[Exclusive] Coronavirus Incident, “Cult Framing” Has Resulted in a Person’s Death… Ulsan Shincheonji Member Died After Falling

[Cheonji-Ilbo Ulsan = Reporter Kim Ga-hyun] After the coronavirus incident, public criticism against Shincheonji has increased, causing the death of a Shincheonji member who suffered from family abuse

A 60-year-old woman living in Ulsan, who was a member of Shincheonji, died after falling from a villa. According to Ulsan health authorities and the police on the 27th, Ms. A died the previous night,on the 26th at 10:30 p.m., by falling from the 7th floor of a multi-family house in Nam-gu, Ulsan. Ms.A was taken to the hospital where she later died. The health authorities confirmed that Ms. A was a member of Shincheonji and conducted a coronavirus test of her and her husband. The couple’s results were negative.

An officer of Shincheonji Ulsan Church, where Ms. A attended, said, “Her husband, who had watched TV after the coronavirus incident, had said, 'Because of you, it looks like our entire family will die' and to ‘leave the house’, while abusing her.”

The officer said, “Ms. A called the police around 7:20pm on the day of the incident due to her husband’s abuse. The police weredispatched after the call.” In addition, "The police advised isolation, but Ms. A went back home when her husband was away," and said “The incident happened after she went back home.It seemed her husband had complaints with Ms. A's report to the police,” and then said, “This incident is still in investigation whether she was killed by abuse or she killed herself in order to avoid further abuse.”

An officer of the Women's Department of Ulsan Church said, “Ms. A was very gentle and a good person,” as she then went on, “She looked oppressed since she had been living under her husband’s pressure.” She continued saying, “Even though her family was so opposed to her, she attended service well. It seemed like she gained much hope and healing by listening to the word in Shincheonji and that’s why she was holding on to her faith more.” In addition, "When her grandchild was born with a disability, she was humiliated by her husband and even her sons saying that it was because Ms. A attended Shincheonji,” and added, “in a way, the entire family was a victim of society’s ‘Shincheonji cult framing’."

Ms. A's younger sister B, who attends the same church said, “My brother-in-law had a violent tendency to cut my sister's hair and threaten her with a knife.” She wept while saying, “My sister was dealing with the abuse well even while she was attending the church. However, this tragedy was caused by worsened public opinion against Shincheonji with this coronavirus incident.” She emphasized, "I don’t believe that my sister took her own life because she had great hope withinher faith in Shincheonji." The Ulsan Nambu Police officer said, "I cannot tell you at all about the investigation because it is still in progress."

Ko Jin-kwang, president of the Council of Promotion for Recovery of Human Rights said, "This is a tragedy," and that “Government and local governments must take care of this coronavirus crisis while regarding the fear, anxiety and conflict that people of Shincheonji experience from social prejudice." He additionally stressed, “they are also people of this country.”

Park Sang-byeong, a political critic said, “As the government puts the blame for the coronavirus incident on Shincheonji, it is true that Shincheonji believers were subjected to considerable discrimination and human rights abuses.” He went on, “The government should take responsibility to solve the coronavirus situation,” insisting that "They must stop framing typical local, religious figures and dividing society and conniving their responsibilities.”

Kim Sang-gyeom, professor of Dongguk University stated, "It's a side effect of the press and the government overly blaming Shincheonji." Professor Kim pointed out, "the government should strongly cope with the member list leakage to prevent dangerous situations in homes just because a member of the church lives there."

He added, "Meanwhile, the government has taken a strong stance on the leakage of information" and he emphasized that, “Freedom of religion is an important fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. The government needs to be more careful considering the disadvantages the religion receives when it is made public.”