Unification Church leader sentenced to 2-year prison term in bribery case

A Seoul district court on Monday sentenced Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja to two years in prison in a bribery case where the religious group sought to secure favors from the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence for the 83-year-old after finding her guilty of involvement in giving luxury bribes to Yoon's wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, and handing illegal funds to a former lawmaker.

The court also sentenced Yun Young-ho, a former head of the church's global headquarters, to six months in prison and handed down a suspended prison term to a former aide to Han, both of whom were indicted in connection with the case.

After the ruling, the Unification Church released a statement apologizing for causing concern but said it could not accept the ruling, signaling its intent to appeal.

In its ruling, the court convicted Han of violating the anti-graft law for her involvement in giving a luxury necklace and a Chanel bag to the former first lady while requesting favors for the church through an intermediary in July 2022.

It also found Han guilty of colluding with former church officials to give 100 million won ($66,400) to Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the then ruling People Power Party (PPP) in January 2022.

Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team alleged that Han sought Kweon's help in gaining favors for the church in the event of Yoon's election as president in March that year. Yoon, then candidate of the PPP, went on to win the election.

"Using the Unification Church's financial power, the defendants saw the presidential election as an opportunity to expand its influence and committed crimes with the purpose of expanding political influence," the court said.

"Irrespective of whether the Unification Church's requests were granted, the people's trust and expectations on state policies were violated."

Kweon lost his National Assembly seat in July after the Supreme Court upheld and finalized a lower court ruling that sentenced him to a two-year prison term for accepting illegal funds from the church.

The Seoul district court on Monday convicted Han and other former church officials of making illegal political donations worth 144 million won using church funds in March 2022.

It, however, acquitted Han of embezzlement charges linked to the donations.

The court dismissed charges of Han embezzling 787 million won worth of church funds to deliver campaign funds to politicians in Nepal and Senegal between May and July 2022, ruling the charges fell outside the special counsel's investigation mandate.

The special counsel team had sought a 13-year prison term for Han.