South Korea: Prosecution, police form joint investigation team to handle Unification Church allegations

Seoul, Jan 6 (IANS) The prosecution and the police formed a joint investigation team on Tuesday to handle various allegations of bribery among the Unification Church, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus and politicians, South Korea’s Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (SPO) said.

The launch of the new team comes after the legally mandated investigation period of special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team ended last month, before it was able to fully determine the details of alleged bribery between the Unification Church and multiple lawmakers of both the ruling and main opposition parties.

The SPO said the joint team will look into not only the Unification Church but also the religious sect, Shincheonji, and other faith groups to determine whether they provided bribes to politicians and meddled in elections, reports Yonhap news agency.

Kim Tae-hoon, chief of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, has been tapped to lead the joint team, it said in a press release, adding the body will comprise 47 prosecutors and police officials and have offices inside the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

President Lee Jae Myung earlier directed the formation of a special or joint investigation headquarters to handle the scandal, saying it was necessary to determine the truth and demand accountability in order to prevent a repeat of similar crimes.

The bribery allegations surfaced during Min’s investigation into former first lady Kim Keon Hee’s suspected corruption, resulting in the indictment of Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition People Power Party and an investigation into Rep. Chun Jae-soo of the ruling Democratic Party, among other high-profile names.

Talk of appointing a special counsel to investigate the matter has stalled amid disagreements between the rival parties.

int/sd/