Gathering of 1,000 Angry Gwacheon Citizens... Opposing Change of Use for Shincheonji Religious Facility 'Weekend Rally'

【Financial News Gwacheon=Jang Chung-sik Reporter】About 1,000 citizens of Gwacheon City, Gyeonggi Province, held a large-scale rally in the city center over the weekend, strongly opposing the move to change the use of part of a building owned by Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji) to a 'religious facility'.
'Shincheonji OUT Gwacheon Emergency Response Committee' held a 'Gwacheon Citizens' General Rally to Oppose the Change of Use for Shincheonji Religious Facility' at Jungang Park in Gwacheon City from 5 p.m. on this day, shouting against Shincheonji's change of use and demanding active response from Gwacheon City, the city council, and the political circle.
The rally was attended by Gwacheon Mayor Shin Gye-yong, Lee So-young, a member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party, Choi Ki-sik, the chairman of the Uiwang-Gwacheon Party Association of the People Power Party, Chairman Ha Young-joo, all members of the Gwacheon City Council, Kim Hyun-seok, a provincial councilor, and other key institution heads, politicians, and organization heads.
They claimed at the rally, "Despite the opposition of the majority of Gwacheon citizens, Shincheonji is attempting to change the use of the E-Mart building in the heart of the city to a religious facility," adding, "Shincheonji's attempt to change the use is not just an administrative procedure but a problem that recreates past wounds and shakes civil society." 
The Emergency Committee demanded that Gwacheon City actively engage in the lawsuit over Shincheonji's change of use, and that the Gwacheon City Council and local National Assembly members represent the will of the citizens and take immediate action, urging Shincheonji to withdraw its attempt to change the use on its own.
Currently, Shincheonji has been using the 9th to 10th floors as a religious facility without changing the use since purchasing the building in Byeolyang-dong in March 2006.
The original use of the building was 'business facility', and Shincheonji once changed it to 'cultural and assembly facility', then submitted an application to Gwacheon City in March 2023 to change the use to 'religious facility'.
When Gwacheon City made a decision to disallow it, Shincheonji filed a 'lawsuit to cancel the refusal of the application to change the building register entry', and won in the first trial held at Suwon District Court in April this year.
Accordingly, Gwacheon City decided to appeal, and is raising the level of response by adding a law firm with a winning record in similar lawsuits to prepare for the second trial. 
The Emergency Committee, which hosted the rally on this day, included the Gwacheon Parents Association, the Residents' Representative Association, the Gwacheon Guardians Citizens' Solidarity, and 20 other groups, with an estimated participation of about 1,000 citizens.




jjang@fnnews.com Jang Chung-sik Reporter