Showman or visionary? Flamboyant politician sentenced to prison

Huh Kyung-young, center, speaks to reporters ahead of his pretrial detention hearing at the Uijeongbu District Court in Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Yonhap

In a world ruled by Huh Kyung-young — a Korean politician who ran for president three times, claimed an IQ of 430 and said he could levitate — the United Nations headquarters wouldn’t be in New York. It would be in Korea, a utopia where every adult receives 100 million won ($71,000).

That world is now gone for good. On Friday, a court issued an arrest warrant for Huh, charging him with fraud, violations of the Political Funds Act, and harassment involving coercion.

Many Korean politicians have made exaggerated claims and far-fetched promises, but Huh was always in a league of his own.

He became such an iconic figure that when he didn’t run for president this time, some media outlets published analysis pieces trying to explain his absence — a testament to the public’s enduring fascination with him.

In short, it's because he lied, and he lied a lot.

Huh was born in 1947 in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. He ran for president for the first time in 1997. That election made Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung the president, while Huh got only 0.15 percent of the votes.

His cult-like popularity grew in the mid-2000s, fueled by eccentric statements and campaign pledges spread through the media and online communities.

Huh's pledges included relocating the United Nations headquarters from New York to Panmunjom — a truce village in the Demilitarized Zone — giving 100 million won to every citizen aged 18 and older and a national merger with... that's right... Mongolia.

Huh Kyung-young, then-presidential candidate of the National Revolutionary Party, announces his presidential bid while donning a general’s uniform in front of Haengju Fortress in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Aug. 18, 2021. Yonhap

In the 2007 presidential race, Huh made headlines by saying that former President Park Chung-hee tried to arrange a marriage with Park Geun-hye, Park’s unmarried daughter, who would go on to win the next presidential election.

Huh claimed close ties with other politicians, even sharing a doctored photo of himself with former U.S. President George W. Bush at his inauguration.

Huh was convicted of election law violations for spreading false information a year after that election and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was barred from running for office for 10 years and missed two presidential elections.

Undeterred, Huh, who claimed he could heal people with cosmic energy and came from outer space to unify the world, ran for president again in 2022, earning just 0.8 percent.

That marked his last presidential bid — at least until 2034.

The Supreme Court last year upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced Huh to two years in prison, suspended for three years on election law violations, barring him from running for office for 10 years.

Huh Kyung-young, then-presidential candidate of the National Revolutionary Party, holds a final campaign rally near Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, March 8, 2022. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

At the time, he was indicted for spreading false information in a televised speech. He claimed to be an adopted son of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull and was a "secret" policy adviser to Park Chung-hee.

During last year's National Assembly race, he reported assets exceeding 48.15 billion won to the National Election Commission.

He lives in a religious compound called “Heaven Palace” in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, where he hosts expensive lectures and sells milk he says cures all diseases and prevents aging. He faces accusations of selling goods at exorbitant prices to followers and of sexually assaulting women under the guise of counseling.

The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency launched an investigation after receiving complaints in December 2023 and February 2024. Authorities have summoned Huh over 30 times and conducted a search and seizure operation at his compound.

Huh quickly pushed back against the court’s decision on Friday.

“The police disregarded objective evidence and conducted a biased, unfounded investigation,” said Taelim, the law firm representing him.