Unification Church leaders charged with financing PPP candidates, but donations to DP excluded from probe
Published: 02 Dec. 2025, 13:56
Updated: 03 Dec. 2025, 14:07
![Han Hak-ja, leader of the Unification Church, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Sept. 22 after attending a hearing to review an arrest warrant. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/03/b051523c-4d75-4f55-9703-c1a6f0487ec3.jpg)
Han Hak-ja, leader of the Unification Church, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Sept. 22 after attending a hearing to review an arrest warrant. [NEWS1]
Prosecutors have charged senior Unification Church officials with illegally funneling church money to the then-ruling People Power Party (PPP) in 2022. But they declined to bring similar charges over donations made through the same channels to Democratic Party (DP) politicians, a decision that is already drawing scrutiny.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki indicted church leader Han Hak-ja, former chief of staff Jeong Won-ju and former World Headquarters Director-General Yun Young-ho on violations of the Political Funds Act. Prosecutors say the trio oversaw a coordinated plan to divide 144 million won ($98,000) into contributions sent to 20 PPP provincial party branches and district leaders during the 2022 presidential and local elections.
The Seoul Central District Court opened the case Monday. Testimony and investigation records show that regional church branches acted as a political donor network for the PPP, with funding and instructions to support PPP candidates flowing from church headquarters. Yet those same records indicate that branches also made political contributions to multiple DP politicians around the same period — contributions that prosecutors chose not to include in the indictment.
A church official from the fourth regional branch in the Jeolla region told investigators that the branch donated 2 million won to Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung, 3 million won to former Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop and 3 million won to South Jeolla Gov. Kim Yung-rok in 2022. The branch initially refused headquarters’ directive to support the PPP, but after receiving 40 million won in funds and instructions, it reportedly used part of the money to back DP politicians instead.
![Han Hak-ja, leader of the Unification Church, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Sept. 22 after attending a hearing to review an arrest warrant. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/03/de146d7f-5cb4-4448-89a8-21dabece0310.jpg)
Han Hak-ja, leader of the Unification Church, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Sept. 22 after attending a hearing to review an arrest warrant. [NEWS1]
The second branch, responsible for Gyeonggi and Gangwon regions, also donated 10 million won to then–Gangwon gubernatorial candidate Lee Kwang-jae under the names of senior church officials.
Yun, former director of the church's global headquarters, transferred 40 million won each to the first through fourth regional branches and 50 million won to the fifth branch on March 4, 2022, totaling 210 million won, under the label of mission funds, according to prosecutors.
Regional branches then sent 144 million won of that amount to PPP campaign accounts: 30 million won from the first branch, 21 million won from the second, 30 million won from the third, 18 million won from the fourth and 45 million won from the fifth.
![People Power Party officials respond to cheers from attendees at a rally in Incheon on Dec. 1. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/03/14e95d55-1ce9-4653-bbcc-62dffdc21ac0.jpg)
People Power Party officials respond to cheers from attendees at a rally in Incheon on Dec. 1. [NEWS1]
The special counsel team did not investigate or indict PPP officials who received donations, saying they could not have known the contributions originated from the Unification Church’s organizational accounts.
During the investigation, prosecutors also uncovered evidence that regional church branches donated to DP figures. However, they chose not to include those donations when indicting church leader Han and others.
Prosecutors said Yun distributed a total of 210 million won to the five branches. He instructed them to donate to PPP city and provincial chapters.
Because the headquarters’ orders specifically named the PPP, prosecutors concluded that the donations to DP candidates did not stem from organizational direction. They excluded the DP-linked funds from the charges, determining that those donations lacked the character of corporate funding.
Prosecutors viewed the DP donations as individual deviations, since all five regional branches received both the funds and the instruction to support the PPP. They also considered that charging individuals for acting outside the church’s official line could go beyond the scope of the special counsel's investigation.
The special counsel team explained that the investigation focused only on political contributions made under the church’s direct orders.
However, Article 31, Paragraph 2 of the Political Funds Act clearly states that no one may donate political funds using money tied to domestic or foreign corporations or organizations.
By excluding the DP donations from the indictment, the special counsel may face criticism for pursuing selective charges that emphasize alleged collusion between the PPP and the Unification Church.
“A political donation is a political donation — whether it went to the PPP or the DP,” said a lawyer who previously served as a prosecutor. “If the funds came from the same corporate source, it makes no sense to claim that donating to only one party is illegal.”
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-HO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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