Lee Man-hee


Lee Man-hee is a Korean religious leader. Lee is the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, 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".

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.
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.

COVID-19 outbreak

On 22 February 2020, South Korea confirmed that 231 of their 433 cases of COVID-19 were from within the Shincheonji sect. 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.
On 1 March 2020, Seoul mayor Park Won-soon announced that the Seoul City 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.
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.