Joint Investigation Headquarters Indicts Unification Church Official on Political Funds Charges
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The Joint Investigation Headquarters (headed by Chief Kim Tae-hoon, Daejeon High Prosecutors’ Office chief), which is investigating allegations of collusion between the Unification Church and political figures, was reported on the 11th to have additionally indicted Song Kwang-seok, former chairman of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF). Song had previously been referred to trial on charges of “splitting political donations,” and additional crimes related to this case have now come to light.
The task force indicted Song on the 5th on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. Song is accused of illegally donating 1 million Korean won to the support committee of Rep. A in March 2019. The task force concluded that Song and Yun Young-ho, former global head of the Unification Church, among others, disguised church funds as personal donations and transferred money to politicians. UPF is an affiliated organization of the Unification Church. A source from the task force explained, “We prioritized indicting cases nearing the 7-year statute of limitations for Political Funds Act violations. We plan to refer additional illegal donations still under investigation for trial.”
Earlier, Song was indicted in December last year for donating approximately 13 million Korean won in “split” form to 11 ruling and opposition lawmakers in 2019. The list of lawmakers who received donations reportedly included Reps. Yoon Sang-hyun, Na Kyung-won, Chung Se-kyun, and Sim Jae-kwon. Presiding Judge Lee Jae-wook of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 10, who is handling the case, plans to merge the newly indicted case with the existing one for joint deliberation.
Police had previously referred Han Hak-ja, the church’s chairwoman, and Jung Won-joo, former chief secretary, to prosecutors for their alleged involvement in the donations. However, after prosecutors requested supplementary investigations, the task force has continued related probes. Following a second summons of former secretary Jung on the 4th, the task force interviewed Han, who is detained at the Seoul Detention Center, on the same day.
Content retrieved from: https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2026/03/11/WQC34476NVGU7HNF3MXA6B2NGA/.
