Investigators indict Shincheonji sect leader over forced PPP memberships

Lee Man-hee, center, founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, appears at the Seoul Central District Court to attend a hearing on the legality of his arrest in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

A joint police-prosecution task force on Monday indicted the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, under detention over allegations that he had forced followers to join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ahead of elections.

The move came after a local court granted an arrest warrant for Lee Man-hee on Wednesday, citing concerns over the destruction of evidence, on charges of obstruction of business and violations of the Political Parties Act.

The task force said the indictment came as the five-year statute of limitations for Lee's alleged forced enrollment of church members into a political party in July 2021 was approaching.

The 94-year-old is suspected of forcing at least 56,472 church members to join the PPP between July 2021 and January 2024 in an attempt to influence the outcome of the party's 2022 presidential primary and 2024 general election primaries.

The period of the alleged forced enrollments largely overlaps with the time when the PPP was the ruling party under former President Yoon Suk Yeol.