Nearly 500-thousand people have so far signed a petition on South Korea's presidential office website to forcibly disband the religious sect "Shincheonji," after the group's mass services were blamed for causing the drastic increase in COVID-19 infections in the country.

Since it was filed on Saturday, the petition garnered agreement from more than 489-thousand people as of 12:30 p.m. on Monday.

The petitioner accused the religious sect of persistently disparaging Christians and Catholics, at times using violence, and violating the freedom of religion under the pretext of its missionary work.

The petitioner stressed that the negative impact on constitutional order and related fallout from illegal acts committed by members of Shincheonji are grave, adding the benefit of defending the Constitution from dissolving the group would be far greater.

The petitioner then blamed the sect of causing the coronavirus outbreak in the southeastern city of Daegu and its surrounding North Gyeongsang Province due to its unethical doctrine and failure to cooperate with health authorities.

Having secured agreement from at least 200-thousand people in a period of one month, the presidential office will have to respond to the petition.