https://www.scmp.com/rss/522161/feed The latest news and top stories on the Unification Church. A prominent South Korea-based religious organisation, the Unification Church, also known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is dedicated to establishing God’s rule on Earth and fostering a unified human race through intermarriage. Founded in Seoul in 1954, its main activities include religious teachings based on “The Divine Principle” and large-scale Blessing ceremonies. The church has engaged in political and... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Kyodo Kyodo A Japanese high court on Wednesday upheld a dissolution order for the Unification Church in line with the central government’s request, with liquidation procedures beginning immediately. Presiding Judge Motoko Miki of the Tokyo High Court said the decision was made as it is possible that the organisation is still engaging in unlawful solicitation of donations that financially ruin its members and others. “One can hardly expect the church to voluntarily take measures to prevent its members from... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3345349/unification-church-faces-liquidation-after-japanese-court-backs-dissolution-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3345349/unification-church-faces-liquidation-after-japanese-court-backs-dissolution-order?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 03:32:12 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Representatives of the Unification Church, the controversial South Korea-founded religious group that became a political flashpoint in Japan after the 2022 assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, are set to return to court on Wednesday as judges consider whether to strip it of its legal status. The Tokyo High Court is widely expected to uphold a lower court’s order to dissolve the organisation, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, in a ruling that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3345196/unification-church-faces-uphill-task-japan-fight-courts-liquidation-ruling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3345196/unification-church-faces-uphill-task-japan-fight-courts-liquidation-ruling?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:00:26 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A controversial church facing possible disbandment over religious-political collusion in South Korea is aggressively expanding its presence across Australia by targeting young people at universities and shopping centres, according to a former member who has accused the group of weaponising fear to shield it from criticism. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, founded in 1984 by Lee Man-hee, who claims to be the second coming of Jesus Christ, has an estimated 200,000 followers in the East Asian... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3340157/south-korean-churchs-special-force-targets-young-australians-amid-crackdown-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3340157/south-korean-churchs-special-force-targets-young-australians-amid-crackdown-home?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:54:34 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong Long-rumoured allegations surrounding South Korea’s former first lady, Kim Keon-hee, were laid out in unprecedented detail after a special prosecutor concluded a six-month investigation into her conduct, offering official clarity but leaving key questions unresolved. The findings, presented to the public on Monday, offered the clearest official account yet of claims that Kim, the wife of ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol, abused her proximity to power – from accepting luxury gifts to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3338064/probe-south-koreas-kim-keon-hee-ends-unresolved-issues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3338064/probe-south-koreas-kim-keon-hee-ends-unresolved-issues?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:20 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s rival political parties are set to appoint special prosecutors to investigate allegations that the Unification Church bribed and lobbied politicians across the ideological divide, a rare move that observers have said could test the country’s constitutional separation of religion and politics. On Monday, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said it would accept a proposal from the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP) for the team of special prosecutors to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337368/south-korean-politicians-agree-unification-church-special-probe-rare-move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337368/south-korean-politicians-agree-unification-church-special-probe-rare-move?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Dec 2025 01:30:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse South Korean police raided the headquarters of the cultlike Unification Church on Monday and named its leader as a suspect in the bribery of several high-profile politicians. The church, known for its mass weddings, is at the centre of a mounting scandal in South Korea over alleged payments to lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties. Prosecutors raided the church’s headquarters in Seoul on Monday as well as the imposing countryside residence of leader Han Hak-ja, who is already on... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3336428/south-korean-police-raid-unification-church-palace-bribery-sweep?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3336428/south-korean-police-raid-unification-church-palace-bribery-sweep?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Dec 2025 03:29:59 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea is bracing for a showdown between political power and religious influence, as a widening bribery scandal linked to the Unification Church has thrust President Lee Jae-myung into a battle over how far the state should go in policing faith-based organisations. With allegations of illicit lobbying spreading across the country’s two major political parties, Lee has ordered a review of whether religious groups accused of systematic election interference and covert funding networks can be... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335911/south-koreas-threat-dissolve-corrupt-religious-groups-risks-political-blowback?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335911/south-koreas-threat-dissolve-corrupt-religious-groups-risks-political-blowback?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:00:13 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s special prosecutors have sought a 15-year jail term for former first lady Kim Keon-hee, describing her as someone who has long been “beyond the reach of law enforcement”. Kim, the wife of impeached ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, faces multiple corruption allegations, including stock manipulation, bribery and illegal electioneering. The court’s verdict is set for January 28. The demand on Wednesday came about three months after Kim was indicted – just a year following Yoon’s botched... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335142/south-koreas-kim-keon-hee-feels-wronged-many-ways-prosecutors-seek-15-year-jail-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335142/south-koreas-kim-keon-hee-feels-wronged-many-ways-prosecutors-seek-15-year-jail-term?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Dec 2025 03:50:39 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The leader of one of South Korea’s largest cultlike churches stood trial on Monday accused of bribing the country’s former first lady with gifts including a designer handbag and a diamond necklace. The arrest of leader Han Hak-ja in September rocked the Unification Church, which claims to have 10 million followers worldwide and controls a sprawling business empire. The 82-year-old defendant, known to her followers as “holy mother”, also faces corruption charges over cash payments to a lawmaker... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3334732/south-korean-unification-church-leader-denies-knowing-about-bribes-kim-keon-hee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3334732/south-korean-unification-church-leader-denies-knowing-about-bribes-kim-keon-hee?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 05:44:23 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong A court ruling on the case of former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo in January next year will serve as a bellwether for others charged over impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed martial law decree, observers say. On Wednesday, the special counsel team investigating insurrection charges related to Yoon’s December 3 decree demanded a 15-year prison term for Han, the 77-year-old political veteran accused of helping “mastermind” the attempted self-coup. Senior Judge Lee... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3334320/fate-south-koreas-han-duck-soo-set-tone-yoon-others-martial-law-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3334320/fate-south-koreas-han-duck-soo-set-tone-yoon-others-martial-law-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Nov 2025 01:30:19 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The gunman accused of killing Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe pleaded guilty on Tuesday, three years after the assassination in broad daylight shocked the world. The slaying forced a reckoning in a country with little experience of gun violence, and ignited scrutiny of alleged ties between prominent conservative lawmakers and a secretive sect, the Unification Church. “Everything is true,” Tetsuya Yamagami said at a court in the western city of Nara, admitting to the murder of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3330643/former-japanese-prime-minister-shinzo-abes-killer-pleads-guilty-everything-true?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3330643/former-japanese-prime-minister-shinzo-abes-killer-pleads-guilty-everything-true?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 10:17:23 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo The trial of a man indicted for killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, allegedly due to a grudge against the Unification Church, will begin next week, three years after the shooting shed light on the church’s links to politicians. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is expected to plead guilty to the murder of Abe, post-war Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, with his defence team likely to call for leniency, saying his upbringing was marked by “religious abuse”, according to sources close to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3330308/shinzo-abe-shooter-expected-plead-guilty-trial-begins-next-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3330308/shinzo-abe-shooter-expected-plead-guilty-trial-begins-next-week?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Oct 2025 09:08:04 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon-hee has again made headlines after revelations that she sat on a royal throne during a private palace visit – triggering ridicule that she must have fancied herself a queen, given her oversized influence over her husband. Kim reportedly sat on the throne during a private tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main royal compound of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), while accompanied by government officials in 2023. Professor Lee Jun-han of Incheon National... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330003/south-koreas-former-first-lady-draws-outrage-sitting-royal-throne?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330003/south-koreas-former-first-lady-draws-outrage-sitting-royal-throne?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Oct 2025 03:10:16 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo Lawyers helping victims of the Unification Church’s aggressive donation solicitation practices in Japan said on Thursday that an arbitration had been concluded, ordering the church to pay a total of more than 50 million yen (US$340,000) in damages to three former believers in their eighties – the first such agreement between the two parties. The arbitration case filed with the Tokyo District Court was one of over 180 cases brought by victims seeking around 6 billion yen over the issue, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3327704/japanese-court-orders-unification-church-pay-us340000-3-over-donations-scam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3327704/japanese-court-orders-unification-church-pay-us340000-3-over-donations-scam?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Oct 2025 01:42:43 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong For the first time in a quarter-century of independent prosecutions, a sitting South Korean lawmaker has been arrested amid a corruption scandal that has shaken the nation’s political and religious establishments to their core. Kweon Seong-dong – a towering figure in the conservative People Power Party and a close confidant of impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol – has been detained on charges of accepting illicit funds from the Unification Church. Kweon, a five-term lawmaker and former... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3325801/south-koreas-church-state-corruption-scandal-ensnares-yoon-ally-kweon-seong-dong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3325801/south-koreas-church-state-corruption-scandal-ensnares-yoon-ally-kweon-seong-dong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Sep 2025 03:21:34 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s powerful prosecution service, long accused of wielding justice selectively, is to be dismantled under a sweeping reform plan that government officials and ruling party lawmakers say is necessary to curb abuse of authority. But critics warn the move may create constitutional disputes and deepen political fault lines. President Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which holds a majority in the National Assembly, joined forces with the Presidential Office and the cabinet... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324846/south-korea-overhauls-flawed-prosecution-office-accused-selective-justice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324846/south-korea-overhauls-flawed-prosecution-office-accused-selective-justice?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 05:19:34 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong The indictment of former first lady Kim Keon-hee on corruption charges has thrown a spotlight on the collapse of institutional checks during her husband’s presidency, prompting fresh calls to strengthen oversight and transparency measures. The wife of former president Yoon Suk-yeol was charged on Friday with stock manipulation, bribery and the receipt of illicit political funds by a team of investigators led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki. This is the first time in South Korea’s history that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3323650/south-koreas-cronyism-culture-trial-kim-keon-hees-corruption-charge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3323650/south-koreas-cronyism-culture-trial-kim-keon-hees-corruption-charge?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Aug 2025 02:00:08 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong As jailed South Korean ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol continues to defy prosecutors’ attempts to question him over his martial law debacle, his wife Kim Keon-hee – who has also been detained – faces fresh bribery accusations amid a growing list of scandals involving luxury brands and political favours. After meeting her for more than two hours on Wednesday, one of her lawyers said Kim had “not eaten a single meal” since being detained the previous afternoon, adding “her health condition is currently... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3321761/jailing-south-koreas-kim-keon-hee-reveals-fresh-bribery-claims-over-us40000-watch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3321761/jailing-south-koreas-kim-keon-hee-reveals-fresh-bribery-claims-over-us40000-watch?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:09 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong A diamond pendant worth tens of thousands of dollars, once worn by former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee on an official trip, has become the unlikely catalyst for her fall from grace. The luxury item, and its meticulously crafted fake, are now at the centre of a criminal case that saw Kim detained late on Tuesday pending trial, accused of deception, obstruction and a decade-long pattern of alleged wrongdoing. Investigators say Kim lied about the pendant’s origin, staged a cover-up and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3321667/kim-keon-hees-arrest-how-lie-about-diamond-pendant-put-her-behind-bars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3321667/kim-keon-hees-arrest-how-lie-about-diamond-pendant-put-her-behind-bars?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Aug 2025 04:25:26 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s scandal-plagued former first lady Kim Keon-hee walked into court on Tuesday, head bowed and looking visibly tense, for a hearing that could make her the first ex-presidential spouse in the country’s history to be jailed on criminal charges. Wearing a dark jacket and skirt with a white blouse, her hair pulled back, Kim brushed past pool reporters without a word as she climbed the stairs to the courtroom. A ruling on whether to remand her for questioning or allow her to remain free... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3321513/south-koreas-former-first-lady-battles-jail-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3321513/south-koreas-former-first-lady-battles-jail-time?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Aug 2025 02:28:35 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong Clad in sombre attire and flanked by flashing cameras, Kim Keon-hee offered a rare apology on Wednesday as she became the first of South Korea’s first ladies to face public questioning – a symbolic reckoning in a country where political scandal rarely fades away quietly. The wife of ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol is being investigated by special prosecutors scrutinising her putative role in a web of alleged corruption, stock manipulation and political interference. As Kim, 52, arrived at the Seoul... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3320896/kim-keon-hees-reckoning-public-grilling-south-koreas-scandal-plagued-ex-first-lady?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3320896/kim-keon-hees-reckoning-public-grilling-south-koreas-scandal-plagued-ex-first-lady?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Aug 2025 03:44:08 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon-hee has been formally summoned for questioning by a team of special prosecutors, marking a significant step forward in an expanding investigation into a raft of scandals tied to her and her husband, ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol. Both Kim and Yoon were called in for separate questioning as “suspects” under a parliament-mandated investigation, special prosecutors said on Monday. Yoon is set to appear next Tuesday, while Kim will face scrutiny on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3319105/former-south-korean-first-lady-now-suspect-bribery-scandal-summoned-questioning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3319105/former-south-korean-first-lady-now-suspect-bribery-scandal-summoned-questioning?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Jul 2025 06:40:26 +0000