointing guns at the heads of people.”  
 
Lee’s stance has received support from the leaders of Korea’s seven major religious traditions — Buddhism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Won Buddhism, Confucianism, Cheondoism and folk religions — who joined him at a luncheon at the Blue House earlier this month.
 
Leaders present at the meeting characterized Shincheonji and the Unification Church as “pseudoreligious organizations” and urged authorities to crack down on improper political involvement by these groups.
 
They also called on the government to consider dissolving religious organizations that harm the nation and using assets held by such groups to compensate victims.
 
Lee has previously signaled openness to such measures. At a Cabinet meeting in December, he instructed the minister of government legislation to review whether authorities could legally order the dissolution of religious groups that intervene in politics.
 
He later stated publicly that legal entities in general should be dissolved if they violate the law or the Constitution or provoke widespread public condemnation.
 

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]