The Church of the Church of Unification, also called Sect Moon, was arrested this Tuesday, September 23, under a mandate issued by the Seoul Court, the Prosecutor’s Office announced, which accuses him of corruption.
Han Hak-Ja, 82, was immediately placed in detention prior to trial. “The Court of the Central District of Seoul has issued the mandate, invoking the fear that it cannot destroy evidence,” the prosecution wrote in a statement.
Hak-Ja had been interrogated last week about his supposed role in the payment of bribes to former First Lady Kim Keon Hee and an influential deputy. Prosecutors had asked for their arrest the next day.
The Church claims ten million followers worldwide
“We humbly accept the Court’s decision,” said the Church in a statement. “We will sincerely cooperate with current research and legal procedures to establish the truth, and we will do everything possible to take this opportunity to restore confidence in our Church,” he added, presenting his “sincere excuses to have caused concern.”
The Unification Church was founded in 1954 by its late husband, Moon Sun-Myung, and for a long time has been controversial, with its collective marriages and sectarian culture.
The Church, which claims ten million followers worldwide, has a great influence in South Korea, where it has an economic empire that goes from the media to hotels through food distribution. Hak-Ja have took over the organization’s management after the death of her husband in 2012.
It is suspected that she has offered price gifts, including a bag and a diamond necklace, in Kim Keon Hee in 2022 to attract her husband’s favors, Yoon Suk Yeol, who became president that year.
Burdel accusation
The former first lady was arrested and accused of corruption and manipulation of the stock market. Currently, her husband is tried for declaring the martial law in December 2024. She was fired in April and is also in prison. Hak-Ja Han is also accused of having paid a pot of bridges of 100 million Wones (more than 61,000 euros) to an influential deputy.
Last week, when he left the prosecutor in a wheelchair after more than nine hours of interrogation, he had denied any embezzlement of funds. “Why would I have done this?” She had launched journalists.
Before Tuesday’s decision, the Unification Church had described the request of an arrest warrant made by the prosecutor as “unfair persecution of a world religious leader.”
Source: BFM TV
