DP does about-face, agrees to Unification Church probe as public pressure mounts

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) said Monday that it would accept a special prosecutor probe into the Unification Church, just one day after the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and minor conservative Reform Party reached a surprise agreement.

Democratic Party floor leader Kim Byung-kee, right, speaks during a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec 22. [YONHAP]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) said Monday that it would accept a special prosecutor probe into the Unification Church, just one day after the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and minor conservative Reform Party reached a surprise agreement on Sunday to introduce the investigation.

The DP and PPP were set to hold a floor leaders’ meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss the matter.

DP leader Jung Chung-rae said during a supreme council meeting on Monday that the party would push to legislate a “second comprehensive special counsel probe” immediately after the special counsel investigation on former first lady Kim Keon Hee ends on Sunday.

“The comprehensive special counsel probe was intended to investigate unresolved issues from the three special counsel probes, so we said a Unification Church special counsel probe was unacceptable,” Jung said. “But there is no reason we can’t accept it. The DP will accept the Unification Church special counsel probe that the PPP has long demanded.”

The three special counsel probes Jung referred to are the corruption case involving the former first lady, former President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law last year and an influence-peddling case of a marine commander involving the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun during a search and rescue mission.

Floor leader Kim Byung-kee also proposed that the probe cover “all ruling and opposition politicians without exception,” adding that the DP had exercised restraint after investigations had already begun and urged a strict and impartial process.

“The PPP is acting as if the DP has something to hide and is trying to avoid a special counsel probe by pushing the Unification Church issue,” Kim said. “Whether it is a violation of the Constitution or the Criminal Act, let’s uncover everything without sacred cows.”

People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seog, left, and Reform Party floor leader Chun Ha-ram speak to reporters after a luncheon meeting at a restaurant in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 21. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]

As recently as Sunday morning, DP chief spokesperson Park Soo-hyun had said in a briefing that “there is no change in the DP’s position on the Unification Church special counsel probe,” reaffirming the party’s earlier stance that it would block such a probe even if a second special counsel initiative moved forward.

The situation shifted dramatically Sunday afternoon after the PPP and the Reform Party agreed, following a luncheon meeting, to introduce a Unification Church special counsel probe using a third-party nomination system. In consideration of the possibility that the DP might accept the deal, the opposition parties opted for a system under which the chief of the National Court Administration would recommend two candidates, with one to be appointed, according to Reform Party floor leader Chun Ha-ram.

As calls for the probe intensified not only from opposition parties but also from within the ruling bloc, the DP appeared to have little choice but to accept it. DP lawmaker Park Jie-won said on YTN radio Monday that public support for the probe reflected “a national demand to uphold the constitutional principle of separation of church and state,” adding that the Unification Church issue should be dealt with firmly in a second comprehensive special counsel investigation.

“If the public wants it, a Unification Church special counsel probe is only natural,” DP lawmaker Kang Deuk-gu wrote on Facebook Monday.

“The party had initially planned to fight local elections by focusing on an insurrection narrative,” said a DP official. “The Unification Church gate has grown too big to ignore, leaving them no choice but to accept it.”

"The decision to accept the probe was made in consideration of public opinion," Moon Jin-seog, the DP’s senior deputy floor leader for operations, reportedly told a closed-door lawmakers’ meeting Monday.

Former Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Dec. 19 as a suspect in an investigation into allegations that he received cash and other valuables from the Unification Church. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

According to a Gallup Korea survey conducted via telephone interviews from last Tuesday to Thursday and released on Friday, 62 percent of respondents said a Unification Church special counsel probe should be introduced. Support was highest among DP supporters at 67 percent, followed by centrists at 65 percent and PPP supporters at 60 percent.

Still, news of the DP’s acceptance triggered backlash among some of Jung’s supporters. On the online political forum Ddanzi Ilbo, comments accused Kim Byung-kee of being a “mole” and likened him to figures blamed for past party setbacks.

Opposition parties welcomed the DP’s decision. “Acceptance of the probe was only natural,” PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said Monday. He welcomed what he called the DP’s “forward-looking stance.”

“The special counsel probe we need to pass must allow investigations into corrupt DP politicians,” said Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok. “A probe diluted through delay tactics is unacceptable.”

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 KANG BO-HYUN [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]