DP faces its own questions for former, current lawmakers' ties to Unification Church
Published: 09 Dec. 2025, 14:18
Updated: 11 Dec. 2025, 12:51
![Lee Jae Myung, then leader of the Democratic Party, right, presents an appointment certificate in April 2023 to Lee, former director of missionary policy at the Unification Church, naming him a vice chair of the party’s association for overseas Koreans. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/11/51f001f7-29ba-4d80-8765-7a000457a0a8.jpg)
Lee Jae Myung, then leader of the Democratic Party, right, presents an appointment certificate in April 2023 to Lee, former director of missionary policy at the Unification Church, naming him a vice chair of the party’s association for overseas Koreans. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
The Democratic Party (DP) came under pressure on Monday after a special counsel investigation linked former and sitting party lawmakers for allegedly making donations to the Unification Church, intensifying scrutiny of one former lawmaker who built ties with senior party officials and church figures during and after their time in office.
Inside the DP, attention focused on the former lawmaker who aligned with the pro-Lee Jae Myung faction while in office.
Questions grew about the former lawmaker’s contacts with the Unification Church and whether those interactions extended beyond political outreach.
Yun Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church’s global headquarters, told investigators that he delivered "several tens of millions of won to two DP lawmakers during the Moon Jae-in administration."
One of them, now out of office, allegedly began acting as a link between DP figures and the church soon after entering the National Assembly in 2016.
The former lawmaker attended memorial events for the church's founder, Moon Sun-myung, while in office, drawing attention to their ties to the organization.
“In April 2023, an administrative policy director surnamed Lee at the Unification Church's Cheon Mu Won [the church's highest administrative body], became a vice chair of the DP's association for overseas Koreans, and the former lawmaker led the process,” a DP official who requested anonymity said. “There were many comments inside the DP that it was unusual to assign a party position to someone from a little-known sect outside the country’s major religious groups."
President Lee Jae Myung was the DP leader at the time, and the former lawmaker held a senior post in the party.
Lee, an administrative policy director at Cheon Mu Won under the Unification Church, received his vice chair appointment certificate directly from Lee Jae Myung and took a commemorative photo with him. Church officials said the policy director worked as a subordinate to Yoon.
![Yun Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church’s global headquarters, appears at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on July 30 for a hearing on his arrest warrant. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/11/0a5902a7-2bdc-422d-a28a-33132853a3f6.jpg)
Yun Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church’s global headquarters, appears at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on July 30 for a hearing on his arrest warrant. [YONHAP]
Lee rose to the No. 3 position inside the church after Yoon lost influence. During that period, the former lawmaker helped introduce Lee to a civic association chaired by another DP lawmaker, which allowed the church to continue exchanges with DP figures.
Investigators noted these connections early in the probe. Church officials widely claimed that Lee displayed his relationships with DP figures, including the former lawmaker, during the investigation.
"Lee showcased those relationships right before the special counsel’s raid," a Unification Church official said. He flaunted his ties with DP figures at that moment. He said he had connections to the Lee Jae Myung administration and could settle the investigation.”
Investigators believe the former lawmaker likely maintained contact not only with Lee, the policy director, but also with Yoon and other senior church members. The former lawmaker reportedly appeared as the only DP guest at a February 2022 church event where Yoon said the church made several approaches to DP politicians.
The former lawmaker denied the allegations.
“I have never met Han Hak-ja [leader of the Unification Church] and never received money from the Unification Church,” they said during a phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo. “I don’t even know Yoon, so I have no idea why he is saying this.”
They did not comment further on their relationship with Lee.
DP leaders plan to monitor the situation for now. Some lawmakers publicly called the allegations an attempt by the church to “muddy the waters.”
Yoon expanded his claims during a court appearance on Friday.
“You don’t approach a candidate directly,” he said. “In 2022, I worked with around four minister-level officials in the current administration. From 2017 to 2021, I stayed closer to the DP than the People Power Party (PPP).”
He also named a former prime minister and former and current governors from the Moon Jae-in administration.
Park Soo-hyun, the DP's chief spokesperson, said during a radio interview on Monday that the party should consider an internal inquiry.
“We need a fact-finding process to show that this differs from the structural ties between the PPP and the Unification Church,” Park said.
A lawmaker from the Jeolla region said the growing list of names could "complicate a push for a second special counsel investigation."
"Rumors connecting a leading contender in next year’s local elections to the case may influence the vote," the lawmaker said.
The PPP intensified its criticism of President Lee.
PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on Facebook on Monday that “Lee Jae Myung’s selective concept of justice now appears even in how he approaches religious groups.”
![People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Dec. 8. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/11/57507b71-b007-4d3b-b9b6-072f7847585a.jpg)
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Dec. 8. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]
"Lee mentioned dissolving certain religious organizations after hearing the allegations," Jang said. “If he did not know about his party’s ties to the church, then the special counsel misled the president. If he did know, then he misled the public.”
Former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon also said on Sunday that President Lee caused controversy when he “suddenly ordered a review of dissolving the Unification Church."
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 LEE CHAN-KYU [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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