Asia | Banyan

How two Korean cults measure up against covid-19

The “promised pastor” v the god-king of Pyongyang

CULTS AND coronavirus do not mix—or perhaps mix only too well. Take South Korea which, until recently overtaken by Italy, had the highest number of covid-19 infections outside China. Of 7,869 diagnosed cases, three-fifths trace back to a sect called the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Apocalypse, but no deliverance”

The politics of pandemics

From the March 14th 2020 edition

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