Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung will accept the resignation of Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo, the presidential office announced Thursday, following allegations that Chun received money from the Unification Church. The resignation will be processed according to relevant procedures, marking the first departure of an incumbent minister since Lee's administration began in June.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Chun offered his resignation earlier in the day amid allegations of bribery from the Unification Church, which he has strongly denied as "completely groundless." President Lee has called for a thorough investigation into the involvement of politicians with religious groups, focusing on those suspected of accepting illicit political funds from the Unification Church.

Chun has been implicated by a former Unification Church official as one of several individuals affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party who accepted money and gifts from the church during former President Moon Jae-in's administration. Yun Young-ho, the church's former global headquarters leader, testified to a special counsel team in August, claiming the church provided Chun with luxury watches and tens of millions of won between 2018 and 2020. The church allegedly sought Chun's assistance with a project to construct an undersea tunnel linking South Korea and Japan while he was serving as a Democratic Party lawmaker.

Yun's testimony emerged recently after being presented at his trial last week. He accused the special counsel team of a biased investigation, asserting that the focus was solely on the church's alleged connections to the main opposition People Power Party affiliated with former President Yoon Suk Yeol.