Sawt Falasteen - South Korea minister resigns over alleged bribes from church

The church, known for its mass weddings, is currently being investigated on charges of unlawful donations linked to the country's former first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Kim's conservative husband, Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted in April and is now in prison following a disastrous but brief imposition of martial law, with voters electing President Lee Jae Myung in a snap election in June.

But local media reports increasingly suggest lawmakers from both President Lee's left-leaning ruling party and the conservative opposition may have accepted bribes from the church.

Oceans minister Chun Jae-soo was accused of having received 30 million won ($20,500) in cash as well as two luxury watches from the church between 2018 to 2020, the reports said.

The accusations were reportedly levelled by the former head of the church's global headquarters Yun Young-ho during questioning by investigators this year.

"As a public official, resigning from the ministerial post... is the right behavior," Chun told reporters Thursday.

He denied wrongdoing but said he would step down to allow the government's work to continue "without faltering".

President Lee has accepted the resignation, his office said.

- Probe ordered -

Founded in 1954 by Moon Sun-myung, the Unification Church claims to have around three million followers worldwide, who are often derisively referred to as "Moonies".

The church rose to global prominence in the 1970s and 80s, and over the decades amassed a business empire that spans construction, food, education and the media.

Seoul's unification minister -- responsible for handling fraught relations with North Korea -- also denied Thursday having been bribed by the Unification Church.

Minister Chung Dong-young, named alongside Chun as being part of a group of lawmakers who had received cash and gifts, described the claims as a "groundless false rumour", Yonhap news agency said.

It comes a day after Lee ordered a probe into alleged illegal ties between a "religious group" and politicians -- widely seen as a reference to the Unification Church.

"Just as individuals face sanctions for crimes, corporations and foundations should also be dissolved if they commit actions that violate the constitution and the law," Lee said.

In South Korea the church has links to everything from a major newspaper to a high-end ski resort used for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, as well as art institutes and schools.

In 1991, the church's now-leader Han Hak-ja joined her husband Moon on a trip to North Korea to meet with the dictatorship's founder Kim Il Sung. Moon died in 2012, having been revered by followers as a messiah but dismissed by critics as a charlatan.

Han was arrested in September and went on trial last week over graft charges.

Japan this year took legal action to dissolve the local chapter of the Unification Church, after the gunman accused of killing former prime minister Shinzo Abe was said to have targeted him over grudges against the church.

I.Matar--SF-PST