Police investigating allegations that political figures received money and valuables from the Unification Church have launched a search and seizure of the group.
According to police and others on the 15th, a special task force at the Korean National Police Agency sent investigators starting at 9 a.m. to the Unification Church's Seoul headquarters in Yongsan District, Seoul, to execute a search warrant. They are conducting searches at a total of 10 locations, including Cheon Jeong Gung of the Unification Church in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi.
This is the first time police have launched a compulsory investigation in connection with the Unification Church bribery allegations. The search locations reportedly include the National Assembly office and home of former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo, former Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Jong-sung, former United Future Party lawmaker Kim Kyu-hwan's residence, and the special counsel team for Kim Keon-hee (Min Joong-ki special counsel team).
Police have accelerated the investigation after receiving the case from the Min Joong-ki special counsel team on the 10th. Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church world headquarters, told the Min Joong-ki special counsel team that the Unification Church approached and provided money and valuables not only to figures in the People Power Party but also to those in the Democratic Party.
While continuing additional questioning of the former headquarters chief Yoon, police booked three people—former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo, former Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Jong-sung, and former United Future Party lawmaker Kim Kyu-hwan—switching to a formal investigation. They reportedly applied charges of violating the Political Funds Act or bribery.