Unification Church foundation's $39 million asset sale attempts blocked amid probe

The Foundation for the Support of HSA-UWC, operated by the Unification Church, filed two separate petitions with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to liquidate real-estate holdings while a special-counsel probe examines alleged corruption tied to former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The December request aimed to sell Seoul-based assets valued at about 52 billion won, and a later March filing targeted property in Gapyeong worth roughly 300 million won.

Both applications were rejected on the grounds that the foundation could not justify disposing of high-value core assets without a defined use plan, especially as it and its affiliates are under investigation for bribery, election interference and embezzlement. Representative Jin Sun-mee of the Democratic Party of Korea urged the ministry to revise its rules to explicitly bar asset disposals by entities facing legal scrutiny. The ongoing trial of the church’s leadership underscores heightened scrutiny of religious organizations’ financial activities in South Korea.