The joint investigation headquarters on collusion between religion and politics, which is investigating allegations that the Unification Church lobbied political circles, on the 11th summoned former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lim Jong-seong as a suspect for questioning. Lim is accused of receiving 30 million won from the Unification Church around the April 2020 general election, in violation of the Political Funds Act.
According to legal sources, starting in the morning the task force questioned the former lawmaker about how the money changed hands, the nature of the funds, and whether there was any quid pro quo. The scope of those surveyed was said to include the overall contacts with the Unification Church before and after 2020.
The former lawmaker served as Korea chair of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), founded by the Unification Church, and also hosted forums that listed as agenda items projects the Unification Church has pursued, such as the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel. Investigators are also looking into how those events were arranged and indications that requests from the Unification Church were conveyed.
A document titled "TM (True Mother) special report," prepared by Unification Church executives for President Han Hak-ja, also came under investigation. The document stated that the former lawmaker helped the Unification Church's water resources project in Kyrgyzstan, and Lim Jong-seong's name was reportedly mentioned 19 times.
There were also allegations that the former lawmaker was included on the Unification Church's so-called "split donations" list. In connection with suspicions that the Unification Church provided political funds to dozens of figures from both ruling and opposition camps around the time of the "World Summit 2020," the former lawmaker was also pointed to as having received donations during that period.
The former lawmaker denies all allegations, including receiving money and valuables. Based on the results of the day's questioning, the task force plans to decide whether to summon again and set the direction of the investigation.