Kweon Seong-dong, a People Power Party lawmaker who has been detained and on trial on charges of receiving 100 million won from the Unification Church, asked the court to allow him to stand trial without detention.
According to legal sources on the 15th, Kweon filed for bail on Dec. 12 with the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 27 (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong). It has been three months since his detention on Sept. 16. A date for the bail hearing has not yet been set.
The special counsel team investigating several allegations related to Kim Keon-hee indicted Kweon without bail on Oct. 2 on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.
Kweon is accused of receiving 100 million won in Jan. 2022 from Yoon Young-ho, the former head of the Unification Church world headquarters, who has been indicted and detained, in exchange for favors. In return for providing votes, organizational support, and finances from Unification Church members in the presidential election, the request was to push the church's pending issues as national policy after Yoon Suk-yeol, then the People Power Party presidential candidate, won the election.
Kweon's side acknowledges that Kweon met the former headquarters chief Yoon, but denies the indictment's allegation that he received 100 million won. The final hearing to conclude arguments in Kweon's case will be held on the 17th. At the final hearing, the special counsel team's sentencing recommendation and Kweon's final statement will proceed.