December 12, 2025
SEOUL – The scandal involving the Unification Church, which has led to investigations and indictments against several opposition figures, has spread to the ruling party and the government, with one minister already having resigned.
The Unification Church has been under investigation over suspicions that it provided illegal funds to conservative lawmakers, but top church officials have claimed that the church has also had illicit dealings with ruling Democratic Party of Korea members.
Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo offered to resign the Thursday after allegations surfaced that he received 40 million won ($27,000) in illicit contributions and two luxury watches in 2018. President Lee Jae Myung accepted his resignation shortly afterward.
He was among the ruling party figures cited in criminal complaints filed with police earlier that day by the main opposition People Power Party based on allegations of bribery and receiving illegal political funding.
A criminal complaint was also filed against special counsel Min Joong-ki for dereliction of duty by avoiding the investigation of ruling party members.
The special counsel did not refer the cases involving Democratic Party politicians to police until Tuesday, four months after obtaining evidence of illegal funding in its investigation.
Min is heading a probe into former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife Kim Keon Hee on allegations that she invited Unification Church members to join the then-ruling People Power Party in November 2022. The special counsel suspected Kim sought to exercise influence on the conservative party’s internal election process in return for the sect’s favor.
The counsel has indicted former People Power Party Floor Leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, on charges of receiving 100 million won in illegal funds during the campaign period for the 2022 presidential election. Kweon has been held on remand since September.
Now, opposition parties are demanding that ties between the Democratic Party and the Unification Church be uncovered, as in the special counsel’s investigation of Yoon and Kim — led by the now-ruling party against its political opponents.
“Min neglected his duty as the special counsel as he could not conceal he was merely an underling of the Lee administration and the Democratic Party,” Rep. Cho Bae-sook of the People Power Party said Thursday in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s headquarters.
Upping the ante, Rep. Lee Jun-seok, chair of the minor conservative Reform Party, on Thursday proposed to launch a special counsel probe targeting Democratic Party politicians’ alleged ties with the religious sect and their involvement in the funding scandal.
The launch of a special probe, however, requires a majority vote at the National Assembly, where 166 out of 298 seats are ruling Democratic Party members.
Rep. Song Eon-seog, floor leader of the People Power Party, said on his Facebook post the main opposition party was willing to cooperate.
Min’s representative Park No-soo said Thursday that the probe into the Unification Church found five politicians from both major parties combined might have been involved without giving out their names, but denied its investigation was biased.
He added his special counsel team requested that Lee of Reform Party appear for questioning Friday over his alleged role as the former People Power Party chair in influence-peddling during the party’s election process in 2022.
Recent media revelations indicated that the same official who allegedly played a role in bribing former first lady Kim and the People Power Party’s Kweon had also funded politicians from the Democratic Party.
Also among those suspected of ties with the Unification Church are Unification Minister Chung Dong-young.
Chung, on his way to his office in Seoul on Thursday, acknowledged that he met the officials in September 2021 but denied that he had received any funding.
Earlier Thursday, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo expressed his intention to resign as he arrived at Incheon Airport after his trip to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
Chun said he would step down from his post to relieve the Oceans Ministry of external pressure, but denied receiving funds illegally from the Unification Church.
“I think it is appropriate for a public official to step down from the oceans minister post and confront the allegations with dignity … even though these are based on my false statements,” Chun told reporters.
Chun, a three-time lawmaker, has served as oceans minister since June and led the Lee administration’s maritime hub initiative in the port city of Busan. Chun has also been considered a potential candidate to run for Busan mayor in the local elections in June.
President Lee has ordered a thorough investigation into anyone allegedly tied to illegal funding from the Unification Church regardless of their political affiliations.