It has been confirmed that former Unification Church world Deputy Minister Yoon Young-ho met Lee Jong-seok, director of the National Intelligence Service (then head of the Peace and Prosperity Committee in the campaign of Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung), in 2022. Lee said, "I met him once, but there was no exchange afterward."
A January 2022 call transcript between former Deputy Minister Yoon and another key Unification Church figure, a person surnamed Lee, obtained by ChosunBiz on the 10th, contains indications that they met or tried to contact figures in the Democratic Party of Korea ahead of the Unification Church-hosted "Korean Peninsula Peace Summit." At the time, with the 20th presidential election approaching, the Unification Church was pushing to have Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol attend the event.
In the transcript, former Deputy Minister Yoon mentioned figures he had "approached" and also brought up Lee. He said that when he met Lee, Lee noted, "From a political standpoint, the Unification Church's position in Korea's religious landscape is still minor," and "This is a common perception within the Democratic Party."
An investigative report submitted to the court by Special Counsel Kim Keon-hee also stated that former Deputy Minister Yoon and Lee had contact. In a message sent by former Deputy Minister Yoon's wife, a person surnamed Lee, to former chief secretary to President Jeong Won-ju, there is a line saying former Deputy Minister Yoon "even established a connection with Minister Lee Jong-seok, a mentor to party leader Lee Jae-myung."
At a trial on the 5th, former Deputy Minister Yoon testified, "Before the 2022 Peace Summit, I contacted four current government minister-level figures, and two of them met President Han Hak-ja."
Former Deputy Minister Yoon is said to have received an answer from Lee to the effect that "it would be difficult for the candidate to attend the event." In fact, Lee Jae-myung, then a candidate, did not attend the Korean Peninsula Peace Summit, and ruling camp figures participated instead.
Lee told ChosunBiz, "In early 2022, accompanied by an acquaintance, I did meet once with a Unification Church official in my office at the Sejong Institute," but added, "There has been no contact or exchange since."
Special Counsel Min Joong-ki's team, while investigating alleged "collusion between religion and politics" between the Unification Church and the People Power Party, secured testimony to the effect that the Unification Church also contacted Democratic Party of Korea figures across the board and provided money or valuables to some, but did not launch a compulsory investigation. Recently, court testimony also emerged that Unification Church officials provided cash and other valuables to Democratic Party of Korea figures or supported them financially by buying books at publication celebrations.
The special counsel team explained that "allegations of the Democratic Party of Korea receiving money or valuables from the Unification Church are not within the scope of the investigation," but as controversy over bias persisted, it was only on the previous day that the related case was handed over to the Korean National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation (NOI).
At 4 p.m. on the day, the Seoul Central District Court will hold the final hearing for former Deputy Minister Yoon, who was indicted on allegations of Unification Church lobbying. As former Deputy Minister Yoon is scheduled to make a final statement, there is a possibility that he will disclose the names of Democratic Party of Korea figures who allegedly received money or valuables from the Unification Church.