Shaman suspected of facilitating gift of diamond jewelry from Unificationist to Yoon’s wife
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Prosecutors are investigating a shaman who went by the name “Geonjin” for allegedly receiving a diamond necklace from a Unification Church official to gift to former first lady Kim Keon-hee.
The virtual asset crime investigation unit at Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office summoned Jeon Seong-bae, 64, as a suspect on Sunday. Prosecutors reportedly interrogated Jeon about evidence found during a forensic examination of his cell phone showing that Jeon received a diamond necklace meant as a gift for the first lady from a figure who formerly served as a high-ranking official in the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification — better known as the Unification Church.
During questioning, Jeon reportedly maintained that he had lost the necklace. The person who allegedly gave Jeon the necklace served as the head of the Unification Church’s international affairs department. He claimed to have met former President Yoon Suk-yeol at a Unification Church event and held a private, hour-long meeting with him on March 22, 2022 — less than two weeks after Yoon was elected.
Prosecutors are investigating the circumstances behind Jeon’s involvement in the nomination and appointments of candidates in his time as an adviser to the People Power Party (PPP) election headquarters’ networking group during the 2022 presidential election.
On Dec. 17, 2024, prosecutors raided Jeon’s temple in Yeoksam, Gangnam District, and his residence in Yangjae, Seocho District, and secured 165 million won (US$115,400) in cash.
Yoon Han-hong, a PPP lawmaker also suspected of soliciting favors, said on social media on March 18 that he had not been “in a position to act on Jeon’s requests for nominations or appointments.”
Jeon was sent to trial for allegedly receiving 100 million won in illegal political funds in January 2018, just ahead of that year’s provincial and local council elections, from a Liberal Korea Party (the forerunner of the PPP) candidate for mayor of Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province after promising the candidate the official party nomination.
Jeon and his representatives are denying the charges, saying that he “was not politically active in 2018.”
Content retrieved from: https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1194140.html.
