Ex-oceans minister maintained frequent contact with Unification Church, records show
Published: 15 Dec. 2025, 14:28
![Democratic Party Rep. Chun Jae-soo meets with officials of the Unification Church-affiliated Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland on March 23, 2020, ahead of the 21st general election. Chun holds a copy of Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja’s autobiography, left. [JOONGANG ILBO, SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/15/d9d87011-9a23-4c8e-8172-e3379c14d5f0.jpg)
Democratic Party Rep. Chun Jae-soo meets with officials of the Unification Church-affiliated Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland on March 23, 2020, ahead of the 21st general election. Chun holds a copy of Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja’s autobiography, left. [JOONGANG ILBO, SCREEN CAPTURE]
Former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo — facing allegations of accepting bribes from the Unification Church — participated in at least seven events tied to the church from 2018 to 2020, records show.
According to the church's internal newsletter posted in September, then-Democratic Party Rep. Chun attended an event in Busan in 2018 — held just one day before Yun Young-ho, then the Unification Church’s world headquarters chief, submitted a “special report” to church leader Han Hak-ja on Sept. 10 stating that “Chun has agreed to actively cooperate with our work.”
Based on the post, the church appears to have invited Chun to the event, requested cooperation on key church-related issues, and then compiled the outcome into a report that Yun submitted to Han.
According to findings by the JoongAng Ilbo, the Unification Church stated in its newsletter that the then-lawmaker representing a Busan constituency attended a dinner with "new Korea leaders" — distinguished individuals from various local community sectors — commemorating the sixth anniversary of the "ascension" of founder Rev. Moon Sun-myung on Sept. 9, 2018, where Chun delivered a memorial address.
“We cannot confirm whether Rep. Chun attended the event,” said a Unification Church official. “But it would be unlikely for false information to have been written in the newsletter if he had not attended.”
Yun's report to leader Han stated that Chun had attended "a gathering of 600 people in Busan’s fifth district and gave a congratulatory speech,” which Chun denied by explaining that he was at the Gupo Catholic Church in Busan attending a different event. However, the Gupo Church event was held in May 2018, as opposed to the New Korea Leaders event, which was held in September, making it possible that Chun had mixed up the dates of the events.
![Former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo answers reporters’ questions after returning to Korea on Dec. 11 from efforts to bid to host the United Nations Ocean Conference. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/15/a6026a4e-8a48-4477-8f3d-77e58dad2ca2.jpg)
Former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo answers reporters’ questions after returning to Korea on Dec. 11 from efforts to bid to host the United Nations Ocean Conference. [YONHAP]
The dinner in question was organized to mark the sixth anniversary of the death of former Unification Church leader Moon Sun-myung and was held in four cities — Seoul, Cheongju, Yeosu and Busan. In Busan, preparations were handled by the church’s Gyeongsang region organization, known as the fifth district. On the day of the event, a leaders’ invitation dinner hosted by the head of the district took place at the Crystal Ballroom on the third floor of Lotte Hotel Busan.
The special report submitted to Han also states that “Rep. Chun flew to Seoul immediately after the New Korea leaders' dinner.” In fact, the following day, on Sept. 10, 2018, a National Assembly forum on fintech was held in Yeouido, western Seoul, which Chun hosted.
Chun's attendance at the dinner was one of seven interactions he reportedly had with the church or its affiliated organizations between 2018 and 2020, a period when Chun allegedly received Bulgari and Cartier watches, as well as 40 million won ($27,000), from the church.
Yun is reported to have told the special counsel team investigating former first lady Kim Keon Hee that the money and valuables were provided to Chun in an effort to seek cooperation on the Unification Church’s long-standing project to build an undersea tunnel between Korea and Japan. At the time, Chun represented Busan’s Buk–Gangseo District A — an area identified by the church as the planned starting point and port site for the proposed tunnel.
After securing Yun’s statement in August, the special counsel team assigned only a preliminary internal case number and effectively left the allegations unaddressed for four months, contending that the matter fell outside the scope of the special counsel law.
![Officials of the Unification Church-affiliated Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland visit liberal Democratic Party Rep. Chun Jae-soo on Feb. 1, 2019. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/15/ecaa3f0f-3ee6-42ac-b63b-81ee7633eb77.jpg)
Officials of the Unification Church-affiliated Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland visit liberal Democratic Party Rep. Chun Jae-soo on Feb. 1, 2019. [JOONGANG ILBO]
However, based on the premise that Yun’s testimony was credible, the team later concluded that the case should be viewed as a bribery allegation involving specific requests and payments. After the case was transferred to the National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation, police booked Chun as a bribery suspect and imposed a travel ban.
Beyond the New Korea leaders' dinner, Chun also maintained frequent contact between 2018 and 2020 with the Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland, an incorporated association established by the Unification Church in 1987. Chun participated directly in five of the group’s events and sent congratulatory messages for another.
Notably, on March 23, 2020, ahead of the 21st general election, Chun posed for a commemorative photo holding church leader Han's autobiography, alongside officials from the civic group. One of the individuals in the photo later served as head of the Unification Church’s Busan branch.
Han’s autobiography includes passages about the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel, which is suspected to have been the subject of the church’s lobbying. Han wrote that she “once again proclaimed the creation of a peace highway linking the world by connecting the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel with one heart,” adding that it would “open the door wide to break down the walls of race, religion and nation and realize the peaceful world God has long desired.”
On Aug. 10, 2018, Chun attended and delivered a congratulatory speech at the “One Korea Peace Road 2018 Unification March,” an event hosted by the same group at the Buk District Office in Busan based on a project proposed in 1981 by Moon, which includes the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel. Photos taken that day show a banner listing the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification — the Unification Church’s official name — as a sponsor.
![Rep. Chun Jae-soo delivers a congratulatory address at the “One Korea Peace Road 2018 Unification March″ hosted by the Unification Church affiliated Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland at the Buk District Office in Busan on Aug. 10, 2018. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/15/e90106af-a48c-4cc5-abbe-829c324fad04.jpg)
Rep. Chun Jae-soo delivers a congratulatory address at the “One Korea Peace Road 2018 Unification March″ hosted by the Unification Church affiliated Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland at the Buk District Office in Busan on Aug. 10, 2018. [JOONGANG ILBO]
In addition, the Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland met with Chun on June 8, 2018, and Feb. 1, 2019. The then-lawmaker attended the group’s March 2019 event as a distinguished guest and sent a congratulatory message to an event held on Aug. 7, 2019.
Chun’s camp has denied allegations that he promised to cooperate with the Unification Church on the undersea tunnel project, calling them “groundless” and stressing that he has long opposed the idea. “The undersea tunnel is something Japan is not even interested in, and it would only benefit Japan while harming Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang,” Chun said in a radio interview in 2021. “It should be scrapped.”
The now former oceans minister did not respond to the JoongAng Ilbo’s inquiries regarding his alleged attendance at Unification Church events.
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, SON SUNG-BAE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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