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The Seoul Central District Court convicted Han Hak-ja of violating anti-graft laws by arranging luxury gifts for former first lady Kim Keon-hee while seeking favors for the church through an intermediary in 2022, according to Yonhap News Agency. The court also found her guilty of colluding with church officials to transfer 100 million won to then-lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong months before Yoon’s election that year, with the aim of securing support if he took office. Judges handed down the two-year term despite prosecutors seeking 13 years, and both Han and the special counsel team have one week to file an appeal. A church official received six months in prison while two others obtained suspended sentences for their roles in the scheme, the court public affairs office told reporters.
Prosecutors built the case around the delivery of a Chanel bag and a diamond necklace valued at 80 million won to Kim Keon-hee between April and July 2022, AP News reported. Kim, who received a separate 20-month sentence for accepting the bribes, issued a public apology stating that she was truly sorry a nobody like her had caused concern to the people. Han denied all allegations from the outset, describing them as false, according to multiple Korean outlets covering the trial. The gifts formed part of a pattern in which the church allegedly sought to build influence within the Yoon administration.
The ruling concludes one branch of a broader eight-month joint prosecution and police investigation into political collusion by religious groups that produced indictments against 32 individuals, a team led by special counsel Min Joong-ki announced on the same day. Investigators determined that the Unification Church had illegally funneled 189 million won to 132 politicians on 219 occasions between 2019 and early 2025 while siphoning roughly 10.5 billion won through false accounting, the joint task force stated. That money was hidden in Han’s personal safe and used for lobbying, luxury purchases and political donations, according to the investigators’ final briefing. The probe also targeted Shincheonji Church leaders on separate charges of encouraging mass membership in the main conservative party.
Han, the widow of church founder Sun Myung Moon who established the organization in 1954, has led the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification since his death in 2012, according to background provided by Nikkei Asia. The group gained notoriety for its mass wedding ceremonies and has maintained ties to conservative politicians in South Korea, Japan and the United States, including former President Donald Trump and the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A joint investigation headquarters briefing noted that authorities seized 26 billion won in cash from Han’s safe during the inquiry, underscoring the scale of funds involved. Prosecutors alleged some of the embezzled money supported overseas projects in countries such as Cambodia and Nepal.
The bribery convictions arrive as the church faces severe legal pressure in Japan, where its activities came under intense scrutiny after Tetsuya Yamagami assassinated Abe in 2022, The Japan Times reported. Yamagami told investigators that his mother’s large donations to the Japanese branch had bankrupted his family, fueling his grudge against Abe for the politician’s perceived closeness to the group. Japanese courts ultimately ordered the organization’s dissolution, a decision upheld by the supreme court in June 2026 on grounds that it had engaged in systematic, harmful solicitation of donations over decades. More than 1,500 former members have sought compensation totaling more than 20 billion yen for losses tied to spiritual sales and coerced contributions, according to lawyers cited in Japanese coverage.
The Unification Church, long criticized by detractors as a cult that preys on vulnerable followers, remains active in South Korea despite the convictions and the parallel Japanese proceedings, Reuters noted in its coverage of the sentencing. Han appeared in court using a wheelchair for some hearings earlier this year. The special counsel’s team had also examined whether church funds supported development projects favored by the Yoon administration, though some of those allegations were dropped due to insufficient evidence or statutes of limitations, the joint investigation unit confirmed. The case has renewed debate over the separation of religion and state in both countries.
