Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon (83), president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (the Unification Church), was taken into custody by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Special Investigation Unit on September 23, 2025. Indicted on multiple charges including embezzlement and violations of the Political Funds Act, Dr. Han has since spent 228 days moving between a detention center and hospital beds.
Her health has deteriorated severely, requiring three major surgeries. The Seoul Central District Court has granted three suspensions of detention on medical grounds, and as of May 8, the third suspension remains in effect.
This report documents the course of those three surgeries and provides a detailed breakdown of days spent in detention versus hospitalization, based on publicly available information.
Surgical Record — Three Operations on the Heart, Eyes, and Shoulder
1. Heart Surgery
In September 2025, Dr. Han underwent surgery for cardiac arrhythmia. Despite being in the post-operative recovery period, she was taken into custody on September 23 of the same month. Prior to her detention, Dr. Han had been unable to appear for three summonses from the Special Counsel's team, citing health complications from the surgery. Her cardiac condition did not improve in detention. A second suspension of detention was granted from February 12 to 21, 2026 — ten days — allowing her to receive further cardiac treatment at a hospital. After those ten days, she was returned to the detention center.
2. Eye Surgery — Addressing the Risk of Blindness
Severe vision loss was progressing, including macular degeneration, and glaucoma-related eye surgery was deemed necessary. On November 4, 2025, the first suspension of detention was granted, and the surgery was performed at a hospital. However, the court allowed only three days, with the suspension set to expire at 4:00 PM on November 7.
Eye surgeries for glaucoma and macular degeneration generally require a minimum of one to two weeks of post-operative monitoring and rest. The defense applied for an extension, but the court denied it. Dr. Han was returned to the detention center just three days after surgery.
3. Shoulder Surgery
Multiple falls occurred inside the detention center. According to the defense, Dr. Han fell three times within a single month, causing pain to spread throughout her body to the point where painkillers were no longer sufficient.
At the March 27 hearing, the defense applied for bail, stating that her health was in "critical condition." They reported that since the March 20 hearing, Dr. Han had been experiencing chest tightness and difficulty breathing, unable to lie down for an entire weekend. They conveyed her own words: "It is too hard to endure each day. I don't even have the strength to chew rice." The court granted a third suspension of detention the same day, and Dr. Han was transferred to a hospital.
It was only after receiving a thorough medical examination at the hospital — the first since her detention — that an injury to her left shoulder from the falls was "belatedly confirmed," according to an official statement from the Family Federation. The injury had gone undetected due to the lack of adequate examination inside the detention center. On April 14, 2026, surgery was performed under general anesthesia and was successful. The defense applied for a two-month extension for post-operative rehabilitation, but the court granted only one month, setting the deadline at 2:00 PM on May 30.
Breakdown of Detention and Hospitalization (As of May 8, 2026)
A total of 228 days have passed since Dr. Han was taken into custody. Of those, 172 days were spent inside the detention center and 56 days in hospital under temporary release for medical treatment.
Three temporary releases were granted:
The original deadline was April 30, but the defense filed an extension request on April 28 citing continued health deterioration, and the court approved it the following day, extending the period to 2:00 PM on May 30.
All temporary releases were conditional on Dr. Han remaining at the treating hospital. Contact was restricted to medical personnel, caregivers, and legal counsel. Any travel outside the hospital or contact with persons related to the case was strictly prohibited.
Trial Update — One Charge Dropped, All Allegations Denied
On April 10, 2026, the Korea Joint Investigation Headquarters dropped one of the two criminal allegations against Dr. Han — a suspected provision of gifts to politicians between 2018 and 2020 — with a finding of no grounds for prosecution.
Dr. Han has consistently denied all charges, including the remaining indictment. At her first hearing in December 2025, she called the accusations "misunderstandings and distortions" and rejected them entirely. The defense has argued that the sole evidence of Dr. Han's involvement consists of statements made by Yoon Young-ho, the former director-general of the World Headquarters, and has challenged the credibility of that testimony.
During the trial, a former aide who closely assisted Yoon testified about his unilateral exercise of authority, secretive approach to operations, and pattern of making decisions without reporting to or obtaining approval from Dr. Han. The witness described how Yoon was fixated on maintaining his position through superficial achievements and proceeded with matters on his own. Examination of more than 30 prosecution witnesses has been completed, and the defense has now begun presenting its own witnesses.
The remaining charges relate to alleged violations of the Political Funds Act in 2022 and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act (provision of luxury goods to the former first lady). The trial is ongoing.
What an 83-Year-Old Religious Leader's Ordeal Reveals
An 83-year-old woman who spent 172 days in a detention cell and 56 days in a hospital, undergoing three surgeries.
While held at the Seoul Detention Center, Dr. Han was confined to a solitary cell of approximately 70 square feet, nearly blind, with daily visits limited to a total of ten minutes.
The international community has increasingly described her treatment as extraordinary and inhumane.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated: "The lawfare being directed at religious leader Dr. Hak Ja Han in South Korea is deeply troubling. The intensifying assaults on religious liberty are a betrayal of the democratic principles that South Korea is meant to espouse."
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said at the International Religious Freedom Summit in February 2026: "Putting an 83-year-old woman in those kinds of circumstances is very inhumane. This is such a violent abuse of power to do this to somebody who has spent their entire life fighting communism." He called on the South Korean government to seriously consider her release.
PhDr. Juraj Lajda, a Czech philosopher and former political prisoner under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, wrote: "As someone once long-term detained under a communist regime in Eastern Europe, I can testify that even there, prisoners faced less life-threatening conditions than Dr. Han endures." He called her treatment "targeted destruction of a person — or slow murder."
South Korean prosecutors maintain that the investigation is grounded in specific statutes and does not constitute religious persecution. Yet one of two allegations has already been dropped, and Dr. Han continues to deny all remaining charges.
On May 30, the current suspension of detention is set to expire. Whether Dr. Han will be returned to her cell — that decision is being watched by the international community.