▲ Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church's World Headquarters
Current and former officials of the Unification Church have been indicted and sent to trial for mobilizing nationwide networks to illegally donate political funds to 132 politicians, including lawmakers.
The Joint Investigation Headquarters for Church-State Collusion Corruption (led by Kim Tae-hoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office) announced that it has indicted without detention three individuals, including former Unification Church World Headquarters Chief Yoon Young-ho, former International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) President Song Kwang-seok, and former Universal Peace Federation (UPF) President Lee, on charges of violating the Political Funds Act and occupational embezzlement.
Six other officials, including regional church leaders under the Unification Church who partially participated in the crime, were summarily indicted on the same charges.
They are accused of illegally donating a total of approximately 188 million won in church funds across 218 instances to 132 politicians, including lawmakers, using nationwide Unification Church networks from September 2019 to January of last year.
The joint investigation team determined that the Unification Church used the personal names of church affiliates to provide political funds with the objective of having a large number of politicians participate in church-hosted events and expanding its religious influence through them.
To uncover the truth behind the suspicions, the joint team stated that it searched 24 locations including the Unification Church's Cheonjeonggung Palace, tracked approximately 480 financial accounts, and investigated 82 people related to the case.
However, regarding Unification Church President Han Hak-ja and former Chief of Staff Jung Won-ju, the team concluded that there was insufficient evidence of direct participation in the crime, thereby wrapping up the investigation with a decision not to forward the case and returning the records.
The 132 politicians were also excluded from indictment as it was determined that they were unaware through their accounts that the donations received were funds sent by the Unification Church organization for a specific purpose.
Ahead of the June 3 local elections this year, the joint investigation team is also investigating suspicions under the Public Official Election Act that some Shincheonji followers in the capital area joined the Democratic Party of Korea.
It was learned that the joint team secured statements during the investigation of a defected Shincheonji member around March indicating that in 2022, the youth leader of the Simon Tribe encouraged party membership by saying, "I am registered with both the People Power Party and the Democratic Party. We must show our strength to politicians."
The joint investigation team stated, "We will strictly and swiftly proceed with investigations into other suspicions surrounding the Unification Church and Shincheonji."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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