Coronavirus: Singapore authorities investigate ‘deceptive recruitment’ at secretive Shincheonji church at centre of South Korea’s outbreak
- The church is reported to have been a major cluster contributing to the surge in infected patients in South Korea’s Covid-19 outbreak
- More than 60 per cent of South Korea’s confirmed cases are in Daegu
Five South Koreans and two Singaporeans are assisting the authorities with ongoing investigations into the “deceptive recruitment methods” of an unregistered Singapore chapter of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (SCJ).
The secretive church is reported to have been a major cluster contributing to the surge in infected patients in South Korea’s Covid-19 outbreak.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Friday that it had already been investigating SCJ’s activities in Singapore since last year, but has decided to speed up its probe because of reports linking SCJ’s practices to the spread of Covid-19 in Daegu, South Korea, where the church is based.
More than 60 per cent of South Korea’s confirmed cases, now numbering more than 2,300, are in Daegu, with the church identified as a cluster.
However, MHA said that interviews with members of the SCJ in Singapore have found that none of them have been in recent physical contact with patients in the Daegu cluster.
