August 26, 2025
Seoul – Investigation on the special counsel of Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, convened former First Lady and Jeon Seong-Bae (shaman detained on August 21) to investigate alleged corruption involving the former presidential couple and the Unification Church.
The late Rev. Moon San Mong established the World Federation of Peace and Unification in Seoul in 1954, and the Unification Church was late, and has since grown exponentially, establishing a solid foothold in South Korea, Japan and the United States. At a 2021 press conference, the group reported that about 19,000 followers in South Korea would pay for the organization regularly.
The Unification Church is currently led by the late founder Moon’s widow Hak Ja Han Moon. Her followers believe she became the Messiah after her death in 2012.
The connections between religious groups and the former presidential couple first attracted public attention when prosecutors investigated alleged corruption involving Kim Hejie, before the official launch of the special counsel team in mid-April.
The Seoul Southern District Attorney’s Office has previously investigated officials from Jeonju and former senior unification churches.
The latter insists that after former President Yoon won the 2022 election in 2022, he gave a new luxury diamond necklace and Chanel handbag as a gift from the former First Lady. He said the gifts were intended to gain support from the acquisition of the Korean cable news channel YTN and receive invitations to the president’s inauguration.
However, after a special consultation inquiry from the church in mid-July, the Unified Church was under scrutiny, and he reportedly testified under instructions under the leadership of the Unified Church that he had provided luxury goods.
Unified churches distance themselves from the conduct of officials, reporting that luxury gifts are “personal misconduct.”
However, the Special Adviser received multiple testimony, and both Han and church officials expressed support for then-presidential candidate Yoon in March 2022 and received support from the entire organization.
The allegations related to religious groups have been escalated further, with Crescent and former church officials believed to have interfered in the leadership competition of the People’s Power Party by inviting church members to join the party and supporting Rep. Kweon Seong Dong to bid for the Floor Leader in 2023.
Evidence and testimony have been secured through multiple searches and seizures in the facilities and offices of the Unified Church, and the Special Adviser confirmed that Jon exchanged text messages with the church’s official Yoon asking “How many party members do we need to mobilize the leadership elections of the party leaders?” and said: “The support of (Presidential) Yuan is still firmly lying in Ken Wayon.”
The special counsel team has also expanded the investigation to investigate other suspicions about the unification of the church, after the church officials received help from key aides to former President Yoon to dismiss police investigations into overseas gambling suspicions involving church leader Han in 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, former first lady Kim asked her fourth special counsel for her fourth special counsel Monday morning since her detention on August 12.
Although the team asked Kim Jong Il, who allegedly participated in the manipulation of stock prices of imported car dealer Deutsche Auto and a bribery involving the Unified Church, Kim still exercised her right to remain silent on most issues.
The special counsel team reportedly asked the former first lady if she was the owner of the “Keon Hee 2” contact on Shaman Jeon’s phone.
Investigators revealed that the new allegedly he allegedly received luxury goods from church officials and tried to hand them over to the former first lady, revealing that Jeon made several calls with “Keon Hee 2”.
Kim’s gifts about telephone contact and church officials remained nervous, but the Special Advisory Panel decided to sue the former First Lady on Friday three days before the expiration of Kim’s detention period.
The special advisory team reportedly added that the schedule may vary depending on how the investigation process takes place throughout the week.
