Church aide linked to Unification Church under questioning for accusations involving former first lady
In the year 2022, a series of events unfolded that have since become the focus of a significant investigation in South Korea. The Unification Church, known for its ownership of broadcaster YTN, is allegedly embroiled in a bribery scheme involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
According to a special counsel's arrest warrant issued in early August 2025, Kim is accused of colluding with a shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, who is said to have delivered luxury gifts from the Unification Church. The gifts, which included Chanel handbags and a diamond necklace, were reportedly delivered to Kim at the presidential residence, possibly violating South Korea's Kim Young-ran Act.
The shaman, Jeon, has admitted to accepting the gifts but denies transferring them to Kim. Kim, on the other hand, denies receiving these gifts as bribes.
The Unification Church's chief of staff to leader Han Hak-ja and deputy head of the church's top administrative body, an individual known as Jeong, has been summoned and questioned as a suspect in this case. Jeong is accused of coordinating with Jeon to arrange the gift delivery in exchange for business favors, including support for the church's projects in Cambodia, its acquisition of broadcaster YTN, and Korea hosting a United Nations office.
The investigation is part of a broader probe into alleged political bribery, illicit lobbying, and financial misconduct at high levels of the Unification Church, involving its leadership including Han Hak-ja. The probe led to raids on the church's headquarters and related offices in July 2025, uncovering evidence related to bribery, stock manipulation, and influence-peddling involving Kim and church officials.
Jeong, described internally as a powerful figure, effectively the No. 2 in the church hierarchy, is suspected of playing a central role in orchestrating the alleged bribery scheme.
As the investigation continues, the special counsel team is delving deeper into the roles of the Unification Church, the shaman Jeon Seong-bae, and Jeong, the aide to the Unification Church leader, in the alleged bribery case. The case serves as a significant development in South Korea's ongoing scrutiny of the Unification Church's activities.
- The ongoing investigation in South Korea, which started in 2022, encompasses not only the Unification Church's alleged bribery scheme involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee but also extends to general-news topics such as political bribery, illicit lobbying, and financial misconduct at high levels of the Unification Church.
- In the realm of crime-and-justice, the shaman Jeon Seong-bae's admission of accepting gifts from the Unification Church and the Unification Church's chief of staff Jeong's suspected role in coordinating gift deliveries in exchange for business favors are under scrutiny, as part of a broader probe into the Unification Church's activities in South Korea.
