PPP Secretary General Urges Special Counsel to Investigate Democratic Party Over Unification Church Allegations

Chung Hee-yong, secretary general of the People Power Party (PPP), urged the special counsel on Wednesday to "immediately begin investigating the Democratic Party" following testimony alleging the Unification Church provided financial support to the opposition party.

Chung criticized the special counsel on Facebook, referencing reports of testimony and recordings alleging that the Unification Church delivered tens of millions of won to current and former Democratic Party lawmakers.

"Despite clearly being aware of the allegations, the special counsel has not even conducted an investigation," Chung said. "Is it the special counsel's principle that the opposition party must be investigated over a single allegation, but the ruling party is not even subject to investigation over the same allegations?"

He added that if the special counsel knew but did not investigate, it would be a dereliction of duty, and if they did not know, it would be an admission of incompetence. Chung emphasized that if Special Counsel Min Joong-ki's team feels unfairly accused of biased or political investigation, they should launch an investigation into the Democratic Party.

Chung recalled an incident in August when the special counsel attempted to search and seize the PPP's membership roster, noting that investigators "rushed into the party headquarters while the leadership was away at the National Assembly during the national convention to elect new leadership, claiming they would cross-reference the Unification Church membership list with our party roster."

"The blatant opposition suppression did not stop there," Chung said. "About a month after the surprise raid-style search attempt on an empty building, they simultaneously descended on not only the PPP headquarters but also the company managing the membership database system to attempt searches."

Chung pointed out that the special counsel ultimately executed a search warrant for the party membership roster to compare it with the Unification Church membership list, and the scale of the seized records was soon reported in the media.

The secretary general argued that if allegations of political funding from a specific religion must be investigated, there is no reason to discriminate between ruling and opposition parties, nor should there be.

"If the investigation did not proceed because the Democratic Party's situation differs from the PPP's, they must clearly explain to the public what is different and how," Chung said. "A specific investigation applying the same standards is absolutely necessary for the allegations involving named current and former Democratic Party lawmakers."

"The special counsel has already lost public trust in its investigation," Chung said. "I clearly warn that if the special counsel attempts to cover up the truth through 'selective investigation' that discriminates between ruling and opposition parties, they will lose their last chance to restore credibility."