The second consolidated special counsel, which is investigating cases that the three major probes into insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, and the Marines failed to conclude, launched searches and seizures of the Korean National Police Agency and other offices in connection with alleged efforts to quash an investigation into the Unification Church.
The consolidated special counsel said in a media notice on the 20th that searches and seizures were underway at the Korean National Police Agency, the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, and the Chuncheon Police Station in connection with alleged efforts to quash an investigation related to the Unification Church.
The alleged quashing of the Unification Church investigation under review by the consolidated special counsel centers on claims that police learned of suspected overseas gambling by Unification Church executives but failed to investigate properly and instead leaked the information to political circles to make it go away.
According to legal sources, the Chuncheon Police Station is said to have obtained information in June 2022 that Unification Church executives, including President Han Hak-ja, gambled about 60 billion won at casinos in Las Vegas from 2008 to 2011. But before the investigation moved in earnest, intelligence related to the police probe allegedly flowed into political circles through the involvement of People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, prompting suspicions that the investigation was quashed.
The Kim Keon-hee special counsel searched the Korean National Police Agency and other offices in July last year and launched a related investigation, but indicted lawmaker Kweon and President Han, who exchanged police intelligence. The probe into police officials, including the leaker, was left unfinished.
Based on materials confirmed through the latest searches, the consolidated special counsel plans to trace how the intelligence leaked within the police and determine whether any political figures other than Kweon were involved.