Integrated Special Prosecutor Raids Former Commissioner General Yoon Heekeun Over Unification Church Investigation Cover-Up Allegations
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The second integrated special prosecutor team led by Kwon Changyoung, which is investigating lingering suspicions following the three major special prosecutor probes, has raided former Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun in connection with allegations of covering up the Unification Church overseas gambling investigation.
On May 29, the special prosecutor’s office announced, “Yesterday, we conducted a search and seizure of the residence and mobile phone of former Commissioner General Yoon in relation to the alleged cover-up of the Unification Church investigation.”
Former Commissioner General Yoon is reportedly under investigation as a suspect on charges of abuse of authority.
The special prosecutor team is investigating allegations that, although the police had obtained intelligence that Unification Church President Han Hak-ja and other executives had engaged in gambling worth 60 billion won at casinos in Las Vegas, USA, between 2008 and 2011, they did not pursue an investigation. Instead, the information was allegedly leaked to figures such as Kweon Seongdong of the People Power Party, ultimately resulting in the investigation being quashed.
The team suspects that the cover-up occurred around July 2022, when former President Yoon Seok-yeol was elected and Yoon Hee-keun was nominated as the inaugural Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency.
The Chuncheon Police Station reportedly received tips from Unification Church insiders on three occasions between May and July 2022, stating that President Han often engaged in overseas gambling trips with cash belonging to church members. The police compiled these reports and entered them into their internal system.
Although the reports were classified as “Star Report,” the highest level of importance, the National Police Agency did not formally assign the case, citing a lack of additional evidence.
A police officer who drafted the report later testified as a witness in President Han’s trial, stating, “The informant said they would submit additional materials, but the report was simply filed away, which I could not understand.”
During this process, it was also revealed that the Unification Church prepared for the investigation after learning about the confidential information.
A conversation between Yoon Youngho, then head of the Unification Church World Headquarters, and an acquaintance included statements such as, “The top officials said it was in violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. They told us to prepare in case of a search and seizure,” and, “A core associate of Yoon Seok-yeol (Yoonhaekwan) informed us about the police intelligence investigation. We reported it to the higher-ups.”
Previously, the special prosecutor team led by Min Junggi referred lawmaker Kweon and President Han, among others, to trial for exchanging police intelligence, but did not complete investigations into the leak of internal police information or the involvement of higher-level officials.
The current special prosecutor team is expected to summon former Commissioner General Yoon as soon as the analysis of seized materials is complete, in order to verify whether senior police officials or the presidential office were involved in the cover-up.
Content retrieved from: https://www.asiae.co.kr/en/article/social-general/2026052919224518670.
