Leader of South Korea's unification church jailed after court issues warrant

SEOUL (Reuters) -The leader of the Unification Church religious empire, Han Hak-ja, was jailed after a South Korean court on Tuesday issued a warrant to detain him in relation to graft allegations against the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, a prosecutor said.

Han has been accused of directing the church to bribe former First Lady Kim Keon Hee for favours for the church's business interests. She has denied the allegations, calling them "false information".

After Yoon was removed from office over a political crisis sparked by his short-lived martial law imposition last year, special prosecutors launched a sprawling criminal investigation into the former first couple, focused on the former first lady's bribery allegations.

Kim is on trial this week over charges including bribery. She is suspected of receiving bribes from the church among the charges, according to the prosecutors. Yoon, who is also in detention, is on trial separately for insurrection.

The court issued the warrant for Han's detention in order to protect evidence, the special prosecutor's team said in a message to reporters.

The church, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has followers around the world and controls entities in construction, health care and media among others.

Founded in South Korea in the 1950s by self-declared messiah Moon and known for its mass weddings, the group has faced criticism for its fundraising and other issues, most recently a political scandal in Japan in the wake of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's assassination.

"We will faithfully cooperate with the upcoming investigation and trial procedures to verify the truth, and do our utmost to use this as an opportunity to restore trust in our church," the religious group said in a statement.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Stephen Coates)