Police raid the Seoul headquarters of the Unification Church in Yongsan, Seoul, Monday, as authorities launch their first compulsory investigation into allegations that the the religious group provided money and valuables to political figures. The National Police Agency’s special investigation team began executing search and seizure warrants at around 9 a.m. at 10 locations, including the church’s Cheongjeongung complex in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. - Photo: Yonhap
SEOUL: The police investigation into the Unification Church's alleged bribing of political figures intensified Monday (Dec 15), with sweeping searches conducted across religious sites and lawmakers’ residences as the scandal deepened into a full-blown political confrontation.
The special investigation team of the National Police Agency began executing search and seizure warrants at around 9am at 10 locations, including the Unification Church headquarters in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, its Seoul headquarters in Yongsan, and the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, where church leader Han Hak-ja and former global headquarters chief Yun Young-ho are currently held.
Police also searched the home and National Assembly office of former Oceans Minister and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Rep. Chun Jae-soo, as well as the residences of former Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Jong-seong and former conservative lawmaker Kim Kyu-hwan.
Last week, police booked Chun, Lim and former conservative United Future Party lawmaker Kim Gyu-hwan on suspicion of receiving bribes from the church.
According to investigators, Chun is listed in the warrant as a bribery suspect, while Lim and Kim are accused of violating the Political Funds Act. All three have denied wrongdoing.
Kim, speaking at an afternoon press conference outside the National Police Agency headquarters in Seoul, said he had “never received a single won,” illegal or otherwise, from the church and denied any contact with former global headquarters chief Yun.
He vowed to take legal action over what he described as false reporting and defamation.
Church leader Han, who was recently named a suspect, is accused of offering bribes and violating the Political Funds Act, while Yun — already under indictment — faces the same charges.
Police entered Chun’s assembly office at around 11.20am, more than three hours after media reports first disclosed the planned search.
Investigators are expected to scrutinise church accounting records and conduct extensive financial tracking to trace money flows, with a focus on luxury watches and other valuables allegedly used for lobbying.
Police are also examining a cache of cash worth approximately 28 billion won (US$19 million) discovered earlier this year in Han’s private safe during a special counsel raid. The money was not seized at the time because it fell outside the scope of that probe.
Warrants reportedly state that Chun received 20 million won ($13,600) in cash and a luxury watch worth about 10 million won around 2018, while Lim and Kim allegedly received about 30 million won each ahead of the April 2020 general election.
Police are also investigating allegations of dereliction of duty by the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki, which is handling the case, amid accusations that the probe selectively favoured liberal politicians.
Officers raided the special counsel’s office in central Seoul to secure all investigative materials, including statements by Yun Young-ho, arguing that key evidence related to alleged payments to ruling-bloc figures was not sufficiently pursued or transferred when the case was handed over to police.
The scandal has widened beyond its initial focus on conservative politicians to include figures linked to the ruling Democratic Party, fueling opposition claims that the earlier investigation applied different standards depending on political affiliation.
Yun, whose testimony initially triggered the investigation, was additionally booked as a suspect for illegally providing political funds or bribes.
However, he recently reversed key parts of his earlier statements while testifying in a separate trial involving opposition lawmaker People Power Party Rep. Kwon Seong-dong.
Chun became the first Cabinet member to step down under President Lee after offering his resignation Thursday over the allegations, which the president accepted within hours.
However, he has continued to deny attending any Unification Church events tied to the alleged payments.
In a Facebook post Monday, Chun said he was in his hometown of Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province, tending family graves on Sept 9, 2018 — the date cited in media reports — and denied attending another church event in May that year, saying he was instead present at a parish Mass marking a 60th anniversary in his constituency.
“I categorically state that I never engaged in any illegal receipt of money or valuables,” Chun wrote.
Earlier Monday, a daily newspaper reported that Chun had contact with Unification Church figures at least seven times between 2018 and 2020. The allegations stem from testimony by Yun, which was later transferred to the police following the special counsel investigation.
The expanding probe has triggered a sharp political standoff over whether a new special counsel investigation is needed.
Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, chair of the main opposition People Power Party, accused special counsel investigators of conducting a “selective and politically biased” probe and called for a broad opposition alliance to push for a new special prosecutor.
“The Lee Jae Myung administration represents an unprecedentedly ruthless exercise of power,” Jang said at a party leadership meeting held at a protest tent outside the National Assembly on Monday. “To stop this, all opposition forces must unite.”
Jang criticised the ruling Democratic Party for "rejecting" a Unification Church-focused special counsel while pursuing a consolidated follow-up probe into other cases, accusing it of shielding its own figures.
The Democratic Party dismissed the call, insisting the ongoing police investigation should proceed and accusing the opposition of exploiting the controversy for political gain.
Rep. Jung Chung-rae, chair of the Democratic Party, was quoted as saying Monday that the main opposition’s proposal to launch a special counsel probe into alleged Unification Church bribery is “absolutely unacceptable.”
The party's chief spokesperson Park Soo-hyun told reporters after a party leadership meeting at the Assembly that Jung had made the remark during a closed-door session earlier in the day, adding that the proposal was “not worth considering.”
As police intensify financial tracking and expand their investigation, the question of whether to launch a special prosecutor will likely remain at the centre of political confrontation, with both sides framing the probe as a test of fairness, accountability and the rule of law. - The Korea Herald/ANN
