WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.759 Okay, Chelsea. Yeah. Once again, you're going 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:06.620 to get an option. But instead of giving you a 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:09.199 vague idea of what the article is about, I'm 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.359 going to give you the source. And you can pick 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:15.119 from the source. Yes. I like the style. I don't 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:17.079 know why, but I like it. Now, I think it's because 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:19.960 it's more random. Yeah. So first up, we have 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:23.920 Live Live Science, which we never know. We will 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.199 never look it up. We will never know. Popular 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:34.719 Mechanics, BioRxiv. BBC, Daily Mail, ARS Technica, 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.520 The Register. I'm fishing for something, so I'm 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:43.060 going to go BBC. Okay. Oh, and you are not getting 00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:49.060 what you're expecting here. Damn it. So, article 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:53.520 on the BBC from September 22, 2025, written by 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.859 Kelly Ng. I never know how to say that. It's 00:00:56.859 --> 00:00:58.820 a Vietnamese last name and it has no vowels. 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:03.380 So ing, I don't know. Article title, Mooney's 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:06.079 church leader arrested over gifts to ex -South 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.560 Korean first lady. Oh, okay. Yeah. Not what I 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:11.879 was looking for. Yeah. I didn't think you would 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:13.920 pick this. So it was kind of a trick in there. 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:17.280 Actually, you probably would have picked it if 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:18.780 I described it because I would have said an update 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:22.420 on a cult. So. South Korea has arrested the leader 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:24.500 of the controversial Unification Church over 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:27.159 allegations the organization bribed South Korea's 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:29.340 former first lady in exchange for business and 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:32.519 political favors. Han Hak -ja's church is accused 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:36.019 of giving Kim Kyung -hee, the wife of ousted 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:39.719 President Yoon Suk -yeol, two Chanel bags and 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:42.040 a diamond necklace together worth 80 million 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:46.359 won or $60 ,000. American. Okay, that's not that 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:50.959 much. Well, it is, but... Two bags and a necklace. 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:55.099 Yeah. Han, the 82 -year -old widow of the church's 00:01:55.099 --> 00:01:57.719 founder, Sun Myung Moon, has repeatedly denied 00:01:57.719 --> 00:01:59.859 the allegations, calling them false. The church 00:01:59.859 --> 00:02:02.159 said Tuesday it would faithfully engage with 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:05.319 authorities, end quote, do its best to use this 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:08.340 as an occasion to restore trust in our church, 00:02:08.539 --> 00:02:11.879 end quote. It also apologized for, quote, causing 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.379 concern to the people, end quote. Prosecutors 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.979 had sought an arrest warrant for Han on four 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:19.520 charges, including improper solicitation and 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.879 graft and occupational... Huh. I've never heard 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:27.259 those terms before. Neither have I. It doesn't 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:29.539 matter. We'll keep going. In court on Monday, 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:31.979 Han rejected the charges, insisting that she 00:02:31.979 --> 00:02:35.479 has neither interest in nor knowledge about politics. 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:38.080 Her lawyer argued against the arrest, citing 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.699 her age and worsening health. I like that. So 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:42.919 she's friends with the First Lady and she's arguing, 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:44.939 oh, I'm not political. I just give my friends 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:47.699 good stuff. Yeah, that's a good argument. That 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:49.639 is a good argument. I'm just an idiot who inherited 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:53.139 this church worth billions. Yeah, like I just 00:02:53.139 --> 00:02:56.280 give nice gifts. Han is also accused of colluding 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:59.349 with former church official surnamed Yoon. to 00:02:59.349 --> 00:03:02.129 offer 100 million won in bribes to conservative 00:03:02.129 --> 00:03:05.629 lawmaker Kwon Sung -dong ahead of the 2022 presidential 00:03:05.629 --> 00:03:07.909 election in exchange for favors for the church 00:03:07.909 --> 00:03:12.750 in the event that Yoon won... Sorry. I thought 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:16.449 this was the last name. It's not. It's Yoon won 00:03:16.449 --> 00:03:20.729 the election, not won. Okay. No, Koreans are 00:03:20.729 --> 00:03:24.250 funny. It's all very confusing. Yes. Kwon, once 00:03:24.250 --> 00:03:27.599 seen as a close confidant of Yoon... was arrested 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:30.860 last Wednesday. He denied accepting bribes. And 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:33.879 I honestly think, this is unfortunate, why we 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:37.400 don't know more about Asian history and famous 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.199 stories is because we get confused by the characters 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:42.139 because their names are not something we're expecting. 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:47.159 It's not like Chris gave Jeff. It's Kwon was 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:50.259 a close confidant of Yoon. Which is like the 00:03:50.259 --> 00:03:53.900 same equivalent in Korean. Probably. There's 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:57.210 a billion Kims and Wons over there. Those are 00:03:57.210 --> 00:03:59.110 kind of equivalents, but whatever. So, Kwon, 00:03:59.250 --> 00:04:02.389 once seen as a close confidant of Yoon, was arrested 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:05.389 last Wednesday. He denies accepting bribes. Unification 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:08.189 Church had pinned the blame for both sets of 00:04:08.189 --> 00:04:10.990 allegations involving Kim and Kwon on the former 00:04:10.990 --> 00:04:13.530 church official, saying he acted alone in offering 00:04:13.530 --> 00:04:15.569 those gifts. The official has since been arrested. 00:04:15.810 --> 00:04:18.269 Kim, the former first lady, was indicted last 00:04:18.269 --> 00:04:20.730 month on various charges, including bribery and 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:23.410 stock manipulation, which she denies. Her trial 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:26.439 started this week. Her arrest marked the first 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:28.740 time that both a former president and former 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:31.680 first lady had been jailed in South Korea. Yoon 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.740 was detained in January and is facing a separate 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:37.319 trial over a failed martial law attempt last 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:39.500 year that plunged the country into chaos and 00:04:39.500 --> 00:04:41.439 led to his impeachment. Which, by the way, if 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.259 you're not up to date on Korean politics, they 00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:48.199 had a wild 2024. Basically, they had a guy who 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:50.779 kind of tried to pull a Trump, but the people 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:53.540 rebelled against it and he ended up in prison. 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.899 That sounds vaguely familiar, but I'm just so 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:00.839 exhausted from everything that's been going on 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:02.920 in the world. There's enough politically in English 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.680 to focus on. But that does sound very familiar, 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:08.740 actually, now that you're saying that. Yeah, 00:05:08.779 --> 00:05:10.240 he declared martial law and everybody's like, 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:12.680 no, that's stupid. We're going to protest. And 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.579 then he's like, Kate, I just pretended. I didn't 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:18.319 actually mean to do that. And then he got arrested. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:21.339 No, no, I do know this one. Yes. The Unification 00:05:21.339 --> 00:05:23.779 Church, known formally as the Family Federation 00:05:23.779 --> 00:05:26.120 for World Peace and Unification, was founded 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.420 in South Korea in the 1950s by Moon Seung -myung, 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.839 who proclaimed himself the Messiah. The church 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:32.600 is best known for holding mass weddings involving 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:34.939 thousands of couples. We kind of know this. Please 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:37.500 go listen to our episode. I can't remember if 00:05:37.500 --> 00:05:39.939 it's their own episode or if it had to do with 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:43.620 the Japanese history. No, I don't think we did 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:46.360 a full episode on it because right now I'm going, 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:48.939 this sounds familiar, I should know it, but I 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:51.620 don't think we actually did. episode well the 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:54.480 reason we did the episode we do have something 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:56.860 i think the whole reason we did the episode on 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:00.160 the moonies is because somebody who the moonies 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:04.220 ripped off ended up um assassinating um uh oh 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:08.319 uh shinzo abe the former prime minister of japan 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:10.480 and then we ended up talking about the moonies 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:12.680 am i listening to this in the right language 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:16.519 it's never the right language chelsea for english 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:21.519 is not pure Yeah, yeah, no. Moonies have come 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:24.319 up. Did they get their own episode? You guys 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.399 go look and tell us. Anyhow, that's, I'll incorporate 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:30.100 that in the 48 hours thing. Don't worry. Critics 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:31.779 have described the group. Also take a thumbs 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:35.779 up. Yes. Your guys' thumbs don't seem to work, 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:39.800 by the way. No. Critics have described the group 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:42.360 as cult -like. Lawyers have accused it of coercing 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:44.680 devotees known colloquially as Moonies after 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:47.189 its founder to donate large sums of money. The 00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:49.209 Unification Church has come under the spotlight 00:06:49.209 --> 00:06:51.730 in Japan after the 2020 new... Oh, there we go. 00:06:51.910 --> 00:06:54.310 The 2022 assassination of the country's former 00:06:54.310 --> 00:06:57.050 leader, Shinzo Abe. The alleged assassin blamed 00:06:57.050 --> 00:06:59.410 the group of bankrupting his family and held 00:06:59.410 --> 00:07:02.189 a grievance against Abe for allegedly promoting 00:07:02.189 --> 00:07:04.209 it. The group is banned in parts of the world, 00:07:04.230 --> 00:07:06.850 including Singapore. In Japan, it has been ordered 00:07:06.850 --> 00:07:09.449 to dissolve. End of article, end of story, end 00:07:09.449 --> 00:07:11.649 of... I don't know why I... It didn't end in 00:07:11.649 --> 00:07:13.670 a quote, so I just need to say end. It ends there. 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:21.660 I just love when people who are incredibly rich, 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:26.060 incredibly influential, argue, oh, what? I didn't 00:07:26.060 --> 00:07:31.139 know that. How was I to know that? 60 ,000, this 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:34.480 was just a friend. I mean, what's wrong with 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:36.399 that? Maybe they are just friends and they do 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:39.240 give nice gifts. I like to think of myself as 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:42.100 a nice gift giver. Is your defense not also giving 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:45.180 her nice things and they don't mention that at 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:48.060 all? Maybe. Like, it's a two -way street with 00:07:48.060 --> 00:07:50.920 friendships. A one -way street is bribery. Yeah, 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:54.620 but no. What if my friend is poor? They still 00:07:54.620 --> 00:07:58.939 give you stuff. Friendship? Yes. That's what 00:07:58.939 --> 00:08:02.000 the poor first lady of South Korea was given. 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:05.680 She didn't know. She's not political. I would 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.360 hope that she was giving friendship if I was 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.279 giving nice gifts. Otherwise, that's pretty hurtful. 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:15.819 Otherwise, she should be sued for bribery. I 00:08:15.819 --> 00:08:20.779 would think. If anything, she was taking advantage 00:08:20.779 --> 00:08:25.800 of the Moonies. I agree. Exactly. Did I just 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:29.300 argue on the wrong side? I don't know. It's really 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:32.870 confusing with these Korean names. I know. Anyhow, 00:08:32.889 --> 00:08:35.149 you guys got 48 hours. Relisten as many times 00:08:35.149 --> 00:08:37.450 as you need to figure out who's who in this story. 00:08:37.809 --> 00:08:40.009 Yeah, probably listen to the Moonies ones too. 00:08:40.070 --> 00:08:42.049 Yes, and then relisten the Moonies ones and then 00:08:42.049 --> 00:08:44.450 come back and make sure we did a good job. Anyhow, 00:08:44.450 --> 00:08:45.690 bye. Bye.