Chung Dong-young denies alleged 'split donations' from Unification Church, while MOU says it is "verifying the facts"

[The Financial News] Attention is now focused on whether Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young will actively defend himself against allegations that he received so-called "split donations" from the Unification Church. When lobbying allegations involving the Unification Church first surfaced in December last year, Chung immediately pushed back and announced he would pursue legal action.
Most of the ruling and opposition figures who, along with Chung, were accused on the 2nd of receiving split donations are denying the allegations. They argue that they were unaware of any money that went into their official campaign accounts and insist they never received any funds personally. The amounts the Unification Church is alleged to have provided through split donations range from several hundred thousand won to several million won. However, it remains unclear whether these donations were a one-off or were repeated over an extended period.
Commenting on the reports about split donations to Chung, Ministry of Unification (MOU) spokesperson Yoon Min-ho stated, "This is a matter that requires verification. We have nothing to disclose at this time."
According to a report by Kyunghyang Shinmun, around 50 figures from both the ruling and opposition parties, including Chung, have been identified as having received split donations from the Unification Church. They include officials from the Office of the President of South Korea under the previous administration, current and former Members of Parliament (MPs), and heads of local governments. The MPs implicated either served on the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in the 20th National Assembly of the Republic of Korea or belonged to the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union.
The Joint Investigation Headquarters is currently investigating allegations that the Unification Church illegally donated a total of 28.3 million won to 54 MPs during the 20th National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
The Joint Investigation Headquarters is also questioning a Unification Church official on suspicion of providing 13 million won in split donations to 11 MPs from both the ruling and opposition parties. Investigators are additionally looking into indications that this individual gave 1 million won in illegal political funds to four current and former MPs, and they cited violations of the Political Funds Act in a previous search and seizure warrant for the Unification Church.

rainman@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Kyung-soo Reporter