A special counsel team looking into former first lady Kim Keon-hee said that it did not look into allegations that Democratic Party lawmakers pocketed money from the Unification Church as the matter is outside its legal mandate.

The team, led by special counsel Min Joong-ki, said in a briefing on Monday that it is not pursuing the testimony of the church's former second-in-command, Yun Young-ho.

The team said that its mandate covers matters related to Kim's alleged bribery or suspicions that former President Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim abused presidential office resources.

The team said it plans to hand over the allegations against DP lawmakers to another investigative body.

Outlets, including the Hankyoreh, reported that in August, Yun told investigators that he had delivered tens of millions of won to two Democratic Party lawmakers during the Moon Jae-in administration. 

During his embezzlement trial on Friday, Yun said he contacted the main opposition People Power Party as well as the ruling Democratic Party ahead of the 2022 presidential race that Yoon Suk Yeol won.

Claiming the church had closer ties with the Democratic Party between 2017 and 2021, the former church official said he reached out to four current members of President Lee Jae Myung’s Cabinet before the church-led World Summit 2022, and that two of them ended up visiting church leader Han Hak-ja.