Gift or Bribe? Ex-First Lady’s Controversial Necklace Sparks Major Investigation

Special counsel team raids Unification Church facilities

On Friday, investigators from the special counsel team probing various allegations against former first lady Kim Keon Hee executed search and seizure operations at Unification Church facilities and offices of former People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong.

The raids centered on Kim’s alleged acceptance of luxury gifts in 2022: a Graff diamond necklace valued at approximately 60 million KRW ($43,000) and Chanel bags worth a combined 20 million KRW ($14,300) from a high-ranking church official surnamed Yoon.

Sources indicate that the church and Yoon sought several favors from the ex-first lady in exchange for these gifts, which were reportedly delivered through Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman known as Geon Jin. The alleged requests included support for the church’s international projects, assistance in its failed bid to acquire broadcaster YTN, and an invitation to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s 2022 inauguration ceremony.

Prosecutor Min Joong-ki’s team sent investigators to the church’s global headquarters in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and its Seoul headquarters in Yongsan district to secure relevant documents and digital files.

The raids also targeted the residence of Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja in Gapyeong and two offices of Rep. Kweon: one in the National Assembly in western Seoul and another in his constituency of Gangneung, Gangwon Province.

The special counsel’s investigation has recently broadened to examine allegations that Han received help from an unidentified aide of former President Yoon to impede a police investigation into illegal gambling involving church leadership. Han and other church leaders are accused of misusing nearly 58 billion KRW ($41 million) of church funds for gambling in Las Vegas from 2008 to 2011, which is illegal for South Korean citizens except in a few government-approved locations.

In a related move, the special counsel team recently searched a police station in Chuncheon, about 75 kilometers northeast of Seoul, to obtain records pertaining to the gambling case involving Han and church leadership.

The raid on Rep. Kweon’s offices stems from allegations that he acted as an intermediary between the Unification Church and former President Yoon. Kweon is suspected of having asked Yoon to attend a Unification Ministry event in 2022.