Cheon Jeong Gung, a non secular complicated of the Unification Church, is seen in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, on this Dec. 12, 2025, picture. Yonhap
Excessive on the slopes of Mount Jangrak, Cheon Jeong Gung rises from the hills of Gapyeong County in Gyeonggi Province like a fortress of white stone and quiet ambition. For years, it served because the secluded residence of Han Hak-ja, the chief of the Unification Church, till her detention in September left its halls largely silent.
As soon as a sanctuary for the non secular group, the compound, situated about 62 kilometers east of Seoul, is now the focus of an investigation into allegations that the church illegally funneled massive sums of cash to politicians in change for affect. Since a high-profile police raid earlier this month, it has been seen much less as a spot of worship than as a possible clearinghouse for illicit political entry, with investigators tracing discreet pilgrimages made by politicians to the mountain retreat.
Amid the sustained consideration, a distinct query started to floor for a lot of Koreans: Can the Unification Church’s presence be felt in native neighborhoods?
Kim Sang-hyun, a 30-year-old banker, was amongst these questioning.
“I don’t recall ever seeing a Unification Church (place of worship) whereas strolling round my neighborhood,” Kim informed The Korea Instances.
In Korea’s dense city panorama, church buildings are usually marked by the ever present neon crimson cross, a fixture of the skyline so acquainted it has turn into visible shorthand for the nation’s non secular life.
The Unification Church, nonetheless, presents a research in architectural camouflage. Though its places are simply discovered on digital maps, its bodily websites usually lack the traditional symbols of worship. Specialists say this visible anonymity is strengthened by the group’s follow of working out of unremarkable workplace buildings or shared industrial areas, steadily alongside a maze of affiliated enterprise and civic organizations.
Measuring the motion’s attain is equally elusive.
The Unification Church says it operates about 300 church buildings nationwide, serving roughly 300,000 followers. Whereas these figures level to a large group, they continue to be modest in comparison with the thousands and thousands who belong to Korea’s dominant Catholic and Protestant communities.
That minority standing, nonetheless, has performed little to decrease the group’s perceived affect. As an alternative, the distinction between its muted bodily presence and its outstanding position in elite political and monetary circles has solely heightened public curiosity — and suspicion.
A 2024 survey by the Catholic Bishops’ Convention of Korea discovered that there have been practically 6 million Catholics throughout 1,789 parishes. The Common Meeting of Presbyterian Church in Korea, one of many nation’s largest Protestant denominations, reported simply over 2.24 million members and 11,788 church buildings as of final yr.
An data board inside a Unification Church website in Jongno District, central Seoul, is seen on this Dec. 23, 2025, picture. The board lists solely the names of affiliated organizations and rooms akin to the primary sanctuary and district director’s workplace, with no point out of the Korean phrase for “church.” Korea Instances picture by Park Ung
On Tuesday, a Unification Church website in Jongno District, central Seoul, tucked deep in an alley in an space full of gold jewellery retailers, confirmed no outward indicators of being a church. There was no indication of which flooring it occupied, other than a mailbox labeled merely “church” for the third and fourth flooring.
The shortage of figuring out signage continued inside. The third flooring’s data board carried no signal of the church’s formal identify, the Household Federation for World Peace and Unification, itemizing solely affiliated teams. The door to the primary sanctuary on the fourth flooring remained shut.
In Dongdaemun District, Seoul, a Unification Church website was straightforward to determine by identify, however its doorways had been closed and the lights had been off. In contrast to a Protestant church simply 30 meters away, it posted no detailed worship hours at its entrance.
A Unification Church website in Dongdaemun District, Seoul, is seen on this Dec. 22, 2025, file picture. Korea Instances picture by Park Ung
The Unification Church stated in an announcement to The Korea Instances that its church buildings are clearly marked and straightforward to seek out, saying the choice to forgo the cross stems from theological doctrine reasonably than a need to stay inconspicuous.
The church defined that, not like Catholic and Protestant teachings that say Jesus died to atone for humanity’s sins, it teaches that he got here to determine a God-centered household. The church claims Jesus was executed on the cross earlier than finishing that mission, and that, underneath Unification Church doctrine, its founder Moon Solar-myung is thought to be the second coming of Christ, tasked with fulfilling what Jesus couldn’t.
For that cause, the group stated, the cross doesn’t carry the identical central theological that means for the church because it does in Catholic and Protestant traditions.
Specialists say Unification Church places may be tough to determine as a result of affiliated teams usually share the identical workplaces.
“The Unification Church is just not hiding its id or working underground like Shincheonji (a Korean cult),” stated Tark Ji-il, a professor at Busan Presbyterian College and the chief editor of The Trendy Faith Month-to-month.
“It runs many affiliated teams, together with the Common Peace Federation, which frequently function from the identical places. That leads to a number of names,” Tark added.
