▲ Former Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun listens to questions from reporters as he arrives at the 2nd Comprehensive Special Counsel team office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on July 21 for questioning as a suspect regarding allegations including the cover-up of a Unification Church investigation.
The 2nd Comprehensive Special Counsel team, led by Kwon Chang-young, which is investigating remaining allegations following the third special counsel, has summoned former Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun again in connection with the alleged cover-up of an investigation into overseas gambling by the Unification Church.
The special counsel team has been questioning Yoon as a suspect on charges of abuse of power since 10:00 a.m. today (July 21).
Upon arriving at the special counsel's office around 9:45 a.m., Yoon stated, "It is difficult to even agree with the term 'denying the charges.' This entire matter is a baseless and absurd frame-up."
He continued, "I was neither aware of (the intelligence regarding the Unification Church's overseas gambling) nor did I receive any reports on it. The police are not an organization that leaks criminal intelligence to suspects or covers up investigations," adding, "I view this as an insulting matter that defames not only me personally but also the police leadership and my colleagues."
Yoon is suspected of failing to properly investigate and instead covering up intelligence received by the police that Unification Church leaders, including President Hak Ja Han, had engaged in gambling worth 60 billion won at casinos in Las Vegas, USA, between 2008 and 2011.
Previously, the Chuncheon Police Station had received tips from a Unification Church insider on three occasions between May and July 2022, alleging that "President Han frequently engages in overseas gambling using cash from followers," and subsequently drafted and registered an intelligence report in the internal system.
Although the report was classified as a "star report," the highest priority level, it was found that the National Police Agency did not formally assign the case, citing a lack of additional evidence.
Circumstances suggesting that the Unification Church had learned of the intelligence and prepared for an investigation were also captured.
In a conversation that Yoon Young-ho, former Secretary-General of the Unification Church's World Headquarters, had with an acquaintance at the time, it was revealed that he said, "A top-ranking official mentioned the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. They told us to prepare because a search and seizure might come," and "A 'Yoon-haek-gwan' (a core associate of Yoon Suk Yeol) informed us about the (police's) intelligence-based investigation. I reported it (to the higher-ups)."
The previous special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki, which investigated the case, concluded that former People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, a close associate of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, had received the police intelligence and passed it on to the Unification Church, and subsequently indicted Kweon and President Han.
However, the investigation into the internal police leak process and the involvement of higher-ups remained unfinished.
The comprehensive special counsel team, which took over the case, has been investigating based on the suspicion that Yoon, who was appointed as the first Police Commissioner General after the election of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, directed or was involved in the cover-up of the investigation.
The special counsel team conducted search and seizure operations at the National Police Agency, the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, and the Chuncheon Police Station in April, and summoned Yoon for questioning on June 23.
The team has also conducted witness interviews with former Unification Church World Headquarters Secretary-General Yoon Young-ho and police officers who were part of the National Police Agency's Criminal Intelligence Division at the time.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.