Unification Church Leader Han Detained in Political Probe

Han Hak-ja, 82, leader of the Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), was arrested on Sept. 23 and remanded in Seoul after a court approved a detention warrant amid prosecutors’ allegations that she provided luxury gifts (designer bags and a diamond necklace, valued about 80 million won) to former first lady Kim Keon Hee and funneled 100 million won in 2022 to Rep. Kweon Seong-dong to secure government favors. Special counsels probing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration allege Han directed the church’s efforts to influence politics, ordered associates to destroy evidence, and may have meddled in party affairs; the court cited a risk of evidence tampering in ordering her detention. Her arrest is the first detention of a religious leader in the overlapping special counsel investigations into the former president and first lady, which have already seen the former first lady indicted and Rep. Kweon arrested; ousted President Yoon has also been detained and faces related charges. The Unification Church and Han deny the charges, say they will cooperate with investigators, and her lawyers have cited her advanced age and poor health. Families in Japan who say they were harmed by the church’s donation practices welcomed the arrest and called for fundamental reforms.