Leading From the Shadows: The Increasing Influence of the Korean Unification Church
In the wake of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s 2022 assasination, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church, has come under intense scrutiny. The organization has drawn criticism in its home country as well, especially following the election of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
Founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon, the Unification Church teaches conservative family values and the core belief that the second coming of Jesus Christ took place in the forms of the founder, Sun Myung Moon, and his widow, Hak Ja Han Moon, referred to as the “Mother of Peace.” However, the actions and influence of the church have extended past religion and culture and into the political realm. In South Korea, that manifested as the bribery of Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office in 2025 following a declaration of martial law, and sentenced to life in prison in February 2026. Kim Keon Hee was arrested in August 2025 and suspected of receiving bribery in exchange for granting business favors to the church and destruction of evidence. In recent months, Korean law enforcement raided at least 10 locations in and around Seoul, investigating alleged illegal payments to cabinet members and lawmakers in an effort to root out corruption from President Lee’s new administration.
Japanese efforts against the church spiked after the discovery that Abe’s shooter targeted him because of the politician’s potential ties to the Unification Church. The shooter, who was recently sentenced to life in prison, believed that the church bankrupted his family. This would be in line with previous church activity in Japan which has drawn broad criticism. Japanese church members have been receiving a large inflow of revenue through costly practices such as mass marriages, and coercing followers to purchase expensive items that supposedly increase their spiritual health. The influence of the church extends further into Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, as nearly half of its lawmakers interacted in some way with the church according to an internal investigation in 2025, either through accepting donations or receiving election assistance. Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi responded to reports of the connection between the LDP and the church in February 2026, calling it “clearly incorrect” despite verification by journalists. The controversy surrounding the church in Japan led to a lower court ordering its dissolution in March 2025, and after the completion of the appeals process, the Tokyo High Court will provide a ruling on the case on March 4, 2026. The dissolution would remove the tax exempt status of the church and force it to liquidate its assets, although it would still be allowed to operate as a volunteer organization.
The Unification Church has also been found to support political candidates in Nepal, such as three former prime ministers and the chairman of the Nepal Pariwar Dal, a Nepalese political party which supports conservative family values. In a leaked 2017 letter, the chairman Eknath Dhakal, demanded money from the church and sought election support from it. The following year, church presence increased further when participants in the Asia-Pacific Summit in Kathmandu were supposedly served “Holy Wine” by the church as part of the political gathering.
Outside of Asia, the church has various other outlets of power, such as ownership over The Washington Times newspaper and various valuable real estate holdings in the United States. These include the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan and the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, New York, which the church sold to Bard College for $14 million dollars in 2024.
As investigations into the church ramp up, more is revealed about its influence across nations. Even with an imprisoned leader, the Unification Church is still a powerful entity whose actions must be monitored closely, and whose financial movements must be tracked to prevent further corruption and bribery in the governments of Korea, Japan, Nepal, and other nations.