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🇰🇷Domestic South Korean Speakers – 오세훈 (Oh Se-hoon, Seoul Mayor) – 박형준 (Park Heong-joon, Busan Mayor) – 이용섭 (Lee Yong-seop, Gwangju Mayor) – 양승조 (Yang Seung-jo, Governor of South Chungcheong Province) – 이시종 (Lee Si-jong, Governor of North Chungcheong Province) – 송하진 (Song Ha-jin, Governor of North Jeolla Province) – 이철우 (Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of North Gyeongsang Province) – 장현국 (Jang Hyun-guk, Chairman of Gyeonggi Provincial Council) – 곽도영 (Kwak Do-young, Chairman of Gangwon Provincial Council) – 반기문 (Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General, chairman of Think Tank 2022) – Numerous members of People Power Party 🌎International Speakers – Donald Trump (former U.S. President) – Shinzo Abe (former Prime Minister of Japan) – José Manuel Durão Barroso (former President of the European Commission) – Hun Sen (Prime Minister of Cambodia) – Macky Sall (President of Senegal) – Deva Gowda (former Prime Minister of India) – Nataša Mićić (former Acting President of Serbia) – Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (former President of the Philippines) – Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, Mark Esper (former U.S. officials) – Other global political and religious leaders 💰Financial and Political Notes Speakers at Unification Church events have received substantial financial payments, particularly among high-profile international figures. Former U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly received about $2.5 million USD (roughly 3.3 billion KRW) for three video appearances and speeches between 2021 and 2022. His payments were broken down as $500,000 for an online appearance in August 2021, and $1 million each for two events in early and mid-2022. Former Vice President Mike Pence was paid approximately $550,000 USD (around 730 million KRW) for a speech at a UPF (Unification Church affiliated group) event in Seoul in 2022. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a video appearance free of charge, though this became a subject of scrutiny after his assassination. There is no confirmed payment record for Abe from the Unification Church affiliated groups. In the case of South Korean domestic political figures, specific public details of individual speaker payments are scarce. However, investigations revealed that the Unification Church provided around 144 million KRW in political donations to about 20 members of the People Power Party, which includes some politicians connected to Unification Church events. Thus, top-tier international political speakers have received payments in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars range, while domestic political contributions are mostly documented as political donations rather than direct speaker fees. This financial relationship has raised questions about the sources of these payments, which are thought to be largely funded by donations from followers worldwide, including Japan. submitted by /u/Distinct-Actuator454 |
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