THE HALFAX HEIMDALL AUGUR

Arrest warrants sought for ex-Shincheonji officials over suspicious ... The headquarters of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus / Newsis Investigators sought arrest warrants for three former senior officials of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, over suspicions they forced church members to join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ahead of elections in 2021 and 2024. A joint investigation team of the prosecution and police sought the warrants to arrest a former No. 2 leader of Shincheonji, identified only by surname Goh, and two others on charges of violating the Political Parties Act that bans forcing people to join or quit political parties. Last week, Shincheonji founder Lee Man-hee was also questioned over the suspicions. It is the first time the investigation team has sought arrest warrants since it was launched in early January to look into suspicions that the religious sect forced followers to join the PPP as dues-paying members with the intention of swaying the outcome of the presidential primary in 2021 and the general election primaries in 2024. Investigators believe more than 50,000 followers joined the party as a result between 2…

Shincheonji Leader Indicted for Allegedly Forcing Members to Join ... Shincheonji Leader Indicted for Allegedly Forcing Members to Join People Power Party June 29, 2026 Share Link copied Photo: 최광모 (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), has been indicted on charges of violating the Political Parties Act and obstruction of business. The joint investigation team for corruption between religion and politics (Hapsubon), a combined prosecution and police unit, announced the indictment on June 29, stating that the charges relate to Lee allegedly coercing Shincheonji members to join the People Power Party (PPP), the ruling party in South Korea. The indictment specifically addresses actions taken around July 2021, ahead of the 20th presidential election, as the statute of limitations for these particular charges was nearing expiration. Hapsubon indicated that further investigations into other alleged offenses by Lee and his co-conspirators are ongoing. Lee is suspected of directing Shincheonji followers to collectively join a specific political party in the lead-up to bot…

Joint Task Force Summons Former Shincheonji No. 2 Over Church-Politics ... | Summary | Save A A A 'Government-Religion Collusion' joint investigation book, Shincheonji's number 2 figure, General Affairs director summoned for questioning The joint prosecution-police task force investigating alleged collusion between the Unification Church, Shincheonji and political circles summoned Ko Dong-an, former general secretary of Shincheonji who was once the religious group's second-in-command, on Tuesday. The task force, headed by Kim Tae-hoon, chief of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, called in the former general secretary as a witness for questioning in the afternoon. This marks the first time the task force has summoned Ko. Ko is considered a key figure in allegations that Shincheonji members systematically joined a political party. He served as general secretary from 2017 to 2024 and allegedly orchestrated the organized enrollment of followers as members of the People Power Party during the 2021 presidential primary and the 2024 general election primary. Ko is also suspected of attempting to contact political and legal circles to help quash tax investigations and prosecutorial pro…

Arrest warrants sought for ex-Shincheonji officials over ... Investigators sought arrest warrants for three former senior officials of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, over suspicions they forced church members to join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ahead of elections in 2021 and 2024. A joint investigation team of the prosecution and police sought the warrants to arrest a former No. 2 leader of Shincheonji, identified only by surname Goh, and two others on charges of violating the Political Parties Act that bans forcing people to join or quit political parties. Last week, Shincheonji founder Lee Man-hee was also questioned over the suspicions. It is the first time the investigation team has sought arrest warrants since it was launched in early January to look into suspicions that the religious sect forced followers to join the PPP as dues-paying members with the intention of swaying the outcome of the presidential primary in 2021 and the general election primaries in 2024. Investigators believe more than 50,000 followers joined the party as a result between 2021 and 2023. Korea to power regional growth with AI, chip ‘megaprojects…

Prosecution-police team raids Shincheonji sect over suspected collusion ... Prosecution-police team raids Shincheonji sect over suspected collusion with politics Published January 30, 2026 - 12:04 p.m. Lee Man-hee, founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, in March 2020. YONHAP A joint prosecution-police team launched recently to investigate suspected collusion between politics and religion raided the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, on Friday as part of a probe into its alleged ties to the conservative People Power Party (PPP). Prosecutors and investigators from the team searched Shincheonji's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, and a church training center in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, in the morning to seize data related to church members' collective affiliation with the PPP years ago. Related Article Long-maligned religious group Shincheonji draws new scrutiny over political collusion claims Shincheonji probe accelerates as questions linger over Unification Church case (KOR) Shincheonji probe accelerates as questions linger over Unification Church case Photo of ex-President Yoon, association head connected to Shincheonji surfaces in investigation Task fo…

Rival parties agree on parliamentary probe into NEC hiring scandal Rep. Lee Yang-soo of the ruling People Power Party, left, and Rep. Song Ki-hun of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea announce that a parliamentary investigation will be conducted into the National Election Commission over allegations that children of senior officials were employed at the agency through favoritism in Seoul, June 8. Yonhap Rival political parties agreed Thursday to conduct a parliamentary investigation into the National Election Commission (NEC) over allegations of favoritism in the employment of senior officials' children. According to the vice floor leaders of both the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), hearings and other investigative activities will be carried out to scrutinize the election watchdog. Rep. Lee Yang-soo of the PPP told reporters the purpose of the investigation is to uncover the truth behind possible nepotism in the employment process and to prevent similar cases from occurring in the future. The NEC has faced increasing suspicions of nepotism after revelations that children of at least several senior NEC official…

Former Shincheonji Executives Arrested for Coercing Followers to Join ... byChoi Taewon Published 17 Jun.2026 23:47(KST) Three former executives of Shincheonji have been arrested on charges of organizing the collective registration of followers as members of the People Power Party. Manhee Lee, Chairman of Shincheonji. Photo by Yonhap News On June 17, Deputy Chief Judge Budong-sik, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued arrest warrants following pretrial detention hearings for Go, former general secretary of Shincheonji, as well as former general secretaries of the John Tribe and Simon Tribe. The judge cited concerns over destruction of evidence and a risk of flight as reasons for the arrests. Previously, on June 12, the joint investigation team requested arrest warrants for Go and the others on suspicion of violating the Political Parties Act and related charges. Go and the others are accused of coercing followers to join the People Power Party as members between 2021 and 2024 with the aim of influencing presidential and general election primaries. According to Article 42 of the Political Parties Act, it is illegal to force anyone to join o…

Fact-Finding on 'Lee Case' Sidelined as Rival Parties Split ... | Summary | Save A A A The People Power Party (PPP) held a unilateral hearing with Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who investigated the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case, effectively splitting the parliamentary investigation committee in two. The ruling party billed it as a "hearing to investigate baseless claims aimed at erasing Lee Jae-myung's crimes." The solo hearing was held at the same time as a meeting of the "Special Parliamentary Investigation Committee to Investigate Allegations of Fabricated Indictments by the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration's Politicized Prosecution," led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The PPP held the solo hearing with Prosecutor Park on Wednesday and directly rebutted the ruling party's claims of "fabricated indictments." Lawmakers Na Kyung-won, Kwak Gyu-taek, Song Seok-jun, Yoon Sang-hyun, Shin Dong-wook, and Lee Sang-hwi attended the hearing. Na said, "The parliamentary investigation to erase Lee Jae-myung's crimes should never have been launched in the first place." She added, "The Democratic Party is trying to block testimony from key witnesses because they are afraid the truth wi…

Investigators question Shincheonji sect leader over suspicious ties to ... Lee Man-hee, center, the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, appears at the office of a prosecution-police task force in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap Investigators on Thursday questioned the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, over suspicions he forced church members to join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ahead of elections in 2021 and 2024. Lee Man-hee appeared at the office of a prosecution-police task force to undergo questioning for the first time over allegations of violating the Political Parties Act. The task force is charged with investigating allegedly corrupt ties between political and religious groups, and has secured lists of names of church followers and PPP members through raids on their respective headquarters since January. Lee did not answer questions from reporters as he entered the office. He is suspected of forcing church followers to join the PPP as dues-paying members with the intention of swaying the outcome of the presidential primary in 2021 and the general election primaries in 2024. The task force believes more than 50…

Investigators indict Shincheonji sect leader over forced PPP memberships SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- A joint police-prosecution task force on Monday indic...

The Cult News Network Investigators seek arrest warrant for Shincheonji sect leader Lee Man-hee Published June 22, 2026 By admin Categorized as Cult Crimes Tagged arrest warrant , cult leader , cults , Lee Man-Hee , sects , Shincheonji , South Korea (ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details, background) SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) — Investigators said Monday they have filed for an arrest warrant for the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, over suspicions he forced church members to join the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ahead of elections between 2021 and 2024. Lee Man-hee is accused of forcing church followers to join the PPP with the intention of swaying the outcome of the party’s presidential primary in 2021 and the general election primaries in 2024. A joint police-prosecution taskforce said it requested the warrant for Lee on charges that included violating the Political Parties Act, which bans forcing people to join or quit political parties. The team believes that more than 50,000 Shincheonji followers joined the party at the encouragement of the religious sect. It also listed charges of obstruction of business in the warrant requ…