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'Moonies' church leader jailed for two years over bribery offences

BBC8/31/2026
'Moonies' church leader jailed for two years over bribery offences

The leader of the controversial Unification Church has been sentenced to two years in prison for bribing South Korea's former first lady and other political funding offences. A court found that Han Hak-ja's church gave Kim Keon Hee, the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, two Chanel bags and a diamond necklace, together worth 80 million won ($57,900; £42,500). Earlier this year, Kim was sentenced to 20 months in jail for accepting bribes from the church. Han, the 83-year-old widow of the Unification Church's founder Sun Myung Moon, had repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them "false".

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