Shincheonji Church of Jesus Wins the Case Where the Court Ruled that the Refusal on Change of Use to Religious Facility is Unlawful

Shincheonji Church of Jesus Wins the Case Where the Court Ruled that the Refusal on Change of Use to Religious Facility is Unlawful 

Violation of Religious Freedom Guaranteed by the Constitution Court

Puts a Stop to Gwacheon City’s Administrative Measure Influenced by the Position of Certain Groups

Shincheonji, Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (“Shincheonji Church”; Chairman Lee Man-hee) won the first trial in a lawsuit filed against Gwacheon City to cancel the city’s rejection on its request to modify details in the building registry. On 24 April, the Suwon District Court ruled that Gwacheon City’s refusal was unlawful, revoked the administrative decision, and ordered the city to bear the litigation costs. 

This ruling is seen as a correction by the court on the unconstitutional action taken by Gwacheon City, which had sought to deprive a specific religious group of its rights based on the influence of local complaints and some religious organizations.

From the aspect that the outcome of the trial clearly demonstrated how political decisions cannot supersede the Constitution and laws, this case goes beyond a simple administrative dispute but serves as a significant judicial warning, which highlighted the issues regarding protection of religious freedom and abuse of administrative authority.

Following the ruling, Shicheonji Church will conduct discussions with Gwacheon City regarding specific measures, such as resuming the worship services.

In 2006, Shincheonji Church purchased ninth floor of Newcore Department Store building situated in Byeoryang-dong, Gwacheon, changed the use of the location from “group of facilities for commerce” to “group of facilities for cultural activities and assembly,” and used it as a religious facility (church) for over 15 years without any objection from the city. 

However, during the outbreak of COVID-19 in February 2020, the city arbitrarily shut down the church facility with no legal grounds. Even after the pandemic has effectively subsided, the city issued a notice in January 2023, requiring Shincheonji Church to use the venue strictly according to the purpose of cultural activities and assembly and threatened to impose charges for compelling compliance if this is violated. This was a move that practically banned religious activities.

Shincheonji Church subsequently filed twice to change the use of the facility into a religious location, but the city declined them, citing transportation, safety, complaints, community conflicts, etc. as reasons. However, the court dismissed these in full. 

In the ruling, the court clearly stated that, “the request for the change of use within the same facility category under the Building Act must generally be accepted, and the reasons Gwacheon City provided such as complaints, transportation and safety issues are not valid grounds for rejection.” 

The court further ruled that, “negative sentiment on religion or multiple complaints cannot be the basis for the administrative measure as this would constitute an infringement on the freedom of religion safeguarded by the Constitution.” 

A person from Shincheonji Church remarked, “the emotional anguish the members went through and the financial damage inflicted on the church for over five years are beyond words,” and added, “this a stern judicial ruling against unlawful administrative actions driven by religious bias.”