▲ People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok attends a party event at its headquarters in western Seoul on Feb. 23, 2026. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) PPP headquarters-raid

(LEAD) Headquarters of main opposition party raided over alleged mass recruitment of Shincheonji religious group

(ATTN: ADDS details from 5th para, byline)

By Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- Investigators on Friday raided the headquarters of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) over allegations of mass recruitment of followers of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a nonmainstream religious sect, legal sources said.

A joint team of police investigators and prosecutors carried out the search and seizure at the PPP's office in western Seoul to seize the party's membership list, according to the sources.

The sect is accused of forcing its followers to join the PPP with the aim of influencing the results of the party's presidential primary in 2021 and the party's candidate nominations for the 2024 general elections.

The joint team is said to have secured statements from former Shincheonji officials that the church encouraged its followers to join the PPP under a project dubbed "Pilates" and tens of thousands of them actually became dues-paying members of the party.

The joint investigation was launched last month to investigate allegations of corrupt ties between religious groups and politicians.

The team has been investigating Shincheonji on suspicions of violating the Political Parties Act over allegations of intervening in the PPP's membership management and the party's decision-making process.

It raided the group's headquarters and other facilities last month.

Shincheonji has denied all allegations, including those about the mass enrollment into the PPP and intervention in the party's candidate nominations.

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