Government-appointed investigator forcefully enters and searches the main office of the primary opposition party, following a prolonged standoff regarding their membership records.
The special counsel, Min Joong-ki, raided the main opposition People Power Party's (PPP) headquarters in western Seoul on Thursday. The raid followed a more than seven-hour standoff with party members who refused to hand over evidence.
The raid was executed due to a probe involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee. The special counsel's team is investigating allegations that Unification Church members joined the PPP en masse ahead of the party's leadership race in 2023.
The special counsel's team initially tried to search the PPP's headquarters on Aug. 13 and 18, but these attempts were unsuccessful due to opposition from party members. The opposition is based on concerns about the seizure of large-scale personal data.
The PPP spokesperson, Park Sung-hoon, objected to the raid, stating that the special counsel is seeking to confiscate the entire membership of 5 million PPP members. Party members argue that the special counsel is attempting to seize large-scale personal data.
The special counsel's team is not only interested in the personal information of new PPP members, but also of existing ones. The team aims to secure the PPP's membership list to compare it with the Unification Church's membership list to confirm the allegations about the mass sign-ups.
The special counsel's continued efforts to secure the PPP's membership list indicate their persistence in investigating the allegations. The investigation suspects that Kim, Yoon's wife, made a request to a former Unification Church official through a shaman acquaintance in November 2022.
The Unification Church official with whom Kim reportedly discussed the recruitment of Unification Church members for the People Power Party in November 2022 is Han Hak-ja. Kim reportedly made the request through the shaman Jeon Seong-bae to mobilize church members en masse ahead of the PPP leadership election.
The special counsel's team is investigating the possibility that the Unification Church members joined the PPP to influence the results in favor of Rep. Kweon Seong-dong. However, Rep. Kweon ultimately dropped out of the leadership race.
The special counsel's continued attempts to secure the PPP's membership list may face further opposition from party members due to data privacy concerns. The team aims to secure the list to compare it with the Unification Church's membership list to confirm the allegations about the mass sign-ups.
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