Why Did President Lee Bring Up the ‘Dissolution of Japan’s Unification Church’ at the Cabinet Meeting?
At a Cabinet meeting on the 2nd, President Lee said,
[Choice Times= Woo-Yeol Yoon, Staff Reporter]
President Lee Jae-myung directly targeted the Unification Church and Shincheonji on Tuesday, saying they could be “dissolved.”
The two groups are religious organizations suspected of orchestrating mass membership drives—enrolling their followers as party members—to influence the outcome of the ruling People Power Party’s leadership election.
At a Cabinet meeting on the 2nd, President Lee said, “Organized political intervention by religious foundations violates the constitutional principle of separation of church and state,” instructing officials to “review institutional measures that would allow dissolution orders for religious foundations, as is possible in Japan.”
The “dissolution order” referenced by President Lee refers to the Japanese court decision last July to disband the Unification Church.
The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by the Japanese government in the wake of the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The assassin reportedly stated that he targeted Abe because he believed the former prime minister supported the Unification Church, which had driven his own family into financial ruin.
President Lee emphasized, “Violations of the separation of church and state are a grave matter that undermines the Constitution and the constitutional order,” adding:
“If the separation principle is not effectively enforced and violations are left unchecked, the constitutional order could be shaken, and conflicts could escalate to the level of a religious war.”
He further ordered officials to move beyond a preliminary review, directing them to “prepare an actionable plan and program for the necessary legal and institutional reforms, and report them separately to the Cabinet.”
In response, Korea’s Legislative Office chief Cho Won-cheol stated, “We will review the matter,” adding that no formal review has been conducted so far.
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