Court in Seoul, South Korea, Extends Suspension of Detention for Unification Church Leader Han Hak-ja Until End of September

Han Hak-ja, chairwoman of the Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), was indicted over alleged political-religious collusion with the government of Yoon Suk-yeol. Reports from January 2025 describe the charges as alleged, and in July 2025 she faced closing arguments in the case.

Reports differ on when her trial began. A French report said Han, then 82, appeared in court in Seoul on September 22, 2025, as her trial commenced, and described the case as concerning bribes paid to the former first lady. A German report dated December 1, 2025, also described the trial as beginning in Seoul and noted that she had been arrested in September. Courts hear such cases in open proceedings, a matter of truth and fairness (Proverbs 18:17).

Reports on the arrest also vary in their details. One report said Han was arrested on Tuesday, September 23, under a warrant issued by a Seoul court. The Straits Times reported that the Seoul Central District Court issued the arrest warrant on September 23, citing concern that she could destroy evidence. Al Jazeera reported that the same court approved prosecutors’ request to detain her. The reports describe the matter as alleged bribery linked to the former first lady.

On August 31, 2026, reports said a South Korean court on Monday sentenced Han to two years in prison for corruption. A Taiwanese outlet, UDN, gave her age as 83 and described the Seoul Central District Court’s first-instance ruling as a combined prison term of two years in a case involving political-religious collusion. The reports differ in how they describe the offense, and the sentence is described as a first-instance ruling.

A Sedaily report from September 2026 says a court extended the release of the Unification Church leader sentenced to two years. The headline describes the court’s action as extending the suspension of detention until the end of September. The text of that report is incomplete, and no further details about the extension are available in the source material.