Court revokes bail of Unification Church leader after unauthorized hospital departure

A Seoul court on Tuesday revoked the bail of Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja after she was found to have left the hospital where she was required to stay under the conditions of her release.

The Seoul High Court revoked the bail of the 83-year-old religious leader, who was sentenced to two years in prison on corruption charges including bribing former first lady Kim Keon Hee, citing concerns over possible evidence tampering and violations of her bail conditions.

Han was convicted in August of providing a luxury necklace and a Chanel bag to Kim, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, through an intermediary in July 2022 in exchange for favors for the church.

The court also found Han guilty of conspiring with former church officials to give 100 million won ($74,500) to former People Power Party Rep. Kweon Seong-dong in January 2022.

The Seoul High Court, which is hearing Han's appeal, granted her bail on Oct. 19 after considering her health condition and the progress of evidence collection. The court required Han to post 200 million won in bail, remain at the hospital where she was receiving treatment, and refrain from contacting individuals involved in the case.

However, local broadcaster JTBC reported Monday that Han had left Asan Medical Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, to visit Cheonjeonggung, a Unification Church compound in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province.

The revelation prompted the court to hold an unscheduled bail revocation hearing Monday, immediately following a scheduled hearing in Han's appeal trial.

During the hearing, the special counsel team argued that Han's repeated visits to Cheonjeonggung constituted a violation of her bail conditions. The team also raised concerns that Han may have contacted individuals who had testified or were scheduled to testify in her trial, despite a court order prohibiting such contact.

Han's defense attorneys argued that they had understood the court's order as restricting her place of residence, rather than prohibiting her from leaving the hospital altogether.

"While we clearly understood the residential restrictions outlined in the bail decision, we did not interpret them as restricting her from going outside," one of her attorneys said.

The court expressed disbelief at the explanation, noting that Han's attorneys had initially requested that Cheonjeonggung be designated as her residence, but the request had been rejected because of ongoing legal proceedings.

"The defense agreed to accept any conditions during the bail hearing and requested, if possible, that Cheonjeonggung be designated as her residence," the court said.

"It is even more perplexing to the court that the defense interpreted the conditions as permitting visits to Cheonjeonggung, the very location they had requested as her residence."

The court also ordered the forfeiture of Han's 200 million won bail deposit to the state. Han will now face the remainder of her appeal proceedings in custody.