Gwangju Shincheonji Church Busy on Weekdays… Tip Alleges Organized Voting by Jeonbuk Dodoma Branch

A reporter visiting a Shincheonji church in Gwangju confirmed that many worshippers were moving about busily despite it being a weekday. Worshippers were seen continuously entering the church building, and their activity appeared different from an ordinary weekday.

The reporting team described the scene: "I went to the Shincheonji church in Gwangju. Even though it's a weekday, quite a lot of worshippers were moving around. They kept going in nonstop."

"Why is it right next to a university? Shincheonji churches just keep moving in. The Gwangju Shincheonji church is next to Chonnam National, about five minutes on foot. Seeing them sweep up young people like this…" The remark suggested the possibility of evangelism aimed at university students.

The reporting team said: "Today you saw how many one-room units and gosiwon are packed around the university. But if you go back around midnight, they say a crowd of very young people pours out after studying their doctrine there and then scatters."

This appears to show Shincheonji continuing evangelism among young people through late-night doctrinal study.

Doubts were raised about services that are normally held in the evening taking place during the day.

The reporting team said: "Today, as a matter of course, it's Wednesday—yes, I later learned it's a worship day—but the Gwangju Bedrosi branch and, according to a tip I later received, the Jeonbuk Dodoma branch also held Wednesday services today. Normally they're held in the evening, so it feels somehow unsettling that they held them during the day."

The possibility that the weekday afternoon services and lively worshipper activity are not unrelated to the region's political situation was mentioned.

"Anyway, the party-member voting in Honam started yesterday, so every single move the Shincheonji church makes on this Wednesday seems somehow out of the ordinary." The remark voiced suspicion about Shincheonji's activities.

The Dodoma branch originated from the Bedrosi branch and branched out into Jeonbuk, and is known to have a considerable number of worshippers.

According to the tip, roughly 6,000 to 7,000 party members have been enrolled in an organized way through the Dodoma branch, and they are said to be going to vote in this party leadership election at close to 100%. The reporting team said: "The Jeonbuk Dodoma branch. It originally started from the Bedrosi branch and branched out into Jeonbuk as the Dodoma branch, and it also has no small number of worshippers. We received a tip that the Dodoma branch organized the enrollment of roughly 6,000 to 7,000 party members, and that they will vote in this party leadership election at close to 100%. That's why we did an urgent live broadcast today and are now on our way up from Gwangju." Based on this tip, the team announced it had gone live urgently and was traveling to Seoul from Gwangju.