10 million won contract between Shincheonji and U.S. company to highlight the oppression of the church by the Korean government - Munhwa Ilbo
[Exclusive]
2020.09.10.
Reporter Jeong Yoo-jeong
Zion Church in the U.S.
A six-month contract with Livingston Group.
Emphasis on religious freedom and invasion of privacy.
A church in the U.S., believed to be linked to the Sincheonji Church, has signed a $8,500 monthly contract with a local group to inform the U.S. administration of its oppression and unfair treatment in Korea.
On the 9th, Porinlobby.com claimed that the Zion Church in San Francisco, California, signed a contract with the company Livingstone Group on the 17th of last month to inform U.S. officials of its persecution and unfair treatment. The contract period is six months and the cost is $8,500 per month. The contract can be extended beyond the six months. The Zion Church is known to be a church related to Sincheonji. The Shincheonji Church was cited as the epicenter of the first wave of the Coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in Korea in February. Zion Church has allegedly claimed in the contract that "the Korean government's actions against the church affected the right of American citizens to privacy." Accordingly, Livingston Group is expected to contact U.S. officials and ask them to distribute relevant data and encourage the U.S. administration to handle the issue in an appropriate manner.
Livingston Group has not yet registered a foreign agent in the lobby, and neither the Livingstone Group nor the Zion Church has responded to Porinlobby.com's request for comments. Livingston Group also has contracts with the Iraqi and Azerbaijan governments and Ukrainian steel companies.
The Porinlobby.com reported that the Seoul Metropolitan Government filed a complaint with the prosecution against Lee Man-hee, the leader of Sincheonji, which drew opposition from U.S. religious groups. In March, the Seoul Metropolitan Government filed a complaint against the chairman and the representatives of the12 tribes on charges of murder, injury, and violation of the Act on the Prevention and Management of Infectious Diseases and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressed concern. Pointing to the Shincheonji Church as a representative example of the global impact of the Corona19 on religious freedom, the USCIRF said, "There were reports of discrimination at work and abuses by spouses. 1.2 million people signed a petition to dismantle the church."
Original article (Korean): https://n.news.naver.com/article/021/0002441969
Disclaimer! I am not a Korean speaker nor a professional translator and all the English translations are by no means official. They are just part of my research on Shincheonji that I would like to share with you.
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