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Special counsel secures list of suspected Unification Church members in PPP collusion probe

Published: 19 Sep. 2025, 10:49

Police stand guard outside the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Sept. 18 as special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team investigating allegations surrounding former first lady Kim Keon Hee conducts a raid in connection with the Unification Church's mass membership in the party. [YONHAP]

A search by special counsel Min Joong-ki's team on Thursday secured the names of 120,000 suspected Unification Church members who joined the People Power Party (PPP) in an investigation into allegations that members joined the conservative party to support a preferred leadership candidate.

The team attempted a raid on the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul — the second attempt after a first raid on Saturday — but stopped after a seven-hour standoff with lawmakers and party officials.

The number accounts for about 10 percent of the roughly 1.2 million names on the Unification Church’s membership list, which investigators had already acquired for comparison.

A PPP official who was present during the raid said, “The actual number will likely be much lower after accounting for people with the same names,” adding that the special counsel had “taken member data unrelated to the collective membership allegations.”

The investigation team responded that it could not disclose exact figures yet because it still needed to verify the data.

Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team investigating allegations surrounding former first lady Kim Keon Hee speaks with a People Power Party lawyer before entering the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, for a raid related to the Unification Church's mass membership in the party on Sept. 18. [YONHAP]

The probe focuses on allegations that the Unification Church sought to organize mass registrations ahead of the party’s leadership election in March 2023 to support Rep. Kweon Seong-dong’s bid for party leader.

The special counsel’s search warrant cited potential violations of the Political Funds Act and the Political Parties Act.

“It may look like a raid, but we are essentially requesting cooperation from the PPP to obtain the data through voluntary submission," a member of the investigation team said.

The official explained that investigators were seeking data from the party’s membership database to confirm whether church members had joined, in line with the warrant.

“We understand that they will compare and take data as listed in the warrant," a PPP official said. "This is not a seizure of the entire party membership list.”

Han Hak-ja, leader of the Unification Church, appears at the office of special counsel Min Joong-ki's team in the KT Gwanghwamun Building in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Sept. 17, after failing to comply with three previous summonses in a probe into allegations surrounding former first lady Kim Keon Hee. [YONHAP]

Investigators have also been questioning former Unification Church World Headquarters Director Yoon Young-ho and other figures, uncovering signs that a coordinated membership campaign began in late 2022.

Jeon Seong-bae — a shaman widely known as "Geonjin" — asked Yoon to encourage church members to join the party, according to the investigation team. They believe the plan was reported to church leader Han Hak-ja before membership application forms were distributed.

The team is also looking into whether former first lady Kim Keon Hee encouraged church members to join through Jeon.

Text messages obtained by investigators show Yoon asking Jeon, “How many members are needed for the convention?” ahead of the PPP convention.

When asked about then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's intention for the party leadership, Jeon replied, “He still supports Kweon.”

When Kweon later withdrew from the race, the church shifted its support to Kim Gi-hyeon, who went on to win the leadership election.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JIN-WOO, JEON MIN-GOO [[email protected]]