Minister Chung Dong-young of the Unification Ministry on the 11th addressed allegations that he had past contacts with the Unification Church, saying, "I met Yoon Young-ho only once when I was out of office." He strongly denied allegations of receiving money or valuables.
The Minister issued a written statement that morning, saying, "Around 3 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2021, I first met Yoon Young-ho at the Cheon Jeong Gung Unification Church headquarters in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and had tea."
Jeong said that while returning from a trip to Gangwon Province with 7 to 8 acquaintances, including Kim Hee-soo, chair of the Peaceful Unification Leaders Association Jeonbuk Council and former Jeonbuk Provincial Council chair, he briefly visited the Unification Church headquarters at a companion's suggestion.
He said, "While my party toured Cheon Jeong Gung, guided by a Unification Church official, I had tea for about 10 minutes with former Deputy Minister Yoon at the Cheon Jeong Gung coffee shop and discussed routine unification-related matters," adding, "After the tea, I immediately rejoined my party, got into the van with them, and returned to Jeonju."
Jeong said, "I met Yoon Young-ho for the first time then and have had no contact or meetings since. I have never met Unification Church president Han Hak-ja and have no acquaintance whatsoever."
He went on, "In my 30-year political career, I have long taken pride in never once being named in a case related to money or valuables," adding, "I will hold certain media civilly and criminally accountable for damaging my honor with baseless rumors."
Earlier, some media reported that former Unification Church World Headquarters chief Yoon Young-ho testified in the special counsel probe into Kim Keon-hee that "money or valuables were provided to the Minister and others."