▲ Former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo appears at the Seodaemun Ward police station in Seoul on Dec. 19, 2025, to undergo questioning over allegations he took bribes from the Unification Church. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

probe-ex-oceans minister

Task force decides not to indict ex-oceans minister over alleged bribery

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- A police-prosecution task force said Friday it has decided not to indict former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo over bribery allegations linked to the Unification Church due to the expiry of the statute of limitations or a lack of evidence.

Chun, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, resigned as oceans minister in December following allegations that he took a luxury watch and 20 million won (US$13,500) in cash from the church in 2018 in exchange for his help in pushing church projects, such as the envisioned construction of an undersea tunnel connecting South Korea and Japan. He was also accused of receiving 10 million won from a church-affiliated organization in 2019, supposedly as payment for copies of his book.

The task force, which has been investigating alleged corrupt ties between religious and political circles, said it ended the probe into Chun and two others after deciding not to press charges against them.

In Chun's case, it said it confirmed the purchase of a 7.85 million-won Cartier watch by a church official and that a Chun associate took it to a repair shop in 2019.

Investigators could not, however, find evidence of the cash delivery or its amount, making it difficult to conclude the alleged bribe's total value exceeded 30 million won, the threshold for a seven-year statute of limitations.

The book purchases were also confirmed, but there was no evidence the church requested favors in return or that the lawmaker had been aware of the buyer, the task force said.

The two other suspects in the case -- former DP lawmaker Lim Jong-seong and former United Future Party lawmaker Kim Gyu-hwan -- were also cleared of charges of taking bribes from the church due to a lack of evidence.

Four aides of Chun, however, were indicted on charges of destroying evidence.

The four are accused of resetting computers at Chun's office in the southeastern city of Busan ahead of anticipated police raids following press reports on the bribery allegations.

The task force said it could not verify whether the lawmaker had ordered the destruction of evidence.

The announcement of the probe results came a day after Chun was nominated as the DP's candidate for Busan mayor in the upcoming local elections in June.

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