Task force wraps up 8-month probe into church-politics collusion, indicting Lee Man-hee, Hak Ja Han and others in large numbers

[Financial News] The joint investigation headquarters that had been probing allegations of collusion between Shincheonji and the Unification Church has concluded its roughly eight-month investigation. The task force sent 16 people, including Shincheonji chairman Lee Man-hee, and 16 people from the Unification Church, including chairwoman Hak Ja Han, to trial.
The task force, led by Kim Tae-hoon, chief prosecutor of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, announced on the 31st the results of its investigation into alleged violations of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state by Shincheonji and the Unification Church since its launch in January.
In the Shincheonji case, four people including Lee were detained and indicted, while 12 others were indicted without detention. The task force investigated allegations including coercing members to join a specific political party, tax evasion at the church headquarters level, embezzlement of church funds by senior officials, and illegal campaign activity ahead of a party primary.
In particular, Lee was detained and indicted on charges of systematically forcing tens of thousands of Shincheonji followers to join the People Power Party from June 2021 to April 2024, with the aim of influencing politics to resolve various issues facing the church. The task force found that he used his position and the church's vertical organizational culture to assign membership targets to each branch.
Lee was also separately indicted on tax evasion charges. He is accused of evading about 7.57 billion won in corporate and value-added taxes from 2016 to 2020 by disguising snack bars at 70 Shincheonji branch churches nationwide as being operated in the names of individual followers and by concealing cash sales.
In a separate case, investigators also uncovered an incident in which church members were encouraged to join the party ahead of the DPK primary. The head of theology at Shincheonji's Simon Tribe and others were indicted without detention on charges of enrolling about 30 members as party members at the request of a supporter of a prospective Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Goyang mayor ahead of the June 3 local elections.
However, the task force said it found no evidence that Lee or Shincheonji's headquarters had issued instructions or exerted pressure in this case, unlike in the People Power Party membership coercion case. As a result, only violations of the Public Official Election Act were applied to those involved.
At the Unification Church, 16 people including Hak Ja Han were indicted without detention. For six of them, summary orders were requested. The task force investigated allegations including illegal political donations using church funds, embezzlement of church money into Hak's personal safe, and suspicions that a former lawmaker received valuables.
The task force determined that, from March 2019 to January 2025, the Unification Church illegally donated about 189 million won in church funds to 132 politicians in 219 separate instances in an effort to realize its 'religion-state unity' ideology and secure friendly political forces. Three people, including former Unification Church World Mission Headquarters Director Yoon Young-ho, who led the scheme, were indicted without detention, while summary orders were requested for six accomplices.
Hak was also charged separately with embezzlement of church funds. The task force found that from 2017 to 2025, Hak and others diverted about 10.5 billion won in church funds through false accounting and other methods, then hid the money in her personal safe. About 6 billion won of that amount was allegedly diverted under the guise of 'gift expenses.'
During the investigation, authorities also seized about 26 billion won in cash stored in Hak's personal safe and began forfeiture preservation procedures. Hak, her chief of staff Jeong, and Yoon, along with one other person, were indicted without detention on embezzlement charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
The task force said, "We confirmed the substance of allegations that a specific religious group violated positive law, including the Political Parties Act, in order to expand its political influence." It added, "We also uncovered not only illegal political donations, but also the structural financial corruption within the religious organization that served as their source."
The Unification Church said in response to the announcement, "We take seriously the criticism that there were aspects that fell short of the public's expectations," but added that "the investigative authorities' indictment on embezzlement charges is an excessive application of the law that ignores the essence of religious offerings and the legal requirements for establishing the offense."
 
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter