South Korean prosecutors have requested the arrest of Han
Hak-ja, leader of the controversial Unification Church, over
allegations of bribery, graft, and embezzlement.
The move came a day after the 82-year-old was
questioned for more than nine hours regarding her alleged role in bribing
former First Lady Kim Keon Hee and ruling-party lawmaker Kweon
Seong-dong.
Founded in 1954 by her late husband Moon Sun-myung,
the Unification Church — often derisively referred to as the “Moonies” — has
faced decades of controversy over its mass weddings, cult-like practices, and
wide-ranging business empire spanning media, tourism, and food distribution.
Han assumed leadership after Moon’s death in 2012.
Prosecutor Park Sang-jin said Wednesday that
charges against Han include violations of the political funds act,
anti-graft law, incitement to destroy evidence, and embezzlement. “We
considered the risk of Han tampering with evidence to be very high, which led
us to seek the warrant,” Park told reporters. A Seoul court is expected to
review the request early next week.
Han is accused of sending luxury gifts — including a designer
handbag and diamond necklace — to Kim Keon Hee in 2022 to curry favour with
her husband, then-president Yoon Suk Yeol. The former first lady has
since been arrested and indicted on charges of bribery and stock-market
manipulation, while Yoon himself was impeached in April after declaring martial
law late last year.
Han also allegedly paid ?100 million (US$72,000)
in bribes to Kweon Seong-dong. On Tuesday, a Seoul court issued an arrest
warrant for the lawmaker, citing risk of evidence tampering.
Han, who was wheeled out of the prosecutors’ office
after questioning, denied any wrongdoing. “Why would I have done that?” she
told reporters. Prosecutors confirmed she rejected all allegations during
interrogation.
Comments:
Leave a Reply