Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo responds to questions from reporters at a press convention held on the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in Sejong on Sept. 11, 2025. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Get together is dealing with an uneasy state of affairs after belated revelations that Yun Younger-ho, the previous head of the Unification Church’s world headquarters, informed particular counsel investigators the church had engaged in widespread lobbying efforts involving items to politicians in each the opposition Individuals Energy Get together (PPP) and the Democratic Get together.
Opposite to earlier experiences, Yun’s testimony at a remaining trial listening to on Monday didn’t disclose the precise names of the ruling occasion political figures who allegedly obtained items from the Unification Church. However the Democratic Get together continues watching developments carefully, with many anticipating the fallout to proceed.
Democratic Get together figures who had been reportedly named by Yun as having obtained “help” from the Unification Church throughout his questioning by the group of particular counsel Min Joung-kie took to varied media on Monday to insist the allegations weren’t factual.
In an interview that day with the YTN community, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo responded to allegations that he obtained two luxurious watches and 30 million gained in money, coupled with requests regarding one of many Unification Church’s pet initiatives — an undersea tunnel effort between South Korea and Japan.
In his response, he careworn that the allegations had been a “patent falsehood.”
Chun, who has been visiting New York since Dec. 6 to bid for South Korea to host the UN Ocean Convention, additionally stated the claims that he had given a celebratory tackle at an occasion with 600 Unification Church officers in attendance had been “baseless.” He additionally stated he would “clarify the state of affairs in full” after his return to South Korea on Thursday.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who was additionally named by information shops as having obtained items from Yun, stated in a gathering with reporters Wednesday that he would “make clear the information ready assertion on the morning of [Thursday] the eleventh.”
Urging folks to “belief in my character,” he added, “Once I clarify it, you might discover the small print moderately uninteresting.”
One other Democratic Get together determine who shared a press release on Wednesday was Jeong Jin-sang, the previous director of political affairs coordination within the occasion chief’s workplace. In a recorded dialog with former Unification Church vp Lee Hyeon-yeong that was made public in court docket on Dec. 3, Jeong was talked about by Yun as a “goal of direct contact makes an attempt” across the time of the 2022 presidential election.
Nationwide Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok stated that he “did meet as soon as [with Yun] with an acquaintance at a Sejong Institute analysis workplace in early 2022 after a Unification Church official requested a gathering by means of that acquaintance, saying they’d one thing to debate relating to North Korea points.” He added that he had “not had any contact or interplay with him since then.”
Opposite to experiences, Yun didn’t disclose an inventory of Democratic Get together politicians who obtained items from the church in his remaining trial listening to on Wednesday. For now, many within the Democratic Get together are respiratory a sigh of aid that there have been no main bombshells.
Echoing remarks by President Lee Jae Myung, the occasion’s senior spokesperson Park Soo-hyun stated, “If any Democratic Get together figures had been illegally related [with the church], they need to merely be punished primarily based on the findings of an investigation.”
Min, the particular counsel, additionally responded to opposition occasion allegations of “bias” and “cover-ups” over the failure to reveal testimony beforehand obtained from Yun in regards to the items. In reply, he argued that the world didn’t fall beneath the scope of the particular counsel probe of former first woman Kim Keon-hee.
A presidential workplace official stated, “If the purpose had been to cease a particular counsel investigation, they might have blocked the case’s switch within the first place.”
Behind the scenes, many are adopting a wait-and-see method amid predictions that extra could also be to come back.
One Democratic Get together insider commented, “Already, we’re in a state of affairs the place there’s going to be a rising notion amongst folks that ‘the Democratic Get together is simply the identical [as the PPP].’”
“It is a worst-case state of affairs forward of subsequent yr’s native elections,” they fretted.
A primary-term lawmaker from the better Seoul space warned, “Simply because there weren’t any extra revelations from Yun Younger-ho, that doesn’t imply the state of affairs is anyplace close to over.”
“The occasion might want to reply preemptively by promptly investigating the figures talked about, making distinctions between unlawful gift-giving and lawful help, and taking stern measures if any points are found,” they suggested.
By Choi Ha-yan, employees reporter; Shin Hyeong-cheol, employees reporter; Kim Chae-woon, employees reporter; Web optimization Younger-ji, employees reporter
Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]
