Unification Church leader allegedly distributed luxury watches to senior aides
Published: 19 Jan. 2026, 17:02
Updated: 19 Jan. 2026, 17:48
![The Unification Church’s main compound, Cheon Jeong Gung, in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi, is seen on Jan. 18. [SON SUNG-BAE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/19/3c05826d-53a7-4cf0-884f-971317a349f1.jpg)
The Unification Church’s main compound, Cheon Jeong Gung, in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi, is seen on Jan. 18. [SON SUNG-BAE]
The Unification Church is facing fresh scrutiny following allegations that its leader Han Hak-ja distributed dozens of luxury watches to senior aides just weeks before a special counsel probe, raising suspicions that the gifts were meant to erase or conceal evidence of political lobbying and illicit payments.
The distribution allegedly took place in early June last year, when about 40 senior figures of the Unification Church, including regional diocesan heads and pastors, quietly gathered at Cheon Jeong Gung, the church’s headquarters in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, where Han was staying at the time.
By then, prosecutors had already launched an investigation into the church, and a special counsel team probing allegations linked to former first lady Kim Keon Hee was about to be formed.
At the gathering, Han personally handed out wristwatches — which she had kept in her private quarters — to those in attendance. Several of the watches were from luxury brands, such as Cartier, and reportedly valued at well over 10 million won ($6,800) each.
After returning to their respective regions, some recipients allegedly spoke openly about the gift, even remarking that the watches could be sold for tens of millions of won in four or five years.
The watches were distributed around the time the National Assembly passed the bill to launch the Kim Keon Hee special counsel on June 5, 2025, according to multiple sources acquainted with the Unification Church.
It was also roughly a month before the special counsel team carried out raids on safes inside Han’s private quarters at Cheon Jeong Gung on July 18. Given the timing, some see the episode as a possible attempt to remove traces of monetary lobbying involving politicians and other figures ahead of the investigation.
![A Unification Church figure hands church leader Han Hak-ja, left, a book during a meeting in November 2019. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/19/62c48afa-d677-4242-9707-55f44f2b42eb.jpg)
A Unification Church figure hands church leader Han Hak-ja, left, a book during a meeting in November 2019. [JOONGANG ILBO]
‘Watches fixed before handed over’
There are also accounts that a watch repairman visited Cheon Jeong Gung to fix watches that had been stored for so long that their hour and minute hands were misaligned or not functioning.
“A watch repairman was called in to fix the watches before diocesan heads were summoned on a weekday in early June,” said a Unification Church insider familiar with the situation. “One person who could not attend the meeting [...] was envious when a junior pastor who was sent in their place returned with a watch worth more than 10 million won.”
Han's gifts may have been a show of trust and solidarity.
It is not uncommon for visitors to receive commemorative wristwatches, which can be bought as souvenirs at Cheon Jeong Gung or from the group’s own brand, Christian Bernard, based in France. However, insiders say it is highly unusual for luxury watches to be presented during a gathering of senior members.
![A photo of Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, right, and the late founder Moon Sun-myung hang in the lobby of the church’s Korean headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Dec. 15, 2025. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/19/33376d19-0b97-4ae1-b2d3-da81bb1c7562.jpg)
A photo of Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, right, and the late founder Moon Sun-myung hang in the lobby of the church’s Korean headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Dec. 15, 2025. [NEWS1]
“There have been occasions during which watches from Swiss brands priced at around 1 million won were distributed, but giving luxury watches worth around 10 million won had never happened before,” said a senior Unification Church official. “If dozens of people have received such expensive watches, rumors should have already spread. If they’ve been quiet, there must be some reason, such as someone ordering them to keep their mouths shut.”
References to Han's gifting wristwatches also appear multiple times in TM, or “True Mother,” reports. The term refers to Han.
In a report dated June 22, 2018, a Unification Church official in charge of Japan wrote, “Desk clocks had been prepared in the same way that True Mother previously bestowed wristwatches to the managers.”
The same person wrote again in July 2019 that it was “a real honor” to receive such a precious watch from True Mother.
![Former Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Dec. 19, 2025, as a suspect in an investigation into allegations that he received cash and other valuables from the Unification Church. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/19/b21cd8a1-b194-4493-a818-d7a8f84d9d3d.jpg)
Former Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Dec. 19, 2025, as a suspect in an investigation into allegations that he received cash and other valuables from the Unification Church. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
‘Cartier watches left over’
The roughly 40 high-priced watches may also have been intended as gifts for figures in politics and government, as luxury watches are at the center of other allegations that prompted a special counsel probe into the Unification Church.
Rep. Chun Jae-soo of the Democratic Party, the former oceans minister, was accused of receiving money and valuables in exchange for lobbying on Unification Church issues, such as an undersea tunnel between Korea and Japan.
Youn Young-ho, a former global headquarters chief of the church, told special counsel investigators that he delivered cash and Bulgari or Cartier watches to Chun between 2018 and 2019.
Earlier, the National Police Agency’s special investigation team said on Jan. 7 that it had secured testimony from a Unification Church elder, who claimed they received a Cartier wristwatch from Han.
![Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Sept. 22, 2025, after attending a hearing to review an arrest warrant. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/19/fefea042-57ae-43ac-8550-150cb0830d6c.jpg)
Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Sept. 22, 2025, after attending a hearing to review an arrest warrant. [NEWS1]
The elder said that after being contacted by Jeong Won-ju, then chief of the head’s secretariat, and indicted without detention, they visited Cheon Jeong Gung in August 2018. After they arrived, Han gave them a Cartier watch priced in the low 10-million-won range, saying it was left over after the rest were given to VIPs.
August 2018 is close to the period when Youn admitted to giving money and valuables to politicians from 2018 to 2019.
In response to questions about Han’s gifting of expensive watches ahead of the special counsel search and seizure, the Unification Church said that it was a time when investigative pressure was intensifying, and that it was not well aware whether luxury watches had been distributed to senior members.
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 SON SUNG-BAE,JEONG JIN-HO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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