“The number of people coming to our church has ballooned in recent months, although not all of them are registered as our members,” said Han Hwan-ho, 51, a worshiper at Sarang Jeil since 1987. Health officials have been racing to track them down for testing and isolating, warning of “massive nationwide transmission.” Jun’s sermons and political rallies in Seoul. Unlike Shincheonji’s secretive congregation, many of Sarang Jeil’s 4,000 congregants traveled from across the country to attend Mr. Sarang Jeil’s congregation is much older and could prove weaker to the virus than that of Shincheonji. It has erupted at the center of the Seoul metropolitan area, home to half the country’s 51 million people. Health officials have warned that the outbreak at Sarang Jeil could prove far more devastating than Shincheonji’s. The infections among church members and their contacts have spiked to 676 cases, including Mr. In the past week, the outbreak has forced the church to shut down, and its congregants to isolate themselves at home. Church officials even suspect health officials manipulated virus-test results to keep Mr. Moon of trying to scapegoat the church to divert attention from his weak approval ratings, which have been plummeting over domestic policy blunders like soaring housing prices. Police officers have been sent to track down Sarang Jeil congregants who have broken quarantine.īut in today’s polarized South Korean society, fraught with fake news, conspiracy theories and fear-mongering, alternative narratives have also taken hold, purporting that the congregants have become the target of a political witch hunt or even a terrorist attack from communists.Ĭonservative activists have accused Mr. Moon has accused his most vocal critics of spreading the infectious disease and putting the entire nation in danger - a sentiment widespread on social media.