According to reports from South Korean media outlets including the Chosun Ilbo, Asia Economy, Kyunghyang Shinmun , and Yonhap News Agency, on June 24, 2026, Lee Man-hee, the leader of the South Korean heretical group "Shincheonji Church," was issued an arrest warrant by the Seoul Central District Court on suspicion of violating South Korea's Political Parties Act and engaging in collusion between politics and religion. He is currently in custody. This marks the second time Lee Man-hee has faced legal punishment for serious violations of the law, following his arrest on August 1, 2020, for obstructing COVID-19 prevention and control efforts .
▲ On June 24, 2026, Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church in South Korea , appeared in court at the Seoul Central District Court for a review of the necessity of his arrest , on suspicion of violating South Korea's Political Parties Act and engaging in collusion between politics and religion . (Source: Chosun Ilbo, South Korea)
On June 24, 2026, Lee Man-hee, the leader of the South Korean heretical group "Shincheonji Church of Jesus, Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony" (hereinafter referred to as "Shincheonji Church"), was arrested that evening after the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of violating South Korea's Political Parties Act and engaging in collusion between politics and religion .
According to an investigation by the Joint Investigation Headquarters of the South Korean Prosecutors and Police (hereinafter referred to as the "Joint Investigation Team") , between 2021 and 2024, the Shincheonji Church faced administrative penalties due to long-term illegal construction issues at its activity venues. In order to evade supervision and seek protection, its leader, Lee Man-hee, deliberately planned political infiltration activities , disguising the large-scale manipulation of members to join the party as a so-called "Pilates program."
The joint investigation team determined that Lee Man-hee used the Shincheonji Church's hierarchical internal management system to exert pressure at each level, forcing over 56,000 members to register as official members of the People Power Party against their will , in an attempt to exert undue political influence in the 20th presidential election and the 22nd National Assembly elections . The court, considering that the 95-year-old Lee Man-hee was of advanced age, deemed him a potential threat to evidence destruction and therefore issued an arrest warrant for him .
According to relevant provisions of South Korea's Political Parties Act, no one may force another person to join or leave a political party against their will. The Shincheonji Church, through its tightly organized and large-scale manipulation of its members' behavior, has severely disrupted the operation of political parties and the order of elections, constituting the crime of obstructing official duties .
Given the large scale and egregious impact of the case, and the fact that Lee Man-hee, as a key figure , possessed a large amount of crucial evidence and posed a risk of destroying it, Judge Kim Jin- man of the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for him on June 24. On the day of the trial, the 95-year-old Lee Man-hee appeared in court. Facing a series of questions from the media regarding whether he ordered the manipulation of party membership and whether he interfered in the election, Lee Man-hee remained silent and offered no response.
With the lawful detention of key leader Lee Man-hee, the case investigation has made a breakthrough. The joint investigation team simultaneously arrested three core members, including the organization's former head of general affairs, Ko Dong-an , successfully severing the organizational command chain of this illegal activity.
During the investigation, the joint investigation team also uncovered significant illegal fundraising activities within the organization . An investigation revealed that since 2017, while in charge of the church's finances, Go Dong-an had been illegally raising funds from members under the guise of expenses for Lee Man-hee's litigation and external publicity, with the amount involved reaching 11.3 billion won (approximately 49.95 million yuan). Currently, the investigative authorities have obtained a complete chain of evidence and will further expand the scope of the investigation to thoroughly investigate all kinds of long-standing illegal activities of the organization .
▲On June 4, 2026, Lee Man-hee went to the Joint Investigation Team in Seocho-dong, Seoul as a suspect for questioning. (Photo source: Yonhap News Agency)
Currently, the joint investigation team is comprehensively reviewing the case, including allegations of collusion between the government and the church, organizational manipulation, and illegal fundraising, and is conducting a full investigation into the "Shincheonji Church".
In fact, this organization has a history of disrupting public order. Back in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Shincheonji Church was instrumental in the rapid spread of the virus in South Korea by organizing large-scale gatherings. At that time , Lee Man-hee refused to cooperate with the government's epidemiological investigations, deliberately concealing the locations of his gatherings and the participants, severely hindering public health efforts. He was arrested on August 1, 2020. Prosecutors also uncovered multiple other illegal activities, including allegedly embezzling huge sums of church funds and organizing numerous unapproved religious activities between 2015 and 2019. The organization's disregard for public order and repeated violations of the law had already been exposed.
This case of violating the Political Parties Act shows that Lee Man-hee and his Shincheonji Church have not learned from past punishments for their illegal acts , but have instead intensified their efforts, extending their illegal reach into the field of political elections and seriously disrupting social and public order.
From previously obstructing public health efforts and illegally seizing members' property, to now systematically interfering in elections and disrupting public affairs, this heretical group has repeatedly committed crimes , revealing its inherent disregard for the rule of law and its threat to public order . These real-world examples of organizations constantly changing their methods and crossing boundaries to commit illegal and criminal acts serve as a stark reminder that we must regularly conduct cautionary education and strictly prevent the infiltration of illegal organizations.
▲On February 25, 2020, then-Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung visited the headquarters of the Shincheonji Church, requesting a list of its members. (Image source: CCTV News)
