A special counsel on Wednesday requested a four-year prison sentence for Yun Young-ho, the former head of the Unification Church’s world headquarters, who is on trial for embezzlement, violating political funding laws, illicit lobbying and evidence destruction.

At the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors sought two years for political finance violations and another two years for embezzlement, breaching the anti-graft law and tampering with evidence.

The special counsel argued that Yun had colluded with political actors to expand the church’s influence, claiming he sought to push church-related matters through two channels: mobilizing Unification Church followers for former People Power Party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong and providing luxury gifts to former first lady Kim Keon-hee through shaman Jeon Seong-bae.

Prosecutors said these actions amounted to an attempt to sway democratic processes and had severely undermined public trust.

The defense countered that the church had supported multiple political camps during preparations for its 2022 “Peace Summit,” insisting it was not aligned with any single party and that outreach to both sides of the aisle was consistent with the organization's peace-oriented ideology.

The hearing ended without Yun naming any ruling Democratic Party officials, despite earlier suggesting that he could disclose a list of lawmakers the church allegedly approached—a claim he had previously raised in questioning.

The court is set to hand down a ruling on January 28.