The special counsel team investigating multiple allegations related to Kim Keon-hee (Special Counsel Min Joong-ki) said it will not investigate former Unification Church world headquarters chief Yoon Young-ho's claim that he previously supported politicians from the Democratic Party of Korea, saying it is not within the scope of the special counsel's mandate.
Special Counsel Investigator Oh Jeong-hee said at a regular briefing on the 8th, "When viewed in terms of people, substance, and time, the content of (the former Deputy Minister's) statement clearly does not fall under the investigative scope defined by the special counsel law," adding, "We plan to refer this to the appropriate investigative agency."
Oh said, "It is on the same line as our decision not to investigate the (Unification Church president) Han Hak-ja gambling allegation because it was not within the special counsel's material scope."
Oh said, "It is difficult to discuss the specifics of (the former Deputy Minister's) statement," adding, "Because it was not confined to a particular party, the view that we intentionally avoided investigating matters related to a specific party is completely untrue."
Earlier, the special counsel team indicted President Han Hak-ja and former Deputy Minister Yoon on charges of illegally donating 144 million won in Unification Church funds to 20 city and provincial party chapters and district party chairs of the People Power Party in 2022. However, People Power Party figures who received the donations were not indicted. People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong was arrested and indicted on charges of receiving 100 million won in illegal political funds from the Unification Church.
In August, the former Deputy Minister is known to have told the special counsel team that he delivered tens of millions of won in cash and valuables to two Democratic Party lawmakers during the Moon Jae-in administration. At his trial on the 5th, he also said the Unification Church approached numerous Democratic Party politicians.
After testimony emerged that the Unification Church supported Democratic Party figures, the political fallout has grown. People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seog said at a supreme council meeting that day, "Despite specific testimony that Min Joong-ki's special counsel team provided tens of millions of won in cash and valuables to two Democratic Party lawmakers and that 15 people were involved in receiving money, it failed to investigate and covered it up," adding, "It is a blatant case of selective investigation and an admission of politically motivated probes to suppress the opposition."
Park Soo-hyun, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party, appeared on KBS radio and said, "To make clear that this is of a different order from the People Power Party's organizational collusion with the Unification Church, the party should conduct inquiries, including a fact-finding probe by the ethics inspection team." She added, however, "I did not hear an exact statement from the party leadership."