Photos posted on Twitter at the time show children at the school posing with drawings of bombs next to a number of adults making a hand gesture associated with Shincheonji, which mainstream Christian churches in its home base of South Korea regard as a cult.

HWPL also organised an event at HKU the same month to commemorate the declaration, with a video posted on social media appearing to show dozens of participants in attendance.

The group’s Twitter page was deleted on Friday after the Post began inquiring into its activities. HWPL did not respond to requests for comment made through social media.

Yan Chai Hospital Chiu Tsang Hok Wan Primary School declined to answer questions about whether it was aware of HWPL’s background or if parents had been informed in advance, but said it saw its mission as being to teach pupils a “positive attitude and correct moral values”.

“We organise different activities according to students’ diverse needs and the students’ positive values and attitudes are cultivated through such activities,” a school spokesperson said.

The school said pupils had made crafts related to the theme of “love and peace” during the “one-off” event.

“It aimed to enhance the creativity of students and it was free of any religious elements,” the spokesperson said. “The school supervisor and the headmaster monitored the delivery of the programme to ensure that the activity purely served its educational purpose.”

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau also declined to confirm if it was aware of HWPL’s background or whether parents had been notified, but provided a statement in which it said schools were encouraged to nurture positive values among students, such as by promoting love and peace.

“Under the principle of school-based management, schools can organise activities in accordance with school-based situation and needs of the students,” a spokesperson said. “They would monitor the delivery of the activities to ensure its appropriateness and effectiveness. The EDB keeps close contact with the schools and provides advice and support whenever necessary.”

A spokesperson for HKU said it was unaware of the event at the university but individual departments and student groups were able to book venues for use by outside organisations.

Shincheonji, which has long been controversial in its home country due to allegations it brainwashes members and breaks up families, has come into the international spotlight in recent weeks due to its role in a major outbreak of the coronavirus in South Korea.

Health officials believe most of the country’s more than 3,000 cases, the biggest outbreak outside China, are linked to followers of the sect. The fringe church has faced a massive public backlash in the country since it emerged that an 61-year-old member repeatedly refused to get tested and attended services after developing symptoms of the illness.

Although HWPL claims to be an international peace organisation with branches in 170 countries, experts on fringe sects in South Korea describe it as inseparable from the controversial church.

“HWPL is a front of Shincheonji, specifically targeting people outside Korea,” said Tark Ji-il, a professor of religion at South Korea’s Busan Presbyterian University who is an expert on cults. “HWPL approaches people in many foreign countries.”

Peter Daley, a university lecturer in Seoul who has spent more than 15 years researching Korean cults, said Shincheonji used the organisation to boost its legitimacy and presence overseas.

“It helps them spread internationally by forming relationships with other ‘peace’ groups. They spend a ton of money bringing guests to their huge Jamsil Stadium events and surrounding events [in South Korea],” said Daley. “And it keeps their members busy for months and months.”

HWPL’s Hong Kong branch registered itself as a limited company based out of a residential address in Yuen Long in 2016, according to the city’s Companies Registry. Corporate records name Yiu Tso Yue, a Hong Kong resident living at the same Yuen Long address, and Ao Ka In, with an address in Shanghai, as the company’s directors. The Post was unable to contact Yiu or Ao.

In its articles of association, the company describes its purpose as teaching the Korean language and providing “clothing and grain” to the “brotherhood in China”, as well as carrying out cultural exchanges with countries including the Philippines, Germany, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia.

In September, the company reported no revenue in the preceding two years, with a combined deficit for the period of around HK$14,000 and liabilities of about HK$21,000, corporate records show.

Separately, Singapore’s Ministry for Home Affairs said on Friday it was investigating the local chapter of Shincheonji after its members last year tried to register a company under the name Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light.

Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said authorities suspected that people had been “misled and defrauded into certain actions” by the sect while using front companies.