A South Korean court has sentenced Hak Ja Han, the 83-year-old leader of the Unification Church, to two years in prison on corruption charges, including bribing the wife of ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The Seoul Central District Court convicted Han, who is the widow of church founder Sun Myung Moon, of violating the political funds act, bribery, and embezzling church funds. Although sentenced, Han currently remains out of prison because the court previously approved her request to suspend her arrest until September 2 due to health issues. Investigators, led by special prosecutor Min Joong-ki, had initially sought a 13-year prison sentence for her.
Han was arrested in September 2025 and subsequently charged with colluding with church officials to provide luxury items, including a Graff diamond necklace and two Chanel bags, to then-First Lady Kim Keon Hee in exchange for political favors. Earlier, Kim received a four-year prison sentence from an appeals court for accepting the luxury goods and for an unrelated stock price manipulation charge. Additionally, Han was charged with giving 100 million won (approximately $73,000) to lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, a close ally of Yoon, several months before Yoon's presidential inauguration in May 2022. Kweon received a two-year sentence from South Korea's Supreme Court in July.
The court also handed down sentences to other church officials involved in the case on Monday, giving one official a six-month prison term and two others suspended sentences. The Unification Church, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, released a statement apologizing for causing "big concerns and disappointment to the people." However, the church stated it cannot accept the court's ruling and plans to appeal.
The church was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah who preached conservative family values and new interpretations of the Bible, famously organizing mass weddings. Moon built the church into a global movement with vast business holdings before his death in 2012 at age 92. The church has faced scrutiny elsewhere; last year, a Tokyo court ordered the revocation of its legal status in Japan following government accusations of manipulative fundraising and recruitment. This action followed the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by a man who claimed he targeted Abe to expose political ties to the church.
The South Korean investigation into the church's political influence intensified after Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office following an April 2025 Constitutional Court ruling. The ruling stemmed from Yoon's controversial imposition of martial law on December 3, 2024, which lasted six hours before being voted down unanimously by the National Assembly. Yoon's liberal successor, Lee Jae Myung, appointed three special prosecutors to probe allegations from Yoon's presidency. In February, Yoon was sentenced to life in prison for rebellion related to the martial law enforcement, an act he defended as a desperate measure to combat the opposition Democratic Party.
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