Unification Church leader arrested in bribery case involving former South Korean president’s wife
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The 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church was arrested in South Korea early Tuesday as investigators probe allegations that the church bribed the wife of jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker.
Hak Ja Han the widow of the church’s South Korean founder, Sun Myung Moon, has denied allegations that she directed church officials to bribe Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, and the lawmaker.
The Seoul Central District Court approved investigators’ request for an arrest warrant for Han, saying she posed a risk of destroying evidence.
Han did not speak to reporters as she arrived at the Seoul court on Monday for a hearing on the warrant request. After an hourslong hearing, the court issued its decision in the early hours of Tuesday as Han awaited the verdict at a detention center near Seoul, where she will now be held.
The Unification Church had criticized investigators’ attempt to arrest Han, noting that she appeared for questioning last week while still recovering from a heart procedure earlier this month, and accused them of disrespecting an “internationally respected religious leader.”
Kim was arrested and charged last month on allegations including bribery, stock manipulation and meddling in the selection of a legislative candidate.
The lawmaker, Kweon Seong-dong, a staunch Yoon loyalist, who was arrested last week, has denied receiving money from the church. Investigators also last week visited the headquarters of his conservative People Power Party to obtain documents for examining claims that Unification Church members signed up en masse ahead of the party’s 2023 leadership race to boost Kweon’s candidacy.
The investigation into Kim is one of three special prosecutor probes launched under Seoul’s new liberal government targeting Yoon’s presidency. The others focus on Yoon’s planning and execution of his short-lived martial law imposition on Dec. 3 and his government’s alleged cover-up of a marine’s drowning death during a 2023 flood rescue operation.
Read more https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/22/asia/unification-church-leader-arrested-bribery-case-south-korea-intl-hnk
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