Unification Church leader Hak Ja Han arrested in bribery case tied to former South Korean president's wife
Court approves arrest as prosecutors widen probe involving Kim Keon Hee and a conservative lawmaker
SEOUL, South Korea — Hak Ja Han, 82, the top leader of the Unification Church, was arrested early Tuesday as investigators broadened a bribery probe involving the wife of jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker.
The Seoul Central District Court approved an arrest warrant for Han after prosecutors argued she posed a risk of destroying evidence. Han did not speak to reporters when she arrived at the court on Monday for a hearing on the warrant, and after an hourslong session the court issued its decision in the early hours of Tuesday, with Han detained at a facility near Seoul.
Kim Keon Hee, the wife of jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was arrested last month on allegations including bribery, stock manipulation and meddling in the selection of a legislative candidate. The lawmaker, Kweon Seong-dong, a staunch Yoon loyalist who was arrested last week, has denied receiving money from the church. Investigators also last week visited the headquarters of the conservative People Power Party to obtain documents for examining claims that Unification Church members signed up en masse ahead of the party’s 2023 leadership race to bolster Kweon’s candidacy.
The case is among three special prosecutor probes launched under Seoul’s liberal government targeting Yoon’s presidency. The others focus on Yoon’s planning and execution of his short-lived martial law imposition 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 lasted only a few hours before the liberal-led legislature voted to lift it; he was impeached later in December and formally removed from office in April. He was re-arrested in July and now faces rebellion and other charges.
Kim’s case has been tied to various allegations, including accepting luxury gifts through an intermediary from a Unification Church official who allegedly sought 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 ($71,800) in bribes to Kweon.
Han has denied the allegations against her, telling reporters after a preliminary questioning that church leaders acted within their own authority and that she did not direct any improper transactions. The Unification Church, officially the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has long faced scrutiny for its leadership structure and its global activities, including the church’s mass-wedding ceremonies that linked thousands of couples across national lines.
As the arrest unfolds, Han’s fate rests with Seoul’s judiciary, while prosecutors pursue whether church officials leveraged their authority to influence political outcomes in South Korea’s volatile post-pandemic era. The church has criticized the arrest effort, saying Han appeared for questioning while recovering from a heart procedure earlier this month and accusing investigators of disrespecting an “internationally respected religious leader.”
The broader political context remains sensitive, with the ongoing probes intersecting with questions about the intersections of religious organizations and politics in South Korea. How the court weighs evidence in Han’s case, and whether it will yield further actions against other individuals linked to the church and the political network around Yoon, could influence a domestic political landscape already rattled by multiple investigations and high-profile arrests.