Moonies, Aka Unification Church)
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Investigation of Korean-American Relations (Moonies, aka Unification Church) INVESTIGATION OF KOREAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS REPORT OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 31, 1978 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1978 34-674 0 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office file:///C|/My Documents/FOM/FOM Folder/FOM/www/groups/moonies/fraserport.htm (1 of 43) [03/16/2000 6:21:56 AM] Investigation of Korean-American Relations (Moonies, aka Unification Church) Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock Number 052-070-04729-1 THE MOON ORGANIZATION Introduction During its 1976 investigation of KCIA activities in the United States, the subcommittee received numerous allegations concerning Sun Myung Moon (225) and organizations associated with him. By that time, Moon and the Unification Church (UC) had generated controversy throughout the United States over a variety of issues. Many Americans were distressed by the recruitment techniques of the UC. Others questioned the failure of the UC to state openly its ties with the numerous groups it had set up; the use to which it 312 put its tax-exempt status; the propriety of its owning and operating an armaments plant in South Korea; possible links to the South Korean Government; and Moon's statements in late 1973 and 1974 concerning President Nixon and Watergate. The most volatile controversy raged around the charges that "Moonies" were brainwashed. The UC in turn countercharged that parents were kidnaping UC members for "deprogramming" and successfully obtained court orders restricting the activities of the deprogrammers. Among the witnesses who testified before the subcommittee in 1976 was Lee Jai Hyon, a former official of the ROK Government who had been stationed at the Korean Embassy in Washington.(226) Lee described what appeared to him to be "a curious working relationship"(227) involving the Korean Government, the UC, and other organizations associated with Moon. Lee said that Pak Bo Hi, Moon's aide and translator and president of the Washington-based Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation (KCFF), had access to the Korean Embassy's cable channel to Seoul; that KCIA agents at the Embassy maintained contact with the Freedom Leadership Foundation (FLF), another Moon-related organization in Washington; that Moon had founded the "Little Angels," a Korean children's dance troupe which had appeared around the world as official representative of the Korean Government; that South Korean President Park Chung Hee had mailed out 60,000 letters on behalf of the KCFF; and that Moon operated an anti-Communist indoctrination center in Korea for Korean Government employees and military officers. Lee also pointed to Moon's rise to wealth and prominence under the Park regime and suggested that this could only have occurred with the active cooperation of the KCIA and other branches of the Government. Alan Tate Wood, a former UC member who had been president of the FLF, described to the subcommittee some of Moon's political ambitions and activities. He said that Moon, through the UC and its numerous front organizations, wanted to acquire enough influence in America to be able to "dictate policy on major issues, to influence legislation, and move into electoral politics."(228) In the United States, the political goals of the UC and those of the KCIA "overlap so thoroughly as to display no difference at all."(229) Wood also charged that Moon was violating U.S. laws by importing aliens to raise funds and that fundraising by UC members was often done under false pretenses. Another witness, Robert Roland, (230) described his friendship with Pak Bo Hi when Pak was a military attache at the Korean Embassy in Washington in the early 1960 s. According to Roland, Pak was then engaged in intelligence liaison work and was also proselytizing for Moon and the UC. Pak told Roland of his plans to use the KCFF and one of its projects, the Little Angels, to advance Moon's cause, as well as to help the Korean Government. (231) The subcommittee heard a former UC member, Chris Elkins, describe political activities in which he had engaged for the FLF. 313 These included working on a congressional election campaign, lobbying for South Korean military aid bills, and staging demonstrations. Elkins said that many of Moon's activities in the United States were designed to impress the Korean Government with his importance. (232) During 1976, the subcommittee also received information about an apparent attempt by Moon and his followers--along with Tong-sun Park--to buy a controlling interest in the Diplomat National Bank (DNB), which opened in Washington D.C., in December 1975. Neil Salonen, president of the UC of America, was called to testify concerning this and other allegations. Salonen said he had bought DNB stock at the suggestion of Pak Bo Hi, but denied the UC was in any way involved in financing the DNB stock purchases. (233) Use of the term "Moon Organization" By April 1977, when the Investigation of Korean-American Relations began, although the subcommittee had received a wide variety of specific allegations concerning Moon and the organizations associated with him, the subcommittee had little understanding of the scope and nature of his movement. It soon became apparent that he was the key figure in an international network of organizations engaged in economic and political as file:///C|/My Documents/FOM/FOM Folder/FOM/www/groups/moonies/fraserport.htm (2 of 43) [03/16/2000 6:21:56 AM] Investigation of Korean-American Relations (Moonies, aka Unification Church) well as religious activities. The numerous churches, businesses, committees, foundations, and other groups associated with Sun Myung Moon emerged as parts of what is essentially one worldwide organization, under the centralized direction and control of Moon. This organization began as a small movement started by Moon in Korea in 1954. In the diversity of its functions and basic organizational structure it now resembles a multinational corporation, involved in manufacturing, international trade, defense contracting, finance, and other business activities. However, it goes beyond that in that it encompasses religious, educational, cultural, ideological, and political enterprises as well. In the training and use of lower ranking members, it resembles a paramilitary organization, while in other respects it has the characteristics of a tightly disciplined international political party. Among the many organizations there is continuous and close interaction, principally in the form of personnel moving back and forth among organizations, intermixed finances, use of one component or another component as if both were one and the same, and, of course, the figure of Moon. Because of the close interrelationship of the various organizations, the subcommittee came to view them as one unit and refers to them in the aggregate as the Moon Organization in this report. Goals of Moon Before reviewing the components and activities of the Moon Organization, it is useful to look at various writings and speeches of Moon in which he discusses the goals of his movement and the 314 means required to achieve them. Within that context, the Moon Organization becomes more comprehensible. In many public statements and in applications for tax-exempt status, the goals of the Moon movement are said to be religious. Actions which appeared to be clearly political or economic to outsiders were explained as necessary means to achieve religious goals. The apparent contradictions in many of the activities of the Moon Organization are explained by Moon's overriding religious goal--to establish a worldwide "theocracy," that is, a world order which would abolish separation of church and state and be governed by the immediate direction of God. As Moon explained to his followers: * * * In the Medieval Ages, they had to separate from the cities--statesmanship from the religious field--because people were corrupted at that time. But when it comes to our age, we must have an automatic theocracy to rule the world. So, we cannot separate the political field from the religious. * * * Separation between religion and politics is what Satan likes most. (Italics added.) (234) At the center of such a state would be Moon and his organization, based in Korea. In another speech, delivered to a crowd of over a million at an anti-Communist rally in Korea, Moon visualized the establishment of a "unified civilization" of the whole world, to be centered in Korea and "corresponding to that of the Roman Empire." (235) Moon teaches American UC members to regard Korea with great reverence and he foresees the day when the Korean language will be spoken throughout the world: In order to set up one culture, we must unify the languages into one * * * In the meal world centered upon God, everyone will speak only Korean, so no interpreter will be necessary. (236) Moon promises to use his trained followers from around the world on behalf of South Korea in case of war, as he proclaimed at a public rally near Seoul: * * * in case North Korea provokes a war against the South Korean people, they [UC members] believe it is God's will to protect their religious fatherland to the last, to organize the Unification Crusade Army, and to take part in the war as a supporting force to defend both Korea and the free World. (237) Anti-communism is one key reason for Moon's espousal of a worldwide theocracy and rejection of some of the most fundamental tenets of American democracy. Moon finds "American-style democracy" to be "a good nursery for the growth of Communism.''(238) In a speech in Seoul, Moon proclaimed that God was helping to set up a final battle involving the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan.