The joint prosecution-police investigation team probing alleged collusion between religion and politics summoned Lee Man-hee, head of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, for questioning as a suspect. The questioning is tied to allegations that Shincheonji believers collectively joined as dues-paying party members to influence the People Power Party primary.
According to the joint investigation team on the 4th, Lee appeared at the team's office set up at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in the afternoon as a suspect on charges of violating the Political Parties Act. At about 12:43 p.m., Lee, dressed in white and using a cane, headed to the interrogation room.
During his arrival, Lee did not answer reporters' questions such as, "Did you forcibly enroll church members in the People Power Party?", "Have you ever sought favors from the People Power Party on pending issues?", and "Did former President Yoon Suk-yeol block the search and seizure?"
The joint team suspects that Lee forced believers to enroll as dues-paying party members to influence the People Power Party's 2021 presidential primary for the 20th presidency and the People Power Party's 2024 primary for candidates in the 22nd general election. The alleged violation of the Political Parties Act concerns provisions that punish acts such as coercing someone to join or leave a party.
Key investigative questions are whether there were organizational orders at the Shincheonji level and whether those orders lead up to Lee. The team believes Shincheonji used names such as the "Pilates" project in each branch to encourage believers to join the People Power Party, and that, in this process, more than 50,000 believers enrolled as dues-paying party members of the People Power Party from 2021 to 2023.
During questioning of former Shincheonji executives, the team is said to have secured statements to the effect that the order to enroll as party members passed from Lee to the general affairs chief, then to each branch leader, church pastors, and on to the adult, women's, and youth associations. The team believes such large-scale collective enrollment would have been difficult without Lee's direction.
The team is also examining whether the enrollments went beyond simple political participation and tied to political funds or requests for favors on Shincheonji-related pending issues. Investigators are expected to press Lee on whether he offered believers' party enrollment to the People Power Party and, in return, demanded resolution of Shincheonji's pending issues.
Messenger chats obtained from believers by the team reportedly include reports saying, "To reclaim the Gwacheon temple," and "We are joining to show our strength and exercise our rights." The team is checking whether such content was used inside Shincheonji as materials explaining the purpose and background of enrolling as party members.
Since Jan., the team has searched the Shincheonji general assembly headquarters and the People Power Party headquarters, securing lists of Shincheonji believers and People Power Party members. Last month, it twice summoned former general affairs chief Go Dong-an, known as Lee's No. 2, as a suspect to investigate how the order to enroll as party members was conveyed.
Shincheonji maintains that Lee neither ordered believers to join the People Power Party nor received related reports.