FILE PHOTO: Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review her arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors in Seoul, South Korea, September 22, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
SEOUL, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The trial of the head of South Korea's Unification Church started on Monday, with prosecutors portraying Han Hak-ja as keen to exert political influence and accusing her of using Chanel bags to bribe former First Lady Kim Keon Hee.
The case is part of a string of investigations by special prosecutors into ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim in the wake of Yoon's martial law order in December 2024.
Attending the hearing in a wheelchair, Han, 82, denied the accusations.
Han, head of the religious group now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, sought to bribe Kim with two Chanel bags, a diamond necklace and wild ginseng in return for business and political favours, prosecutors said.
Kim has admitted she received the bags as gifts from the church via a broker, but claimed there was no quid pro quo.
Han is also accused of bribing a close confidante of Yoon with cash, and helping Yoon win the presidential election in 2022 by mobilising church members in return for his backing of church projects.
Prosecutors argued that Han misappropriated the donations of church members.
"Defendant Han Hak-ja is the absolute power holder of the Unification Church at the top... Not a single penny of illegal funds or lobbying can be moved without her approval," one of the prosecutors told the court, showing a flowchart of the church's alleged structure.
"Through collusion between politics and government, which is prohibited by the Constitution, donations were turned into a tool for buying power," he said.
Kwon Oh-seok, one of Han's lawyers, said a church official had acted alone out of "political ambition" and without Han's knowledge.
As prosecutors sought to portray the cosy ties between the church and some politicians, a different former church official told the court the church had arranged a meeting between Yoon and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in 2022.
In February 2022, Pence came to South Korea to address a Unification Church-affiliated event and his separate meeting with Yoon was also made public.
The official, who took the stand as a witness for the prosecution, also said the church had provided financial support for politicians in countries like Senegal and Nepal, which had been signed off by Han.
Sitting through the proceedings quietly and sometimes with her eyes closed, Han told the court she was not interested in politics.
"I had no interest in politics in this country... Every politician, people in religious and academic communities know me as a mother of peace," she said.
Han was temporarily released from detention last month on medical grounds, but has since returned to jail. She has requested bail again due to health issues.
Critics have vilified the church as a heretical and dangerous cult and questioned its murky finances and how it indoctrinates followers.
This year, a Tokyo court ordered the Japanese branch of the Unification Church to disband, following a scandal over fundraising practices and links to the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe. The church has vowed to fight the court order.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies, Michael Perry and Edwina Gibbs)
