Unification Church leader's ex-chief of staff quizzed about alleged bribery of politicians
Jeong Won-ju, center, former chief of staff to Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, arrives at the Korean National Police Agency to be questioned about bribery allegations involving Han and politicians, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Police investigating the Unification Church's alleged bribery of politicians questioned a former chief secretary of the church's leader Han Hak-ja on Thursday.
Jeong Won-ju, former chief of staff to Han, appeared at the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) at 9:43 a.m. before being questioned as a witness about bribery allegations involving former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo and other politicians.
Jeong was known to be the second-highest ranking official in the Unification Church and one of Han's most trusted aides. She was tight-lipped at the entrance of the KNPA when reporters asked several questions about the suspected bribery.
The police are expected to intensively question Jeong about whether and how tens of millions of won in cash and luxury watches were delivered to Chun, Rep. Lim Jong-seong of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and former United Future Party lawmaker Kim Gyu-hwan between 2018 and 2020.
In addition, she is expected to be questioned about whether there was an order from Han regarding a Unification Church foundation's purchase of 500 books authored by Chun for 10 million won ($6,780) in 2019.
The police questioned Han at the Seoul Detention Center on Wednesday about the bribery allegations. Han has been in custody since September on multiple charges, including bribery, illegal political donations and destruction of evidence.