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Police find letters from Unification Church addressed to ex-oceans minister in probe

Published: 17 Dec. 2025, 11:31 Updated: 17 Dec. 2025, 20:49

Former Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo answers questions from reporters as he leaves his office inside the National Assembly in western Seoul on Dec. 15. [YONHAP]

Police investigating allegations that the Unification Church provided illicit funds to political figures have obtained multiple invitation letters from the church addressed to former Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo, reports confirmed Tuesday.

A special investigative unit under the National Office of Investigation at the Korean National Police Agency conducted over 15 hours of raids on Monday at 10 locations, including the Unification Church’s headquarters and Chun’s home and parliamentary office. During the raids, officers reportedly discovered two to three invitation letters that Unification Church organizations had sent to Chun between 2018 and 2020, in addition to internal reports and accounting documents. Investigators suspect that money may have changed hands in connection with these events.

The search warrant reportedly included bribery accusations, stating that Chun allegedly received 20 million won ($14,000) in cash and a Bulgari watch worth 10 million won from the Unification Church around 2018. These would be violations of the Political Funds Act. However, the watch was not found during the raid.

Police plan to question Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja on Wednesday at the Seoul Detention Center, where she is being held in custody. They had attempted to interview Han on Monday, but the session was canceled. The search warrant included testimony from former Unification Church World Headquarters director Yun Young-ho, who claimed that Han was ultimately responsible for lobbying efforts targeting political and government officials.

Investigators are also moving quickly with digital forensics on materials seized from earlier raids of former Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Jong-seong and former United Future Party lawmaker Kim Gyu-hwan, who are both suspected of receiving 30 million won each in the lead-up to the April 2020 general election, in violation of the Political Funds Act.

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 NA UN-CHAE [[email protected]]