A claim has been raised that former global headquarters Deputy Minister Yun Young-ho was lobbied to give favorable testimony in exchange for proposals from Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja's side, such as reinstatement within the denomination. Yun was said to have received such proposals around last September, when Han was undergoing a detention review.
Former Deputy Minister Yun appeared as a witness on the 10th at a hearing by the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 27 (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong) in the case against Han on charges including violations of the Political Funds Act.
Before the examination of witnesses, Yun said, "I will first speak about one point regarding the substantive truth," adding, "From Sept. 7 to 20, 2025, I received several messages from Han."
According to former Deputy Minister Yun, Han said in the messages, "I have never abandoned you," "The 'cutting off the tail' by Family Federation (Unification Church) is wrong," and "If you return, I will welcome you with no conditions."
Yun also said he received a request from Han's side to write a handwritten statement. The gist was, "There was no order from the leader to commit a crime," and "It is true Han received reports and gave approval, but did not give instructions."
He further disclosed that if he accepted such proposals, Han's side offered to withdraw the complaint against his spouse and to provide support for attorney expenses. The Unification Church filed a police complaint alleging that Yun's spouse, a person surnamed Lee, embezzled about 2 billion won of denominational funds between 2021 and 2023.
Regarding this, former Deputy Minister Yun said, "It seems my opinion was needed for Han's pre-arrest suspect questioning (warrant review) in September, and I believe there was coercion and inducement." He also said, "I thought it was simply Han's defense strategy, but as of now, four months later, I wonder if it was actually Han's intention."
Han, former Deputy Minister Yun and others were indicted and detained last Oct. on charges including violating the Political Funds Act for allegedly delivering 100 million won in political funds around Jan. 2022 to People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong while requesting support from the Yoon Suk-yeol administration for the Unification Church.
The Unification Church's position is that the charges against Han amount only to a personal deviation by former Deputy Minister Yun and did not involve the denomination at an organizational level.