Shinzo Abe's Assassination Exposed a Billion-Dollar Religious Empire.. The Unification Church's Secrets Unravelled

The 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe exposed a global controversy surrounding the Unification Church, also known as the Moonies. The gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, blamed the organization for his family's financial ruin after his mother made enormous donations.

What followed was an investigation into decades of high-pressure fundraising, spiritual sales, mass weddings, and political connections across Japan and South Korea. In June 2026, Japan's Supreme Court finalized an order dissolving the church's legal status as a religious corporation. Two months later, its global leader, Hak Ja Han, received a two-year prison sentence in South Korea for political corruption.

In this episode of You Can't Unhear, we explore the Unification Church's origins, its financial empire, the families affected by its fundraising practices, and the scandals that reached the highest levels of government.