Han Hak-ja, the president of the Unification Church, who was indicted and detained by the special counsel team investigating Kim Keon-hee over alleged collusion between the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and religious authorities, denied all charges at the first formal trial.
The 27th criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court held the first hearing on the morning of the 1st in the case against President Han and her close aide, a chief of staff identified as a person surnamed Jeong, on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.
Prosecutors say President Han, around Jan. 5, 2022, conspired with former Deputy Minister Jeong, then chief of staff, and former Deputy Minister Yoon to hand 100 million won in political funds in cash to People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, and in March–April of the same year used 144 million won of Unification Church group funds to make donations to each provincial chapter of the People Power Party.
She was also charged with conspiring with former Deputy Minister Yoon to deliver, through Geonjin, also known as Jeon Seong-bae, a Chanel bag worth about 12 million won and a Graff necklace worth about 62 million won to Kim Keon-hee in July 2022.
However, President Han's side denied all charges at the trial and drew a line, calling it the "unilateral crime" of former Unification Church World Headquarters chief Yoon. They argued that the Chanel bag and Graff necklace said to have been delivered to former first lady Kim were all prepared solely by former Deputy Minister Yoon, and that there was no report to President Han.
President Han's side said, "Former Deputy Minister Yoon is a person full of worldly ambition," and argued, "The business and political acts mentioned in the indictment continued even after former Deputy Minister Yoon left the denomination." They added, "The specific criminal acts stated in the indictment were unilateral acts stemming from former Deputy Minister Yoon's political ambition."
By contrast, the special counsel team countered, "The defendants damaged representative democracy through collusion between politics and religion and used believers' money to buy power."
The special counsel said, "It was confirmed that (Unification Church believers) even took their son's jeonse deposit to donate to the Unification Church, or, despite hardship, took out loans and donated the full amount to the Unification Church," adding, "Considering that such funds were used for their own bail or as illegal money in collusive relationships, the nature of the crime is very poor." They continued, "This is a serious crime in which religious power privatizes political power in return for the provision of illegal funds."
President Han appeared in court wearing a white mask and seated in a wheelchair. She was temporarily released on the 4th of last month after the court granted a stay of detention for an eye surgery, but she was returned to custody on the 7th of last month, three days later, after the court refused to extend the period. At the trial, Han's side also asked the bench to recess for 10 minutes every hour for health reasons.
Ahead of the hearing, about 100 people, including Unification Church affiliates who gathered to observe, lined up in front of the courtroom but could not enter. Entry was limited because only 33 people could be seated in the courtroom. The court installed a TV in another courtroom to broadcast the proceedings live and allowed up to 50 people to enter, including standing room.