Shincheonji Leader Lee Man-hee Arrested Over Alleged Pressure to Join People Power Party

[Anchor]

A court has issued an arrest warrant for Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, who is suspected of forcing church members to join the People Power Party. The court stated that the warrant was issued due to concerns that Lee might destroy evidence.

Reported by Jang Hun-gyeong.

[Reporter]

The Seoul Central District Court has issued an arrest warrant for Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee on charges of violating the Political Parties Act.

The court explained that the warrant was issued because there is a risk that Lee could destroy evidence.

Lee is accused of forcing church members to join the People Power Party during the 2021 presidential primary to help make Yoon Suk Yeol the party's candidate. He is also suspected of forcing members to join the party again ahead of the 22nd general election in 2024 to gain assistance in resolving church-related issues.

Earlier, Lee arrived at the court using a cane and underwent a pre-arrest interrogation that lasted about three hours. He did not respond to any questions from reporters before or after the hearing.

[Lee Man-hee/Shincheonji Leader: (Did you force members to join the People Power Party to support former President Yoon Suk Yeol?) ... (Did you order mass enrollment to exert influence on the People Power Party during the general election?) ...]

The joint investigation team believes that Shincheonji enrolled over 50,000 members into the People Power Party under a scheme dubbed the "Pilates Project," and that Lee was the one who ordered it.

Lee's side argued that he had cooperated faithfully with summons and investigations, and that at 95 years old—born in 1931—he posed no flight risk. However, the court did not accept these arguments.

Lee, the central figure in the allegations surrounding Shincheonji, was arrested 169 days after the launch of the joint prosecution and police investigation team in January to probe corruption involving the collusion between religion and politics. The joint investigation team plans to examine whether there was any involvement or requests from political circles behind the organized enrollment of church members.

(Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.