The moment I learned that followers of the secretive Shincheonji Church of Jesus — South Korea’s most shadowy religious cult — had been infected with coronavirus, I called my parents in Seoul and asked them to stay indoors and not go out unless absolutely necessary. I said this knowing how Shincheonji members go out into the streets in a bid to recruit new members. Last year, I spent a few months researching Shincheonji, which claims to have attracted about 200,000 followers in South Korea and is now expanding its influence in the West.

Health officials are now battling to contain South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak, in which members of the secretive Shincheonji Church of Jesus, along with their relatives and others who got the virus from them, account for more than  450 cases of all confirmed infections. By Wednesday, the number of cases had reached over 1,100 — second only to mainland China.

More than 9,000 Shincheonji members have been put under quarantine, and the government plans to test all of them for the virus. 

Here are five facts that you may not know about the organization: