No decision after Family Federation head attends appeal hearing in Seoul court
by Andrew Salmon · The Washington TimesSEOUL, South Korea — Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the 83-year-old spiritual leader of the global religious organization known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, returned to prison Tuesday after a hearing in a Seoul courtroom regarding her appeal of the sentence she received in August.
The court heard arguments from Dr. Han’s legal team seeking her release and from the special prosecutors who investigated her, but reached no decision. The case returns to court on Nov. 2.
Dr. Han, who has a heart condition and is almost blind, entered the Seoul High Court in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown.
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On Aug. 31, the widow of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon was sentenced to two years in jail after the court found her guilty of embezzling church funds and bribing a former first lady and lawmaker.
Special prosecutors had demanded a 13-year term. On Tuesday, they argued that the two-year sentence handed down was too light.
She has already served more than a year behind bars since authorities took her into custody in September 2025 and held her in detention after a judge ruled she was a flight risk who might destroy evidence.
Dr. Han and her legal team have consistently denied the charges, insisting that a former rogue executive of the Family Federation undertook the criminal actions on his own initiative, without her sign-off.
The executive, the former first lady and the lawmaker have all been imprisoned after separate court cases.
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Dr. Han’s lawyers argued Tuesday that the case against the religious leader relies on the former executive’s statements, for which no physical evidence exists.
Religious freedom advocates in Europe and the United States have lambasted Dr. Han’s conviction, which was deeply intertwined with local political developments.
In addition to its global religious activities, the Family Federation also operates a range of businesses, including The Washington Times, which was founded in 1982 by Dr. Han and her husband.
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Andrew Salmon
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