The leader of a South Korean church was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of election influence as authorities widened an investigation into allegations that he illegally recruited thousands of followers into the People Power Party.
The Shincheonji Church has denied the accusations against Lee Man-hee, 95, a self-proclaimed messenger of Jesus who founded the congregation in the 1980s.
The church says it has about 200,000 members.
Photo: AP
Since January, a special team of prosecutors and police has been investigating alleged ties between religious groups such as Shincheonji and the Unification Church, and politicians.
The inquiry is part of broader investigations under South Korea’s government into the presidency of former leader Yoon Suk-yeol, who was ousted from office and convicted of rebellion over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.
Walking with a cane and assisted by a church official, Lee did not respond to reporters’ questions as he entered the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday afternoon for a hearing on whether to grant prosecutors’ request for his arrest.
In issuing the arrest warrant on Wednesday night, the court cited Lee as a threat to destroy evidence.
The church in a statement yesterday morning expressed “deep regret” over Lee’s arrest, saying he had fully cooperated with the investigation, and raising concerns about his age and health.
Lee has been suspected of using the church’s regional branches to pressure more than 50,000 people to join the People Power Party from 2021 to 2024 in hopes of influencing the party’s presidential and legislative primaries.
Investigators suspect the campaign, which allegedly included efforts to support Yoon’s presidential bid, was aimed at winning favorable treatment for the church, including permits to expand its facilities.
Lee’s arrest came months after the arrest and indictment of Unification Church leader Hak Ja-han over allegations that she instructed church officials to bribe Yoon’s wife and a lawmaker close to him in an effort to secure business favors.
Han, widow of the church’s founder Sun Myung Moon, has denied the allegations.
An appeals court in April sentenced Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, to four years in prison after convicting her on charges including receiving luxury gifts from a Unification Church official.
Yoon was removed from office in April last year after being impeached over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024 following a standoff with the liberal-led legislature.
Arrested in July last year, Yoon is facing multiple trials and has appealed a life sentence for rebellion and a separate 30-year prison term over charges that he ordered drone flights over North Korea’s capital to stoke tensions and justify martial law at home.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who won an early presidential election last year after Yoon’s removal from office, has authorized multiple investigations into Yoon’s martial law imposition and other allegations involving his administration and wife.
Lee Man-hee established Shincheonji in 1984, using a word meaning “new heaven and new Earth.”
The church describes Lee as “the promised pastor,” an attendant of Jesus sent to testify what he claims are the fulfilled prophecies from the Book of Revelation.
Han is the top leader of the Unification Church, officially called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which her husband, Moon, founded in 1954.
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