Advisory Fees Misrepresented in S. Korean Media

Foundation issues rebuttal saying report in Christian daily distorted facts about advisory fees for peace project

A statement in Korean issued by the Family Federation in South Korea to the Korean media on 30^th December 2025. Translated from the text on the Korean language website of the Family Federation.

Rebuttal to the CBS NoCut News Report Dated 29th December 2025, “Did Lim Jong-seong Receive Money? A Unification Church-Affiliated Organization Paid 30 Million KRW Annually in Advisory Fees”

See also Religion Between Engagement and Withdrawal

See also Climate of Suspicion: Peace Reframed as Politics

See also Some Religions Are Welcome in Politics, Some Not

See also Korea: Can Religion and Politics Be Disentangled?

See also Faiths Caught in Expanding Political Crackdown

See also Peace Ambassador Program Is Civic, Not Political

On 29^th December 2025, CBS NoCut News (노컷뉴스) [Editor’s note: a daily newspaper run by South Korea’s Christian Broadcasting System (CBS)] published an article titled, “Did Lim Jong-seong Receive Money? A Unification Church-Affiliated Organization Paid 30 Million KRW Annually in Advisory Fees.” It reported as follows:

“It has been confirmed that the Unification Church-affiliated organization World Peace Road Foundation (hereinafter ‘the Foundation’), for which former Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Jong-seong (임종성) reportedly served as an advisor, spent advisory fees amounting to hundreds of millions of won over several years. Former lawmaker Lim, who is said to have served as an advisor to the Foundation, maintains that he ‘has never received any advisory fees.’

According to National Tax Service filings reviewed by CBS NoCut News on 29^th December, the Foundation spent close to 250 million won (ca. 170,000 US dollars) under the name of advisory fees over the seven-year period from 2017 to 2024.

The organization spent approximately 36 million won (ca. 24,300 US dollars) annually on advisory fees from 2017 through 2022, reduced the amount to 22 million won (ca. 15,000 US dollars) in 2023, and further reduced it to 8 million won (ca. 5,400 US dollars) in 2024, for a total of 246.4 million won (ca. 167,000 US dollars) over seven years. Former lawmaker Lim was appointed as an advisor in December 2017, while he was still an incumbent lawmaker. Before and after that time, Lim jointly hosted several events with the organization related to the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel and attended the organization’s events to deliver congratulatory remarks.”

However,

1.

The CBS NoCut News report distorted the facts by failing to accurately verify the actual nature of the advisory fee expenditures reported to the National Tax Service by the World Peace Road Foundation, and by making unfounded inferences solely on the basis that former lawmaker Lim Jong-seong held an advisory position.

In reality, the only individual who received advisory fees from the Foundation was former Ambassador A, a non-politician, who was appointed in September 2014 as Chair of the Foundation-affiliated Peace Road Forum and served as an advisor to the Foundation.

Beginning in September 2014, former Ambassador A served as an advisor to the Foundation, performing duties such as recommending and recruiting speakers for the Forum (held four times annually) and overseeing forum operations. From 2014 onward, the Foundation paid him a monthly advisory fee of 3 million won (ca. 2,040 US dollars). These payments were duly reported to the National Tax Service, resulting in an annual advisory fee of 36 million won (ca. 24,300 US dollars) reported through 2022.

In consideration of the Foundation’s financial circumstances, the monthly advisory fee was reduced to 2 million won (ca. 1,350 US dollars) starting in 2023, which is why the advisory fee reported to the National Tax Service for that year totaled 22 million won (ca. 14,800 US dollars). Due to health-related reasons that made it difficult for Advisor A to continue fulfilling his duties, he was relieved of his advisory position as of April 2024. Accordingly, advisory fees totaling 8 million won (ca. 5,400 US dollars) were paid through April 2024, after which all advisory fee payments were discontinued. These facts are fully reflected in the filings submitted to the National Tax Service.

2.

Although former lawmaker Lim Jong-seong was appointed as an advisor to the Foundation at the end of 2017, reporting as though unlawful monetary payments were made to him based solely on the suspicion that advisory fees were paid during a similar period has resulted in damage to the reputation of both the Foundation and the named public official.

To reiterate clearly, the Foundation has never paid advisory fees to any politician.

By reporting as though unlawful monetary payments were made merely because advisory fee expenditures appeared in National Tax Service filings during a similar timeframe, CBS NoCut News has recklessly infringed upon the honor and reputation of both the Foundation and the public official referenced in the article.

For reference, the vision of the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel and the Peace Road initiatives promoted by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and the World Peace Road Foundation are peace-building initiatives conceived under the overarching principle of “One Family Under God”. The World Peace Highway, or International Highway, is a peace movement launched with the goal of creating the “arteries of the global village” to realize “One Family Under God”, connecting the world through a web-like network of highways that allows people and goods to move freely, lowers national barriers, and eliminates the justification for war.

Going forward, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and the World Peace Road Foundation pledge to continue devoting themselves fully to peace activities aligned with the Foundation’s mission, striving toward the day when the entire world is united through an International Highway, a World Peace Highway, under the vision of “One Family Under God”.

30^th December 2025

World Peace Road Foundation
External Relations Headquarters,
Korea Branch of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification

See also At Issue: Religions Taking Reality Seriously

See also When Special Prosecutors Become Political Tools

See also Religion Between Engagement and Withdrawal

See also Climate of Suspicion: Peace Reframed as Politics

See also Faiths Caught in Expanding Political Crackdown

See also Some Religions Are Welcome in Politics, Some Not

See also Korea: Can Religion and Politics Be Disentangled?

See also Peace Ambassador Program Is Civic, Not Political

See also Shared Prison Experience: Resonance of Two Souls

Featured image above: Ad for a competition run by the World Peace Road Foundation on its website.

See also Fact-Based Clarification of Media Misreporting

See also State Failure and Non-State Peace Projects

See also President’s Own Party Drawn into Lobbying Claims

See also Faith, Finance, Fairness: Rethinking the Narrative

See also Balcomb: “Prosecutors’ Case Is Politically Driven”

See also Likely Long Legal Battle Ahead for Mother Han

See also Bail Hearing with Mother Han’s Spiritual Message

See also Trial Day 1: Mother Han Denies All Allegations

See also Asia Today Editorial: “Avoid Detention of Clergy!”

See also Complaint Filed Against Lead Special Prosecutor

See also SKorea’s Polarization Shapes Views of Mother Han

See also Inside the Detention Center: A 10-Minute Visit

See also Health Concerns: 82-Year-Old Pretrial Detainee

See also In Tiny Solitary Cell: Irreversible Harm Caused

See also Mother Han Briefly Released for Medical Reasons

See also Message of Religious Unity from Detention Cell

See also Over 50 Days in Vigil Outside Detention Center

Related to advisory fees misrepresented: Mother Han’s December Trial: Long Detention Ahead

Also related to advisory fees misrepresented: A 10-Minute Visit to Mother Han in Detention

Also related to advisory fees misrepresented: Denying Allegations: Hak Ja Han (82) in Inquiry

Also related to advisory fees misrepresented: SKorean Court’s Sharp Criticism of Prosecutors

And also related to advisory fees misrepresented: Detention: Harsh Cell Conditions Spark Outcry

More, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Ugly: Arrest Warrant Sought for Hak Ja Han (82)

And more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Critics Warn of “Authoritarian Drift” in SKorea

Even more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Court Decision to Prolong Detention Condemned

Still more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Co-Founder, 82, Questioned 9 Hours by Prosecutors

Also related to advisory fees misrepresented: Democratic Party’s Assault on Family Federation

And even more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Mother Han (82) in Poor Health in Damp, Cold Cell

And still more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Korean Crisis: “True Democracy Must Serve Heaven”

And yet more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Faith Leaders Protest State Assault on Religion

Also related to advisory fees misrepresented: News Release Blasts Indictment of Hak Ja Han, 82

More, related to advisory fees misrepresented: 70 Years On: Detention History Repeats Itself

And more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Trump Raises Alarm Over Church Raids in Korea

Even more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Mike Pompeo Calls Probe of Co-Founder “Lawfare”

Still more, related to advisory fees misrepresented:  Korean Faith Crackdown: USA Urged to Confront It

Yet more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Korean Bribery Scandal: Media Clears Federation

And also related to advisory fees misrepresented: Raids Blur Line Between Justice and Politics

More, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Heavy-Handed Raid on Sacred Sites Condemned

And more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Scholar Sounds Alarm: State Raiding the Sacred

Even more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Raids as Political Spectacle and Media Trials

And even more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Religious Freedom: 330 Faith Leaders Speak Up

Yet more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Yonhap: Repeated Allegations Create Public Bias

Still more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Japan Following the Way of China

And still more, related to advisory fees misrepresented: Warning of Threat from CCP Fearing Korean Unity

And also related to advisory fees misrepresented: Japan’s Dissolution Case Echoes China’s Playbook