Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae‑soo intends to resign after being accused of receiving cash and luxury gifts from the Unification Church while serving as a Democratic Party lawmaker.

Chun announced his decision early Thursday at Incheon International Airport upon returning from New York, where he'd attended the United Nations Ocean Conference.

Chun told reporters that stepping down and confronting the allegations directly was the proper course of action for a public official and that he had never received money illegally.

Yun Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church’s global headquarters, testified Wednesday to giving Chun 30 to 40 million won in cash and two luxury watches between 2018 and 2020.

Yun reportedly approached Chun in September 2018, when Chun was representing a Busan district, to lobby for the church’s long‑standing initiative to build an undersea tunnel linking South Korea and Japan.

On Thursday, Chun dismissed the accusations as baseless and absurd fabrication and said they should unsettle neither the ministry nor the government.