Task force raids major Unification Church facility, investigates Shincheonji recording

A joint prosecution-police task force investigating allegations of collusion between religious groups and politicians raided the Unification Church’s Cheon Seung Jeon again on Tuesday.

The Unification Church's headquarters Cheon Jeong Gung, top, and its major facility Cheon Seung Jeon, bottom, in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi [SON SUNG-BAE]

A joint prosecution-police task force investigating allegations of collusion between religious groups and politicians raided the Unification Church’s Cheon Seung Jeon again on Tuesday.

The search and seizure came a week after the task force carried out raids on major Unification Church facilities, including Cheon Seung Jeon, Cheon Won Palace and the Sunhak Institute of History.

The task force is probing whether the Unification Church, through Youn Young-ho, its former global headquarters chief, delivered money and valuables worth tens of millions of won to former Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo, former Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Jong-seong and former United Future Party lawmaker Kim Gyu-hwan between 2018 and 2020.

The task force is also investigating claims that members of the Shincheonji Church were instructed to join the People Power Party (PPP) en masse.

“There were instructions to sign up for party membership ahead of the 2022 presidential election,” a former Shincheonji regional leader, identified only by the surname Choi, reportedly told investigators on Monday.

Authorities have allegedly secured recordings that suggest Shincheonji contacted conservative figures, including Kim Moo-sung, the former leader of the Saenuri Party, the predecessor to the PPP.

The recordings reportedly mention the names of prominent opposition figures, including former PPP lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, and include claims that Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee spoke with a person believed to be former President Yoon Suk Yeol over the phone.

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 SHIN HYE-YEON [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]