Cheon Jeong Gung, a spiritual complicated of the Unification Church, is seen in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 12, 2025. Yonhap
Investigations into the Unification Church and the Shincheonji Church of Jesus — two spiritual teams broadly thought to be cults — which might outcome of their dissolution, started this week, amid considerations voiced by senior figures in regards to the hurt they’re inflicting to society.
Final week, a joint prosecution-police process pressure comprising 47 investigators was established to probe alleged collusion between the spiritual teams and politicians. This adopted claims final yr that the Unification Church had engaged in illicit lobbying of politicians, prompting President Lee Jae Myung to name for a coordinated investigation final month.
Unification Church chief Han Hak-ja was detained final yr over allegations that she offered luxurious items to former first girl Kim Keon Hee in 2022 in alternate for favorable therapy. It has additionally emerged that the group sought contact with the Democratic Celebration of Korea that yr.
On Monday, Lee agreed with spiritual leaders at a luncheon who stated that the hurt attributable to pseudo-religious cults, together with the 2 teams in query, is extreme and should be firmly addressed.
“Whereas it’s a very tough problem, the hurt (linked to such teams) inflicted on our society has been left unattended for a lot too lengthy and has change into extreme,” Lee stated.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Tuesday described the teams as a “social evil that should be eradicated” and urged the joint process pressure to hold out an intensive investigation.
Kim Tae-hoon, head of a joint prosecution-police process pressure probing alleged collusion between spiritual teams and politicians, arrives on the Seoul Excessive Prosecutors’ Workplace in Seocho District, Jan. 8. Yonhap
The duty pressure has taken over the police investigation into allegations that the Unification Church funneled cash to politicians.
Within the case of Shincheonji, the place no prior investigation had been performed, investigators are anticipated to evaluate allegations that the group organized the enrollment of about 100,000 Folks Energy Celebration members in 2021, throughout the get together’s presidential main.
Final yr, former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo alleged that Shincheonji intervened to assist former President Yoon Suk Yeol safe the get together’s presidential nomination.
Though Shincheonji isn’t a registered company, the federal government is contemplating revoking the Unification Church’s company registration, relying on the result of the investigation.
In a doc submitted to Rep. Kim Jae-won of the Rebuilding Korea Celebration, the Ministry of Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism, which oversees the Unification Church’s registration, stated it could transfer to cancel the registration if authorities verify authorized violations.
The federal government might revoke the registration of an included spiritual group if it operates past its said objective, violates its institution phrases or harms the general public curiosity.
Such a revocation would strip the group of its authorized protections and tax advantages, although it might proceed to hold out spiritual actions as a voluntary affiliation.
A commencement ceremony of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus is held at Daegu Stadium in Suseong District, Daegu, Nov. 20, 2022. Newsis
In 1976, the registration of the Christian sect Dongbang was revoked amid allegations that its members had assaulted and extorted cash from underperforming followers.
The same measure was taken in 2001, when a doomsday cult based by a married couple misplaced its company registration because of mortgage fraud, which defrauded round 1,500 folks.
In 2020, the Seoul Metropolitan Authorities moved to revoke the registration of a Shincheonji-linked included affiliation registered with town, citing interference with COVID-19 quarantine measures.
Though consultants say that revoking the registration of a spiritual basis is not any completely different to that of different authorized entities, its effectiveness stays questionable.
Lee Heon-hwan, a legislation professor at Ajou College, stated that, not like Japan, Korea doesn’t have separate authorized provisions for revoking the registration of non secular foundations, which means the method and problem are the identical as these for atypical firms.
Chang Younger-soo, a legislation professor at Korea College, famous that revoking a spiritual basis’s registration doesn’t imply banning spiritual actions.
“Prohibiting spiritual actions can be a particularly extreme restriction on the liberty of faith assured by the Structure,” he stated. “Such a ban would require doctrines which might be terribly irregular, equivalent to human sacrifice.”
Chang added that people who commit unlawful acts needs to be punished, however it could be inappropriate to carry a complete faith legally accountable.
