Oceans Minister offers to resign amid Unification Church scandal
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Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo on Thursday expressed his intention to resign amid mounting speculations that he was among the ruling Democratic Party of Korea politicians that had allegedly taken illicit political funds from the Unification Church.
Upon his arrival at Incheon Airport from his trip to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Chun said he would step down from his post, but denied receiving funds from the Unification Church.
“I think it is appropriate for a public official to step down from the Oceans Minister post and face the allegations with dignity … even though these are based on my false statements,” Chun told reporters.
Chun, a three-time liberal lawmaker, served as the Oceans Minister since June and has led the Lee administration’s maritime hub initiative in the port city of Busan. Chun has also potentially been considered as a candidate to run for Busan mayor in the local elections in June.
The donations to liberal figures was a belatedly revealed finding from the special counsel’s probe into the connection between the religious sect, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and the main opposition People Power Party.
The special counsel, designed to look into scandals concerning Kim Keon Hee, ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife, detained former People Power Party whip Kweon Seong-dong and brought him to a criminal court.
Kweon, conservative heavyweight who is a five-term lawmaker, was accused of having illegally received a monetary contribution worth 100 million won ($68,200) in early 2022 from an official of the Unification Church.
The special counsel suspected that the money was related to the religious group’s intention to ask Yoon, who was a presidential election candidate at the time, to serve the religious group’s interests.
However, recent media revelations indicated that the same Unification Church official had funded politicians from the Democratic Party.
The special counsel referred the case to police four months after obtaining such evidence. One of the politicians suspected to have been involved is Chun, who reportedly received 40 million won in funds and luxury watches from the Unification Church in 2018.
President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday ordered an investigation into anyone allegedly tied to illegal funding from the Unification Church, regardless of their political affiliations.
Content retrieved from: https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10634100.
