Unification Church attempts to dispose of KRW 52.3 billion in assets amid investigation into ‘church-church collusion’… Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism rejects

Twice in December last year and March this year... Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism "Under investigation, lack of need for disposition"

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Soon-hyeon = It was confirmed that the Unification Church Foundation, which is being tried on charges of "collusion between politics and politics" with the Yoon Seok-yeol government, failed in its attempt to dispose of basic assets worth 52.3 billion won at the end of last year and early this year when the investigation was in full swing.

According to data received from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism by Jin Seon-mi, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, and the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 7th, the Unification Church Foundation applied to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to dispose of its basic assets twice, in December of last year and March of this year, but the application was rejected.

According to the Civil Code and the internal rules of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, if a non-profit corporation, such as a religious foundation, wants to dispose of basic assets such as land or buildings, it must obtain permission to change its articles of incorporation from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the competent authority. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reviews the reasons for the disposition, determines whether it is necessary, and decides whether to grant permission.

Accordingly, on December 10 last year, the Unification Church Foundation applied to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to dispose of basic assets worth 52 billion won, including buildings and land located in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. This was the day when the police received a case related to the Unification Church from special prosecutor Kim Kun-hee and organized a special investigation team to begin a full-scale investigation.

However, on the 29th of the same month, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism rejected the application, saying, "It is not necessary to dispose of expensive basic assets without a specific plan for use at a time when special prosecutors and police investigations into the Unification Church Foundation and its affiliated organizations are in progress."

On March 18 of this year, the Unification Church applied to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to dispose of basic assets worth 300 million won, including houses and buildings in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism rejected the disposition for the same reason.

As it has been confirmed that a religious foundation under investigation attempted to dispose of assets worth tens of billions of won, it is being pointed out that the relevant rules of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism need to be clarified.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism rejected the application due to a police investigation, but the current Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism rules only provide information on permission authority and do not have specific standards for rejection. Accordingly, there are concerns that the rejection may be canceled if a legal dispute, such as an administrative lawsuit, is filed in the future.

Rep. Jin said, “It was revealed that the Unification Church Foundation under investigation attempted to dispose of assets worth tens of billions of billions of won in succession. As there is a lack of clear standards to stop this, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism must prepare detailed guidelines to limit changes to the Articles of Incorporation, such as the disposal of assets of corporations.”