South Korea-Japan tunnel proposals re-emerge in Unification Church scandal

Sign up now: Get insights on Asias fast-moving developments

The idea for the tunnel was first publicly introduced at a Unification Church event more than 40 years ago.

PHOTO: AFP

SEOUL – A decades-old proposal to build an undersea tunnel linking South Korea and Japan has re-emerged at the center of a widening

political scandal involving the Unification Church

Findings released by a special counsel on Dec 10 allege that former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo received political funds and luxury gifts from the church in exchange for advancing the South Korea-Japan undersea tunnel project – a proposal that has repeatedly resurfaced in Korean politics despite serious doubts over its economic and technical viability.

According to testimony obtained by investigators, Yun Young-ho, the Unification Church’s former global headquarters chief, claimed that Mr Chun was among five prominent politicians from both major parties who received financial or material support from the church between 2018 and 2020.

Yun alleged that Mr Chun accepted a luxury Bulgari watch and 20 million won (S$17,480) in cash tied specifically to lobbying over the tunnel initiative during the Moon Jae-in administration.

Mr Chun has dismissed the allegations as “entirely false”.

The South Korea-Japan undersea tunnel has been floated periodically by South Korean politicians for decades.

Less widely known is that the idea was first publicly introduced at a Unification Church event more than 40 years ago and has since been regarded as one of the group’s core ambitions.

In 1981, the church’s founder Moon Sun-myung announced the “International Peace Expressway Initiative”, envisioning a vast overland and undersea