Police Question Hak Ja Han for Three Hours at Seoul Detention Center... Tracing the Reality of Unification Church–Political Circles Ties

[Financial News] The police, investigating allegations that Unification Church provided money and valuables to political figures, have completed an in-person interview with Hak Ja Han, the church’s chairwoman, who is at the center of the suspicions.
According to Financial News coverage on the 17th, the Special Investigation Task Force of the National Office of Investigation, Korean National Police Agency, visited the Seoul Detention Center, where Chairwoman Han is being held, to conduct the interview. The session lasted for about three hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Chairwoman Han has been named as the ultimate person responsible for directing or approving the provision of illegal political funds and valuables to politicians from both ruling and opposition parties at the organizational level of the Unification Church. She is currently under investigation on charges of bribery and violating the Political Funds Act.
The police are focusing on whether the cash and luxury watches, worth tens of millions of won, allegedly delivered by the Unification Church to politicians such as former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo, former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Jong Sung Lim, and former United Future Party lawmaker Kyuhwan Kim between 2018 and 2020, were provided under Han’s instructions. The main issues in this interview were the circumstances of contact with political figures and whether Han ordered the provision of valuables.
A key point is whether the Unification Church’s approach to politicians was through individual interactions or as part of an organized lobbying effort. Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church World Headquarters and a central figure in the case, reportedly testified during the special prosecutor’s investigation and in court that he delivered valuables to politicians under Han’s orders.
Previously, on the 11th, the police conducted a three-hour interview with Yoon at the Seoul Detention Center to verify the credibility of his testimony. In contrast, the Unification Church maintains that Yoon’s actions were personal misconduct.
Prior to questioning Han, the police conducted extensive searches at ten locations on the 15th, including Cheon Jeong Gung in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, the Unification Church’s Seoul headquarters in Yongsan-gu, and the homes and offices of politicians implicated in the case. The search, which lasted from 9 a.m. on the 15th to 12:40 p.m. the following day, resulted in the seizure of numerous internal documents and accounting records from around 2018.
Notably, during the search of former Minister Chun’s office and residence, the police reportedly obtained congratulatory messages related to Unification Church events. According to church records, Chun attended or sent congratulatory messages to several Unification Church events since 2018. The police are now focusing on whether Han was aware of or informed about these contacts in advance and if there is any connection to the alleged provision of valuables.
The police suspect that Chun received 20 million won in cash and a luxury watch worth 10 million won from the Unification Church, but the actual watch Yoon claimed to have delivered has not yet been found. The search warrant for Kim Kyuhwan reportedly states that Han and Yoon delivered a box containing 30 million won in cash at Cheon Jeong Gung. However, the politicians under investigation deny any involvement.
The police are also considering the possibility that the 28 billion won in cash bundles found in Han’s personal safe at Cheon Jeong Gung during the special prosecutor’s search in July may have been used for lobbying politicians.
In anticipation of the possibility that additional residences might be uncovered during the search, the police obtained search warrants for Chun, Lim, and Kim without specifying addresses. This measure allows for immediate execution if new residences are found, reflecting the possibility that key suspects may have moved between multiple locations. The validity period for the search warrants was set until the 14th of next month, giving the police about a month to conduct simultaneous searches at multiple sites.
The police are expediting their investigation to quickly secure key evidence and clarify the scope of the charges. In particular, the statute of limitations for violations of the Political Funds Act is seven years, and since the alleged offenses date back to 2018, the approaching expiration of the statute of limitations is also a factor.
Meanwhile, the police announced that they have effectively completed the search and seizure procedures for the Special Prosecutor for Kim Keon-hee, conducted to secure investigation records related to the Unification Church. However, as imaging and duplication of digital evidence is ongoing, only a small number of personnel were dispatched to the site on this day. The complaint filed by People Power Party lawmaker Cho Bae-sook and others on the 11th, alleging bias by the Kim Keon-hee special prosecutor’s team, has been referred to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).
yesji@fnnews.com Kim Ye-ji Reporter