Han Hak-ja: Who the Unification Church leader is, and why she might soon be jailed
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Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, appeared before a judge on Monday as the court weighs whether to grant a warrant for her arrest on suspicion of bribing former first lady Kim Keon-hee and People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong.
Since Yun Young-ho, the former director of the church’s international operations, was indicted on similar charges on Aug. 18, Han has strenuously denied involvement, saying that Yun acted alone.
However, considering the Unification Church’s doctrine, global organization, and Yun’s testimony that every detail of church affairs gets reported to Han, investigators working the case believe that the Unification Church’s lobbying of the administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol could not have gone down without Han’s instruction and approval.
Since the death of Unification Church founder Moon Sun-myung on Sept. 9, 2012, Han, 82, has controlled the church’s leadership. Han married Moon, who was 23 years her senior, on April 11, 1960, when she was 17. The couple had a total of 14 children — seven sons and seven daughters — over the course of 21 years.
Within their movement, Moon and Han were referred to as the “true parents” of humanity and were considered messiahs. After Moon’s death, Han, as the “true mother,” began to expound on a new doctrine that suggested she is the “only begotten daughter” of God. This new doctrine theologically legitimized her succession to the church’s throne.
Even during interrogation by the special counsel team investigating alleged corruption linked to former first lady Kim Keon-hee on Wednesday, Han reportedly referred to herself as God’s “only begotten daughter.”
The Unification Church, which operates under the formal organization Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, views the family as the fundamental unit of peace and happiness, telling its followers that “children should be raised and nurtured with love and through the word [of God] within a tradition of conjugal oneness,” as Han remarked in September 2012, during a global meeting of Unification Church leaders.
However, Han has been involved in an acrimonious conflict with her children over who will take the reins of the church, a conflict that has had a toll on her own leadership. Even within the church, some critics say that Han’s doctrine of being “only begotten daughter” goes against the teachings of Moon.
Han has preached an ideology that collapses the separation of church and state, arguing that followers must build a “nation of cosmic peace and unity” (known in the church as “cheon il guk”) where the will of the true parents is realized. She has maintained close connections with Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and the American Republican Party through sizable donations to the two parties.
These facts have led Korean investigators to believe that, in an effort to expand the church’s influence within South Korea, Han actively reached out to presidential candidates to establish friendly relations starting in late 2021. While Yun may have been the main actor in the plot, investigators believe that Han was the one calling the shots and signing off on his activity, while her longtime chief of staff, surnamed Jeong, aided and abetted the plot. Jeong also appeared before a judge on Monday for a warrant review as investigators seek to hold her in pre-trial custody.
Han stands accused of ordering Yun to bribe first lady Kim Keon-hee with luxury goods, which were allegedly delivered through Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman who also goes by the moniker “Geonjin,” between April and July of 2022. She is also accused of ordering Yun to deliver 100 million won (US$72,000) in illegal political funds to Kweon, a PPP lawmaker close to Yoon Suk-yeol, in January 2022.
Han is strenuously denying the allegations. “Why would I even need to do that?” she shot back at a reporter who asked why she had given such a sum to Kweon.
The special counsel team has determined that Han had a shopping bag full of cash delivered to Kweon on two occasions in February and March of 2022, but Han reportedly told investigators during her interrogation that she had “given him a small cash gift for New Year’s and a necktie,” arguing that she’s never given him illicit political funds. The special counsel team plans to continue its investigation into Han by focusing on suspicions that she broke campaign finance laws.
On Sunday, the eve of Han’s appearance before a warrant judge, the Unification Church issued an official statement saying, “Dr. Hak Ja Han has devoted her life to liberating the heavenly parent and to the salvation of the human race. To realize the vision of eternal world peace, she has traveled to over 190 countries, where she has prayed and worked to unite the people of the earth as one family under the heavenly parent in a nation of cosmic peace and unity.”
The statement went on to claim that Han “has not ordered any illicit political bribery or financial transactions of any kind.”
By Kim Ga-yoon, staff reporter
Content retrieved from: https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1220070.html.
