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Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo speaks to the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee during a parliamentary audit on Oct. 15, 2025. (Yonhap)

Allegations surrounding the Unification Church’s ties to the South Korean political world have spread from the conservative People Power Party to include figures in and around the ruling Democratic Party. 

With a member of his own Cabinet now implicated in the scandal, President Lee Jae Myung has ordered a “thorough investigation” into suspected illicit ties between religious groups and politicians, regardless of their party affiliation or rank. 

It now falls to investigative authorities to reveal any and all illegal collusion between the Unification Church and political circles. Investigators must leave no stone unturned and make no exceptions as they do so. 

Yun Young-ho, the former head of the Unification Church’s international headquarters, reportedly told investigators with a special probe into alleged corruption by the former first lady in August that Chun Jae-soo, a former Democratic Party lawmaker who went on to serve as the minister of oceans and fisheries in the Lee administration, visited the church’s sacred “Cheonjeong Palace” at some point between 2018 and 2019, greeting church leader Han Hak-ja and receiving 30 million won in cash and two luxury watches.

According to an internal church report to Han dated Sept. 10, 2018, Chun delivered a congratulatory speech during a meeting with church officials and agreed to actively cooperate with the church, which is formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Yun also testified in court on Friday that he “provided four names to the special counsel, which included ministerial-level figures in the current administration and National Assembly lawmakers.” However, he did not reveal the names of those Democratic figures during the final hearing of his trial on Wednesday.

After the special counsel team referred to the police on Tuesday the case involving suspicions of that the Unification Church inappropriately lobbied Democratic Party figures, the police formed a special task force and launched an investigation. Chun has flatly denied all allegations, slamming them as “groundless.” It’s now up to the police to bring the truth to light.

Building on previous remarks about the possibility of religious groups being dissolved, the president said Tuesday that since individuals face consequences for committing crimes or engaging in antisocial acts, “foundations and incorporated associations should also be dissolved if they commit antisocial acts that draw public condemnation.” 

Members of religious foundations and any politicians, regardless of party affiliation, should face severe consequences for any illegal solicitation or monetary transactions that have occurred.
 
This case also sparked controversy over whether the special counsel probe cherry-picked allegations to follow up on in its investigation. The special counsel team argues that the allegations against Chun are beyond the scope of their investigation. Even if the special counsel believes that to be the case, given the gravity of the allegations, the situation would not have blown up if investigators had promptly referred the case to another agency to carry out further investigations.
 
The decision to hand over this case involving the Democratic Party to the police only after it made headlines has raised suspicions that the probe willingly turned a blind eye to allegations involving the ruling party. 

That being the case, we should not allow this to undermine the overall legitimacy of the special counsel probe. The political motivations of the PPP and others criticizing the probe and attempting to undermine it are clear. 

The allegations against ruling party politicians must be thoroughly investigated while the special counsel team wraps up its inquiry into the former first lady.

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