Home > National > Social Affairs

Pompeo, Gingrich denounce Korean special counsel's plan to summon Unification Church head

Published: 05 Sep. 2025, 16:36

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media in Washington, on Nov. 24, 2020. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Mike Pompeo, who served as U.S. secretary of state under Donald Trump’s first administration, denounced plans by Korea’s special counsel to summon Han Hak-ja, leader of the Unification Church.

“The intensifying assaults on religious liberty are a betrayal of the democratic principles that South Korea is meant to espouse,” Pompeo wrote in a post on X Thursday.

Han has been summoned for probing in connection with allegations involving political lobbying by shaman Geon Jin, whose legal name is Jeon Seong-bae, and the Unification Church. She faces accusations of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and the Political Funds Act.

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and considered by some to be a "mentor" of Trump, also criticized the Lee Jae Myung administration in an Aug. 27 opinion piece in the Washington Times. He accused the Korean government of an “all-out assault on political and religious liberty” that has been “breathtaking.”

Both Pompeo and Gingrich have ties to Unification Church–affiliated events.

Last year, Pompeo delivered a video address at the 2024 International Religious Freedom Summit organized by a group linked to the church, where he said that governments that do not adhere to religious freedom will collapse. He also expressed regret over the surge of negative sentiment toward the Unification Church in Japan following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Pompeo had previously taken part in online events hosted by Unification Church–related groups in 2021 and 2022.

Gingrich, who served 11 terms in the House, attended the opening ceremony in April for the Cheonwon Palace Museum, a new facility built by the Unification Church in Seorak-myeon, Gyeonggi, Korea.

The Washington Times was founded by the church’s late founder, Rev. Moon Sun-myung (1920–2012), and maintains a conservative editorial stance.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN JEE-HYE [[email protected]]