Korean probe summons ex-Unification Church aide over political lobbying
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The joint police-prosecution investigation headquarters, currently investigating alleged collusion between religion and politics, has summoned Jeong Won-ju, former chief of staff of the Unification Church, for questioning over the church’s alleged lobbying of politicians and so-called “split donations.”
According to legal sources on the 23rd, the joint investigation headquarters has called in the former Deputy Minister as a suspect from 10 a.m. and is under investigation. The headquarters is looking into whether the former Deputy Minister was involved in cash-and-gift lobbying targeting lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties.
Previously, Yun Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church world headquarters, claimed that from 2018 to 2020 he delivered cash and other valuables worth tens of millions of won to Chun Jae-soo of the Democratic Party of Korea, former lawmaker Lim Jong-seong of the Democratic Party, and former lawmaker Kim Gyu-hwan of the United Future Party (UFP), among others.
The joint investigation headquarters is also investigating allegations that, in early 2019, illegal political donations were systematically delivered to politicians from both sides. The suspicion is that a so-called split donation method was used, in which donations were made under individuals’ names and then reimbursed with Unification Church corporate funds.
Earlier, when prosecutors indicted Song Gwang-seok, former president of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), on charges of donating 13 million won in corporate funds to the support committees of 11 lawmakers, they determined there was collusion with Han Hak-ja, the Unification Church leader, and the former chief of staff.
The joint investigation headquarters plans to focus on confirming, with the former Deputy Minister, whether and how there was involvement in cash-and-gift lobbying, the progress of the split donations, and whether there were instructions from the leader Han.
Content retrieved from: https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-society/2026/02/23/BWUA4IXYCJABZFQHOY3OW32AXE/.
