Seoul, Dec 11 South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will accept the resignation of Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo, the presidential office said Thursday, after Chun offered to step down over allegations he received money from the Unification Church.
The presidential office said in a press notice that the resignation of Chun will be processed in accordance with relevant procedures.
It would mark the first resignation by an incumbent minister since Lee took office in June.
Earlier in the day, Chun tendered his resignation amid allegations that he took bribes from the Unification Church, but strongly denied them as "completely groundless."
On Wednesday, Lee called for a stern investigation into whether any politicians were involved in illegal acts with religious groups, apparently targeting those suspected of receiving illicit political funds from the Unification Church.
Lee said the investigation should be carried out "in a strict manner regardless of whether they are from the ruling or opposition parties or whether their positions are high or low," the presidential office said in a press notice, without specifying any religious group.
Chun has been named by a former Unification Church official as one of several ruling Democratic Party (DP)-affiliated people who took money and other gifts from the church during the administration of former President Moon Jae-in, Yonhap news agency reported.
Yun Young-ho, former head of the church's global headquarters, told a special counsel team in August that the church gave two luxury watches and tens of millions of won to Chun between 2018 and 2020 while requesting his help with the church's project to build an undersea tunnel connecting South Korea and Japan. Chun was a DP lawmaker at the time.
Yun's testimony only surfaced recently after he disclosed it at his trial last week, accusing the special counsel team of conducting a biased investigation focused only on the church's alleged ties to the main opposition People Power Party affiliated with former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
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