Kwon Seongdong Faces Arrest Hearing on 16th... Special Prosecutor Charges Violation of Political Funds Act Over "Unification Church 100 Million Won"

Arrest Consent Motion Passed in the National Assembly the Previous Day

Kwon Seongdong, a member of the People Power Party accused of accepting illegal political funds, is voting on the motion for his arrest consent at the National Assembly plenary session on September 11, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The court hearing for Kwon Seongdong, a member of the People Power Party, is scheduled for September 16. Assemblyman Kwon has had an arrest warrant requested against him on charges of receiving illegal political funds from the Unification Church.

This is the first time an arrest warrant has been requested for a sitting member of the National Assembly who holds parliamentary immunity from arrest.

The Seoul Central District Court announced on September 12 that a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) for Assemblyman Kwon will be held at 2 p.m. on September 16. The review will be overseen by Judge Nam Sejin, who is in charge of warrant hearings (Judicial Research and Training Institute, 33rd class).

Previously, the special prosecutor's team led by Min Joongki, which is investigating allegations related to First Lady Kim Keonhee, summoned Assemblyman Kwon as a suspect on August 27 and questioned him for more than 13 hours. The following day, the team immediately requested an arrest warrant.

Assemblyman Kwon is accused of accepting 100 million won in January 2022 from Yoon, the then-global head of the Unification Church (currently under arrest and indictment). In exchange for providing Unification Church members' votes, organizational support, and financial resources in the 20th presidential election, Yoon allegedly requested that Unification Church-related issues be promoted as state policies after Yoon Sukyeol was elected president, in violation of the Political Funds Act.

There are also allegations that, in February and March 2022, Kwon received a shopping bag filled with cash from Han Hakja, the leader of the Unification Church, and that he leaked police investigation information regarding Han's overseas gambling to the Unification Church so they could prepare for the investigation.

The special prosecutor's team is also investigating allegations that, in March 2023, Yoon and Jeon Seongbae, known as "Geonjinbeopsa," facilitated the mass membership of Unification Church members into the People Power Party to support Assemblyman Kwon in the party's leadership election.

Previously, the National Assembly passed the motion for Assemblyman Kwon's arrest consent at the plenary session the previous day.

Out of 177 lawmakers present, 173 voted in favor, 1 against, 1 abstained, and 2 votes were invalid, resulting in the motion's approval.

The People Power Party did not participate in the vote, but Assemblyman Kwon himself attended and voted in favor. The motion for arrest consent is decided by a secret ballot, requiring the attendance of more than half of all lawmakers and the approval of more than half of those present.

In a personal statement before the vote, Assemblyman Kwon claimed, "All the allegations raised by the special prosecutor against me are false," and added, "What the special prosecutor currently holds is only the false testimony of the provider, and thus the special prosecutor has launched a public campaign to conduct a people's trial."

Assemblyman Kwon also declared his intention to give up his parliamentary immunity after the special prosecutor's team requested an arrest warrant.

Judge Nam, who will preside over the warrant review, previously issued an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Sukyeol in July, following a request from the special prosecutor's team led by Cho Eunseok investigating the insurrection case.

Jeon Seongbae, known as "Geonjinbeopsa," who is under investigation by the Kim Keonhee special prosecutor's team, and Lee Jongho, the former CEO of Black Pearl Invest and known as a close aide to Kim Keonhee, were also arrested after warrant reviews conducted by Judge Nam.