Lee Man-hee

Lee Man-hee (Korean: 이만희; Hanja: 李萬熙; born 15 September 1931) is a Korean religious leader. Lee is the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (SCJ), a South Korean Christian group, that has been accused of being a religious cult, who has claimed that Jesus Christ appeared before him as a "bright heavenly figure". He has been accused by the press of being a "false prophet".[1][2][3]

For the film director, see Lee Man-hee (director).

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.
Lee Man-hee
Born (1931-09-15) 15 September 1931
Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, Japanese Korea
NationalitySouth Korean
OccupationReligious leader
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationI Manhui
McCune–ReischauerRi Manhŭi

Early life

Lee was born on 15 September 1931 in Punggak Village, Cheongdo County, North Gyeongsang Province, Japanese Korea. Before founding his own religious movement, he was a member of the group known as Olive Tree and of another movement called the Tabernacle Temple.[4]

During the Korean War, Lee served in the 7th Infantry Division of the Republic of Korea Army; after the war he returned to Punggak Village and worked as a farmer.[5]

COVID-19 outbreak
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea

On 22 February 2020, South Korea confirmed that 231 of their 433 cases of COVID-19 were from within the Shincheonji sect.[6] Lee called the coronavirus a "devil's deed" intended to stop the sect's growth, but he canceled all gatherings of his faith. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the practice of gathering followers in close quarters for religious services may have contributed to the fast spread of the disease.[7]

On 1 March 2020, Seoul mayor Park Won-soon announced that the Seoul Metropolitan Government had made a criminal complaint about Lee, asking for an investigation into him and twelve others connected to the sect on charges of murder and violations of the Disease Control Act, citing their negligence in preventing an outbreak among their parishioners and their refusal to cooperate with the government throughout the crisis. [8]

On 31 July 2020, Lee was arrested by South Korean authorities for allegedly hiding crucial information from authorities. By this time, the Shincheonji Church was being linked to more than 5,200 coronavirus infections, or 36% of South Korea’s total cases.[9] Later Lee appealed to the Court, however, it was dismissed by the Court.[10]

References
  1. KOPETMAN, ROXANA. "Crystal Cathedral members angered by religious leader's event". ocregister.com.
  2. "Mystery surrounds visit to UAE of alleged religious cult - The National". thenational.ae.
  3. "How I ended up in a Korean religious cult - Council of the European Union-Youth for Exchange and Understanding-participant". yeu-international.org. November 17, 2014.
  4. Kim, David W.; Bang, Won-il (2019). "Guwonpa, WMSCOG, and Shincheonji: Three Dynamic Grassroots Groups in Contemporary Korean Christian NRM History". Religions. 10 (3): 212. doi:10.3390/rel10030212..
  5. Introvigne, Massimo (May–June 2020). "Shincheonji: An Introduction" (PDF). The Journal of CESNUR. Center for Studies on New Religions. 4 (3): 3–20. doi:10.26338/tjoc.2020.4.3.1. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  6. McGee, Luke. "A controversial religious group is at the center of South Korea's coronavirus outbreak". CNN. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  7. Kim, Min Joo (21 February 2020). "South Korean coronavirus spike linked to doomsday sect with messianic leader". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  8. Cha, Sangmi (2 March 2020). "Murder probe sought for South Korea sect at center of coronavirus outbreak". Reuters. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  9. "South Korea sect leader arrested over coronavirus outbreak". Reuters. Seoul. July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  10. Lee, Byung-hee (13 August 2020). "Court, has 'dismissed' Lee-Man-hee's appeal (법원, 이만희 구속적부심 청구 '기각'…구속 유지)". NEWSIS. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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