logo
Moonies leader banned from leaving country amid luxury gift bribery probe

Moonies leader banned from leaving country amid luxury gift bribery probe

Times23-05-2025
Prosecutors in South Korea have banned the leader of the 'Moonies' church from leaving the country as they investigate a bribery scandal involving the wife of the former president, Yoon Suk-yeol.
Han Hak-ja Moon, 82, the widow of the founder of the controversial Unification Church, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, faces allegations of links to a shamanic figure who delivered luxury goods to the former first lady, Kim Keon-hee.
Items given to Kim in the summer of 2022, shortly after her husband's inauguration, are alleged to include a Graff diamond necklace and Chanel handbag worth a total of 60 million won (£32,500).
Investigators earlier this month questioned Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman who goes by Geonjin, over whether he presented the gifts to the then
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US commerce secretary says trade documents wanted by Japan are 'weeks away'
US commerce secretary says trade documents wanted by Japan are 'weeks away'

Reuters

time34 minutes ago

  • Reuters

US commerce secretary says trade documents wanted by Japan are 'weeks away'

TOKYO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday that documents memorializing trade agreements with Japan and South Korea -- a sensitive topic in Tokyo -- are "weeks away" from being ready. Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba, who is facing calls to step down after the ruling coalition's loss in the July upper house election, has come under attack for not insisting on getting the details of the U.S.-Japan trade deal in writing. He has said Japan skipped this to avoid delaying a reduction in U.S. tariffs on Japanese goods. Lutnick told CNBC the United States has reached a common understanding with both Japan and South Korea on these trade agreements. Under the deal reached last month, the U.S. agreed to reduce tariffs on Japanese car imports to 15% from the previous 27.5%, but did not announce when the change would take effect.

North Korean leader's sister says her country will never see the South as a diplomatic partner
North Korean leader's sister says her country will never see the South as a diplomatic partner

The Independent

time2 hours ago

  • The Independent

North Korean leader's sister says her country will never see the South as a diplomatic partner

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said her country will never see South Korea as a partner for diplomacy, state media reported on Wednesday in what was her latest taunt of Seoul's new efforts to mend ties. Kim Yo Jong, who is one of her brother's top foreign policy officials, denounced the ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills as a 'reckless' invasion rehearsal and claimed Seoul's peace gestures conceal a 'sinister intention' against Pyongyang. Her comments came during a meeting on Tuesday with senior Foreign Ministry officials about her brother's diplomatic strategies in the face of persistent threats from rivals and a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. On Monday, Kim Jong Un condemned the South Korean-U.S. military drills and vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces as he inspected his most advanced warship being fitted with nuclear-capable systems. The North's news agency said Kim Yo Jong condemned the South as the 'top-class faithful dog' of the United States and that the reparation of inter-Korean relations desired by Seoul 'will never' happen. The siblings' back-to-back statements followed the latest outreach by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who said last week that Seoul would seek to restore a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement aimed at reducing border tensions, while urging Pyongyang to reciprocate by rebuilding trust and resuming dialogue. Since taking office in June, Lee has moved to repair relations that worsened under his conservative predecessor's hard-line policies, including removing front-line speakers that broadcast anti-North Korean propaganda and K-pop. In a nationally televised speech Friday, Lee said his government respects North Korea's current system and that the wealthier South 'will not pursue any form of unification by absorption and has no intention of engaging in hostile acts.' But he also stressed that the South remains committed to an international push to denuclearize the North and urged Pyongyang to resume dialogue with Washington and Seoul. Angered by expanding South Korean-U.S. military drills, Kim Jong Un last year declared that North Korea was abandoning long-standing goals of a peaceful unification with South Korea and rewrote the North's constitution to mark the South as a permanent enemy. Kim Yo Jong has repeatedly dismissed calls to revive negotiations aimed at winding down the North's nuclear and missile programs, which derailed in 2019 following her brother's collapsed summit with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Kim Jong Un has made Moscow the priority of his foreign policy, sending troops and weapons to support President Vladimir Putin's war, while also using the conflict as a distraction to accelerate his military nuclear program. In her meeting on Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong suggested that Pyongyang seeks to compete with Seoul diplomatically, claiming the South 'will not even have a subordinate role in the regional diplomatic arena,' which she claimed will be centered on the North.

Colombian court frees former president Uribe from house arrest until it rules on bribery case
Colombian court frees former president Uribe from house arrest until it rules on bribery case

The Independent

time2 hours ago

  • The Independent

Colombian court frees former president Uribe from house arrest until it rules on bribery case

A Colombian appeals court ruled Tuesday that former president Alvaro Uribe must be released from house arrest while he challenges his conviction for bribery and witness tampering. On Aug. 1, the conservative leader was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest for threatening and trying to flip witnesses who had spoken to investigators about his alleged role in the formation of a right wing paramilitary group in the 1990s. Uribe denies the charges and has appealed the conviction to the Superior Tribunal in Bogota. The court has until mid-October to issue a definitive ruling on the case, which has gripped Colombia and also provoked reactions from Uribe's allies in the United States. On Tuesday the Superior Tribunal said it approved an injunction filed by Uribe's defense team seeking his release from house arrest. Uribe's lawyers argued the former president's right to due process was violated by the arrest order against him, as well as his right to a presumption of innocence.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store