Police Form Special Investigation Team over Allegations of Unification Church Supporting Democratic Party. Yonhap News

The police have formed a special investigation team on July 10th to handle the case of alleged "Unification Church support for the Democratic Party," which was transferred from Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki's team.

The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency announced in a press release today, "We received the records of the Unification Church-related case in person from Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki's team around 1:30 PM."

It further stated, "Upon receipt, we immediately reviewed the records and determined that a swift investigation was necessary, considering issues such as the statute of limitations, which have been raised in some quarters," and announced that a special investigation team had been formed within the Major Crimes Investigation Division of the National Police Agency to commence an immediate investigation.

Previously, the special prosecutor's team had obtained a statement in August from Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church's World Headquarters, to the effect that "the Unification Church supported politicians belonging to the Democratic Party, in addition to the People Power Party."

It is known that he stated that tens of millions of won were provided to two Democratic Party lawmakers between 2018 and 2020. Regarding this, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Jeon Jae-soo, who was mentioned as a party involved, denied the allegations through Facebook today, stating, "All the allegations of receiving money and valuables against me are false."

The head of the special investigation team will be Superintendent Park Chang-hwan, head of the Major Crimes Investigation Division. Superintendent Park, who is currently dispatched to Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok's team, will return to the National Police Agency on the 11th.

The National Police Agency stated, "The special investigation team plans to conduct the investigation strictly and swiftly in accordance with the law and principles."