S. Korea seeks arrest warrant for Unification Church leader in bribery probe

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean investigators said Thursday that they have requested an arrest warrant for Hak Ja Han, the 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church. The move followed a day of questioning over allegations that the church bribed the wife of jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker. Han, the widow of church founder Sun Myung Moon, has denied the allegations. A court hearing to decide whether to approve the arrest was scheduled for next Monday, an investigator said.

Kim Keon Hee, Yoon's wife, was arrested last month on charges including bribery, stock manipulation and meddling in the selection of a legislative candidate. Her lawyers have denied the accusations. The lawmaker, Kweon Seong-dong, a staunch Yoon loyalist, was arrested this week and has also denied taking money from the church. Investigators visited the headquarters of the conservative People Power Party on Thursday to request documents to examine claims that Unification Church members enrolled en masse before the party's 2023 leadership race to boost Kweon's candidacy.

These investigations are part of three special prosecutor probes launched under Seoul's new liberal government targeting Yoon's presidency. In addition to the bribery case, other probes focus on Yoon's planning and execution of martial law on Dec. 3 and his government's alleged cover-up of a marine's drowning death during a 2023 flood rescue operation. Yoon's martial law, which was short-lived, led to his impeachment later that month and removal from office in April.

The Unification Church criticized the arrest attempt, saying Han does not pose a flight risk or a threat to destroy evidence and has cooperated with investigators even while recovering from a heart procedure this month.

Kim is suspected of accepting luxury gifts through an intermediary from a Unification Church official who allegedly sought various business favors, including the church's participation in a Cambodian development project. The official, who has been arrested, is also suspected of providing 100 million won ($72,400) in bribes to Kweon.

Han was questioned for nearly 10 hours on Wednesday; she and her church have said the official overstepped his authority and acted on his own.

The Unification Church, officially named the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon. A self-proclaimed messiah, Moon preached conservative family values and built the church into an international movement with millions of followers and extensive business interests. The church is widely known for mass weddings, in which thousands of couples—often from different countries—are paired.