To the Editor:

“Being Called a Cult Is One Thing, Being Blamed for an Epidemic Is Quite Another,” by Raphael Rashid (Op-Ed, nytimes.com, March 9), which describes the Shincheonji Church of Jesus as being scapegoated in South Korea for political purposes, is misleading.

From an early stage, the Korean government has set key principles to combat Covid-19: Be quick, transparent and pre-emptive.

Unlike other countries where only patients showing symptoms have been tested, we chose to test everyone who has been in close contact with confirmed cases. Rather than waiting for patients to come in, we pursued and tracked down possible patients to prevent spread within the community.

During this process, our health authorities found a rapid community transmission taking place among members of the Shincheonji Church. This is a result of exhaustive epidemiological analysis and has nothing to do with prejudice or politics.