Did Shincheonji's 12 Tribe Leaders' Collective Apology Consider Chairman Lee Man-hee's Bail Hearing and Rep. Kim Min-seok's Pledge?

With all 12 tribe leaders of Shincheonji Church of Jesus present, the acting general manager delivered a public apology message on behalf of the organization. It is considered very unusual for the Shincheonji leadership to collectively bow their heads and apologize at the general assembly level. They acknowledged their wrongdoing with the expression, "Bowing 90 degrees, Shincheonji Church of Jesus announces apology for party membership."

Suspicion has arisen that the Shincheonji leadership's collective apology, released ahead of Chairman Lee Man-hee's bail hearing scheduled for early September, is a strategic move aimed at securing his release. The hosts stated, "Tomorrow is precisely the day of Lee Man-hee's bail hearing. So please look favorably upon us. We will never do it again." They analyzed that this might be an attempt to secure Chairman Lee Man-hee's release by creating international anti-human rights public opinion.

It is speculated that Representative Kim Min-seok's pledge during the primary process to 'resolve dual party membership issues, Shincheonji issues, and fake party member issues' influenced Shincheonji's collective apology. Representative Kim Min-seok stated, "Because Representative Kim Min-seok already said during the primaries that to truly usher in an era of party member sovereignty, issues like dual party membership and Shincheonji's fake party members must be addressed, Shincheonji must be very anxious now." He had previously signaled an investigation into allegations of Shincheonji members joining the Democratic Party as Kwonlidangwon (active party members). Therefore, Shincheonji's apology is being interpreted as a gesture directed at Representative Kim Min-seok.

The prosecution has officially launched an investigation into suspicions of Shincheonji's involvement in the Democratic Party's primary election. The joint investigation team is currently investigating allegations that Shincheonji Simon Tribe members in Goyang-si joined the party to support the primaries at the request of a local Democratic Party election camp last year. Summons and questioning of officials, including the head of the Simon Tribe theology department in Goyang-si, are currently underway. News reports stated, "The joint investigation team is investigating the alleged Shincheonji Democratic Party membership in Gyeonggi-do's northern organization, probing high-ranking victims. They are investigating allegations that Shincheonji Simon Tribe members in Goyang-si joined the party to support the primaries at the request of a local Democratic Party election camp last year."

The possibility of collusion between candidates and Shincheonji in local government elections has been raised. It is suggested that rather than Shincheonji leading the initiative, Democratic Party candidates may have directly requested primary support from Shincheonji. Remarks such as, "Rather than Shincheonji leading, it's that Democratic Party candidates requested it from Shincheonji," along with past statements by Representative Park Ji-won, suggest there may be circumstances where candidates sought to leverage Shincheonji's organizational power.

The correlation between Shincheonji's temple construction issues and the election of local government heads has been pointed out. Particularly in a situation where the construction of the main temple and religious facility permits for the Goyang-si Simon Tribe are facing difficulties, it was stated, "From Shincheonji's perspective, they can negotiate with a favorable candidate in Goyang-si. They want to build their own temple. To build that temple, ultimately, local governments must grant permits as a religious facility." This suggests that local government's permit authority could be a crucial medium for election interference.

An analysis suggests that Shincheonji's motivation for interfering in the Democratic Party primaries, regardless of Chairman Lee Man-hee's personal background, is to resolve grievances in areas with strong Democratic Party support. A New Tamasa host stated, "In areas where Democratic Party support is strong, Shincheonji can only achieve its goals by interfering in the Democratic Party primaries." They pointed out that Shincheonji seeks to realize its political interests by joining the Democratic Party as Kwonlidangwon (active party members).

New Tamasa hosts criticized the Shincheonji leadership's collective apology as deceptive. They stated, "Watching the tribe leaders collectively bow their heads today made me think that we cannot let this pass." They regarded the act of all 12 tribe leaders bowing their heads as an evasive action rather than a genuine apology. New Tamasa emphasized that they would continue to investigate suspicions of Shincheonji's political involvement.

Criticism has been raised that Representative Jung Cheong-rae's explanation for the 'brother-in-law Shincheonji' suspicion, which was identified as his Achilles' heel during the party convention, was insufficient. Reporter Kang Jin-gu stated, "That part seemed to be the most painful fact. In the end, he couldn't explain it, and candidate Choi Min-hee even brought up a sad family history in his final joint speech." He pointed out that Jung Cheong-rae mentioned family history without adequately explaining the allegations. This is suspected as an attempt to cover up the allegations as fake news for future political advancement.

A protest text message, presumed to be from a Shincheonji official, was sent to New Tamasa regarding their Shincheonji-related reporting. The sender questioned, "Is the report that Mr. Kim Do-sam was a Shincheonji member before 2006 a fact based on verifiable physical evidence such as church records or internal lists?" They also requested the basis for judging Mr. Kim Do-sam's Shincheonji membership and that Chairman Kim Deok's blue bracelet symbolized the Peter Tribe.

The special nature and potential for manipulation of Shincheonji church records have been raised. A New Tamasa host stated, "The important thing is that Shincheonji church records are different from resident registration numbers. They can be deleted anytime." They explained that Shincheonji church records are managed with an internal unique number system, unlike general resident registration. They pointed out the closed structure, which makes manipulation and deletion easy within Shincheonji, such as deleting member numbers upon withdrawal, thus raising doubts about its credibility.

Specific physical evidence for the allegation of Representative Jung Cheong-rae's brother-in-law Kim Do-sam's Shincheonji connection was presented in the form of call records with Elder Gu Kyung-ho. A New Tamasa host stated, "When I searched Elder Gu Kyung-ho's phone, the name Gu Kyung-ho appeared. And the number was also under the name Kim Do-sam." They further stated that along with eyewitness accounts of Elder Gu Kyung-ho trying to connect Kim Do-sam to Representative Jung Cheong-rae, reporter Heo Jae-hyun confirmed Kim Do-sam's name and phone number through Elder Gu Kyung-ho's phone records during a call.

Allegations of a link between Shincheonji and Representative Jung Cheong-rae's side have been raised. A New Tamasa host stated, "Gu Kyung-ho has been Shincheonji's official political and media conduit for over 10 years. And he himself said – though he didn't mention 'brother-in-law' – that from his perspective, Jung Cheong-rae is his brother-in-law or wife's brother." They emphasized that Kim Do-sam's contact information was found on Elder Gu Kyung-ho's phone, and that Kim Do-sam has served as Shincheonji's official political and media conduit for over 10 years. This further intensifies suspicions of a brother-in-law relationship between Representative Jung Cheong-rae and Kim Do-sam.

The existence of physical evidence related to Shincheonji allegations, confirmed through communication records, has been re-emphasized. A New Tamasa host stated, "While church records can be erased or altered, a person's communication phone number history cannot be hidden. So, to answer this person's question again, I want to say that physical evidence exists." They stressed that while church records are subject to manipulation, communication records, verifiable by checking with telecommunication companies, are irrefutable physical evidence.

It has been revealed that Shincheonji uses unique colors to distinguish each tribe on its website and official YouTube channels. A New Tamasa host explained, "If you go to the Shincheonji website, the tribes in different regions across the country are marked with colors. They use colors for each tribe's official YouTube channel," demonstrating how Shincheonji visually emphasizes the characteristics of each tribe.

It was pointed out that for Representative Jung Cheong-rae to grow further as a politician, he must not dismiss the 'brother-in-law Shincheonji' allegations merely as a sad family matter, but instead proactively explain it. A New Tamasa host emphasized, "From former representative Jung Cheong-rae's perspective, if he intends to grow further as a politician, he cannot simply gloss over the 'brother-in-law Shincheonji' issue as a sad family matter. He must clearly explain and apologize for these parts and proactively eliminate this risk." The Shincheonji issue could become a point of attack for opposing candidates in future elections and a major obstacle to future political endeavors, such as challenging for the presidency or Seoul mayoralty. Therefore, clear explanation and apology are needed to eliminate the risk.

Suspicion has been raised that the Shincheonji Simon Tribe, which covers northwestern Seoul and northern Gyeonggi, centered around Goyang-si, may be linked to the abnormal figures observed in recent national public opinion polls for the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions. A New Tamasa host stated, "The Simon Tribe is responsible for northwestern Seoul and northern Gyeonggi, centered around Goyang-si. Seeing this, I wondered if this might be related to the recent, unusually high public opinion poll results in Seoul and Gyeonggi." This suggested the possibility of Shincheonji's organizational regional influence impacting election results.

A behind-the-scenes story was revealed about discussions within Rep. Jung Cheong-rae's camp regarding his appearance on New Tamasa before the full start of the party convention, which ultimately fell through. A New Tamasa host stated, "Inside Jung Cheong-rae's camp, before the party convention officially began, there was talk of Representative Jung Cheong-rae appearing on New Tamasa. And while I don't know if Mr. Kim Eo-jun actually opposed it, I was told that Mr. Kim Eo-jun's opposition was one of the reasons why we couldn't have him appear." This suggests that Kim Eo-jun's opposition was a major factor in the cancellation of the appearance.