From teenage bride to ‘only begotten daughter,’ self-proclaimed messiah faces bribery, corruption allegations

Han Hak-ja, the 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church and widow of its founder Moon Sun-myung, is back in the headlines. She faces a major bribery and lobbying scandal in Korea, while her movement confronts a historic court-ordered dissolution in Japan.

The twin crises are forcing renewed scrutiny of her personal claims to messianic status, the church’s fundraising practices and its decades-long ties to politicians in both countries.

Han entered the church’s historical record as a 17-year-old teenage bride in 1960, marrying Moon, who was 23 years her senior. Raised in a devout Christian family amid the upheaval of postwar Korea, she went on to consolidate her authority within the movement as Moon’s spiritual counterpart, elevating their marriage and 14 children as a “true family” and theological ideal at the core of the church’s belief system.

Han has been a central figure in the mass “blessing” weddings that made the Unification Church globally famous, appearing alongside Moon on stage as they married thousands of couples from dozens of countries at a time. The ceremonies served to entrench her status as a co-founder of what the movement portrays as a purified lineage destined to restore humanity, reinforcing a belief system that binds family life and salvation to loyalty to the Moon-Han household.

After Moon’s death in 2012, Han moved swiftly to consolidate control over the organization’s core assets and institutions, presenting herself as his sole legitimate successor.

Since then, Han has recast herself from a supportive spouse into a messianic figure in her own right, adopting the title “only begotten daughter of God,” a claim that mirrors Moon’s designation as the “only begotten son.”

She has sidelined or clashed with several sons who have challenged her reinterpretations of church teachings and her control over the movement’s finances, fueling the rise of rival ministries led by estranged family members. Over this period, she has reshaped the mainline Family Federation for World Peace and Unification into a centralized structure in which her authority is final, and in which loyalty to the “True Mother” has become a defining test of faith.

In her 2020 autobiography, Han presents herself as the "Mother of Peace," a long-hidden feminine side of God. She writes that after the "fall" of the first human ancestors, world history became overwhelmingly male-centered, focused on the "Heavenly Father," while the status of the "Heavenly Mother" was concealed, and God could not fully realize their status as "Heavenly Parent."

Han has also leveraged her authority to press ahead with ambitious construction and branding projects, most notably at the Unification Church’s expansive complex in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province.

In April this year, she ceremonially entered Cheonwon Palace, a grand new temple that insiders say was modeled on St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and cost at least 900 billion won ($611.2 million) to build, according to domestic media reports. She has overseen the creation of monumental worship spaces, a museum, conference facilities, along with elaborate ornamentation and statues, including a 4.3-meter-tall statue of herself.

Under Han’s direction, the church has increasingly relied on an extensive business empire spanning real estate, media, education and leisure, extending its influence well beyond religious activities. Accounts from Korea and abroad have pointed to the movement’s control of marquee assets, including the historic New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, the Yongpyong Ski Resort in Pyeongchang, which hosted alpine skiing events at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and Cheongshim International Academy, a private international high school.

Han presides over a media network that includes The Washington Times, a conservative newspaper in the United States, and Segye Ilbo in Korea, all owned through church-affiliated companies and used to promote narratives sympathetic to the movement. Prosecutors say the church has not only maintained but strategically leveraged these outlets under Han’s leadership, using political connections to protect and expand its business interests.

Han sits atop a system that critics describe as extracting ruinous donations from followers, especially in Japan.

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in 2022 by a man who told investigators that he originally wanted to kill Han, blaming her for his family’s financial ruin. Public outrage over the church's connections to prominent politicians followed, and the Tokyo District Court ordered the dissolution of the Unification Church as a religious corporation in March over illegal high-pressure donation practices — a decision that threatens its tax status and assets.

She defends these practices as voluntary offerings for world peace and divine providence, even as former members and victims’ groups link her leadership to family bankruptcies and psychological harm.

Devotional texts inside the movement describe Han as the "Mother of Humankind," "Mother of Peace," or even the "substantial Holy Spirit." Followers portray her as "Holy Mother Han," a tireless advocate for world peace, interfaith dialogue and family values who has restored Eve’s dignity and carries Moon’s mission forward worldwide.

Han now faces intense scrutiny in Korea, where prosecutors allege that she directed or approved attempts to buy access to top political figures, including former first lady Kim Keon Hee. She denies wrongdoing and casts a former aide as the lone culprit, but investigators portray her as the commanding figure behind a lobbying drive to secure protection and influence for the church.

Source link:https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/politics/20251216/explainer-who-is-han-hak-ja-true-mother-at-center-of-unification-church-scandals