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Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja requests bail

Published: 14 Nov. 2025, 12:57

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Han Hak-ja, leader of the Unification Church, leaves the Seoul Central District Court on Sept. 22 after attending a hearing to review her arrest warrant. [YONHAP]

Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, who was arrested and indicted on allegations of collusion between the former President Yoon Suk Yeol administration and her church earlier this year, requested bail on Thursday.

Han filed the request with the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday, according to legal sources on Friday. The next hearing date for Han’s case has not been set yet.

Bail is the court's release of a defendant from custody as they await trial subject to conditions decided upon the court, which often include a financial deposit or restrictions on movement or behavior.

On Nov. 4, the court accepted Han’s request for temporary release due to health reasons. She then underwent eye surgery at a hospital. Han’s request for to extend her temporary release was rejected on Nov. 7, and she was sent back to jail after a weeklong medical leave.

Han is the head of the Unification Church, officially called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. She was indicted and detained on Oct. 10 on allegations that she conspired with Yoon Young-ho, the church’s former global headquarters director, to deliver 100 million won ($69,000) in political funds to People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Kweon Seong-dong in January 2022, seeking government support for the church under Yoon Suk Yeol, then the PPP's presidential candidate.

She also faces charges of illegally splitting 144 million won in church funds to donate to PPP lawmakers between April and July 2022, and of being involved in delivering luxury gifts — including a necklace and a Chanel handbag — to then-first lady Kim Keon Hee through Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman known as Geon Jin.

The court issued an arrest warrant for Han on Sept. 23. Han's side filed a request for a review of the legality of the arrest, arguing that the arrest was unjustified, but that request was dismissed on Oct. 1.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]