Unification Church Officials Arrested Over Political Lobbying
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Police investigating allegations of political lobbying by the Unification Church arrested and questioned Yun Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church’s global headquarters, who was detained at a detention center on the 26th. The police also re-summoned Song Kwang-seok, former chairman of the Unification Church-affiliated Universal Peace Federation (UPF), and questioned two Unification Church officials as witnesses.
The National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation special task force questioned Yun for over nine hours at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, on the same day. The police had attempted to interview Yun on the 24th. However, the investigation was canceled after Yun raised issues regarding the presence of his attorney, prompting the police to obtain a court-issued arrest warrant and proceed with the criminal investigation on the 26th.
Song, identified as a key figure in the Unification Church’s political lobbying, underwent his second investigation in two days following his first on the 24th. Song previously served as UPF chairman, head of the Unification Church’s Korean Association, and chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance for Peace and Security (IAPP), an organization supporting lawmakers. He is accused of illegally donating 1 million to 2 million Korean won each to about 10 politicians from both ruling and opposition parties in early 2019, violating the Political Funds Act. The police previously raided UPF on the 15th.
The police are focusing on securing physical evidence related to allegations that the Unification Church provided Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Chun Jae-soo with 20 million Korean won in cash and luxury watches. During an August meeting with special counsel Min Joong-ki, Yun stated, “I understand that the former lawmaker received 40 million Korean won in cash and one Cartier and one Bulgari watch each from the Unification Church in 2018 in exchange for a request related to the Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel Project.”
In connection with this, the police raided the former lawmaker’s residence and office on the 15th, followed by Bulgari Korea’s headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and Cartier Korea’s headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd, reportedly securing purchase records and transaction data. The initial search warrant listed the former lawmaker’s alleged offenses as “receiving 20 million Korean won in cash and one Bulgari luxury watch.” After investigating related individuals, the police added charges and obtained a new warrant from the court. A police official stated, “Based on investigations of Unification Church officials, we determined that a raid on Cartier was also necessary.” The police are analyzing seven PCs seized from employees at the former lawmaker’s Busan district office.
Content retrieved from: https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2025/12/27/HLK3PXIW4JCXBEUZ2J37RIHR7I/.
