Stranger Things

There are certainly much more violent groups, and some of the following could be considered isolated events. And violence within seems more common that violence without. This thread needs to be more organized... I'll get to that after I had some more examples....

First, some mentions of "ansu" a shamanistic slapping/hitting ritual aimed at casting out evil spirits.

July 22, 2015: I Survived a Korean Cult – Part 1 (https://web.archive.org/web/20160327044520/https://globalhobo.com.au/2015/07/22/i-survived-a-korean-cult-part-i/) (Julie Cleaver for Global Hobo/Internet Archive)

QuoteOne example of this was the practice of Ansu. Ansu is a ritual where thousands of people line up in rows and hit themselves repeatedly in an attempt to rid bad spirits from their bodies. The practice takes two hours, and a four-verse Korean song is sung for the entirety of the ritual. The repetition and violence are vaguely reminiscent of a metal gig, except that a dress code of white shirts is enforced because they attract good spirits. Everyone who stays in Cheongpyeong is made to perform Ansu twice a day without exception. That means I've spent a total of 84 hours (three and a half days) singing that one stupid song and beating myself.

More examples here, (https://tragedyofthesixmarys.com/cheongpyeong/) and when telling a former member that I had visited the UC HQ and participated in a tour of the place, he replied: "I bet they didn't show you the big gymnasium - that's where they hit each other all day." Incidentally, that former member was on guard duty the night Hong Nam-sook fled the Moon family home (https://peterdaley.net/strangerthings/index.php?topic=67.0) after years of abuse.

Quote1. I only remember going through slapping therapy once – when I was 5 or 6. I was no older than six, probably younger. I can't really remember. All I remember is a hall full of people with Dae-Mo* at the front leading us. We were all singing and would alternate between clapping and hitting the person in front of us. I was in front of this middle-aged guy and he hit me so hard I was crying the whole time.

I was separated from my brother and parents, although that was probably unintentional knowing the church and its familial focus. I told my parents after how hard I was hit and how much it hurt, and they told me it was supposed to hurt and that it gets the bad spirits out. I hate the moonies...

Note: Dae Mo-min is Han Hak-ja's mother (https://www.tparents.org/UNews/unws9906/Yang-DaeMoNim.htm). She was an early member of the UC and continued to be active in the group after her death.

1974: Moon's followers Poured a Pot of Urine and Feces on the Head of a Seoul University Professor of Religion (https://tmblr.co/ZuT9Hy21GfMSw) (How Well Do You Know Your Moon blog - Operated by Former Members)

Mention of that in this long piece:

Feb. 15, 1974: Rev. Moon: Nixon Backer (https://web.archive.org/web/20241222223204/http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Watergate/Watergate%20Items%2010290%20to%2010597/Watergate%2010309.pdf) (The Washington Post/Internet Archive)


April 26 1979: About 20 Moonies Attack Professor Shin Sa-hun in a Seoul Church (https://howwelldoyouknowyourmoon.tumblr.com/post/812462968788893697/about-20-moonies-attack-professor-shin-sa-hun-in-a) (The Korea Herald/How Well Do You Know Your Moon)

QuoteSome 20 faithfuls of the Unification Church have run amuck in Seoul in protest to a criticism by a scholar against the church. Police said yesterday that Kwon Hyok-sik and other church goers hit Shin Sa-hun, a former Seoul National University professor, in the head, face, and mouth on Tuesday. He suffered injuries which require two weeks of treatment, according to the Namdaemun Police in Seoul.

May 6, 1979: 10,000 Christians Denounce Unification Church Violence (https://howwelldoyouknowyourmoon.tumblr.com/post/812462968788893697/about-20-moonies-attack-professor-shin-sa-hun-in-a) (The Korea Times/How Well Do You Know Your Moon) - Same link as above, just scroll down.

QuoteAbout 10,000 Christian believers held a meeting at the Youngnak Presbyterian Church in Seoul yesterday to denounce the controversial Unification Church sect in connection with a violent act involving its followers last month.

Nov. 28, 1984: FBI Holds Six in Kidnapping of Moon Aide (https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/28/nyregion/fbi-holds-6-in-kidnapping-of-moon-aide.html) (The New York Times)

QuoteThe church leader, Bo Hi Pak, said he had been held for two days in a small house in Orange County and had been subjected to shocks with electric devices before being released. Two of the arrested men were identified by the F.B.I. as members of the Unification Church and friends of Mr. Pak.

Friends?

More about that kidnapping here. (https://peterdaley.net/strangerthings/index.php?topic=83.0)

2006

August 22: Moon's Church Protests Unflattering Coverage (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2802532) (Korea JoongAng Daily)

August 24: An Attack on Dong-A Ilbo (Editorial) (https://www.donga.com/en/List/article/all/20060824/249148/1) (The Dong-A Ilbo)

August 23: What Made 700 Moonists Smash up a Newsroom? (https://alt.atheism.narkive.com/41TYL4Vl/moonies-smash-up-newsroom) (Narkive Newsgroup Archive) Note: Earlier Date Probably Due to Time Difference - Refers to the Following Piece...)

QuoteThe incident where 700 worshippers of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) broke into the office building of this newspaper company in Chungjeong-ro the day before yesterday and damaged the property is a serious threat to the freedom of press and the right of the nation to know. ...

The FFWPU worshippers destroyed the computers and office fixtures of the Shindonga journalists and stole the coverage documents of journalist Cho Seong-sik, the one who wrote the report concerned. They threatened to  throw sand on the rotary press of Dong-A Ilbo and even sent more than 200 text messages to Cho's cell phone, saying: "We'll kill you".Also, a photojournalist Gang Byeong-gi and a CBS reporter Kim Jae-pyeong were attacked with violence and threats by the worshippers.

Two photos are available here (https://howwelldoyouknowyourmoon.tumblr.com/post/99521333388/1-freedom-of-the-press-in-korea-unification) on the How Well Do You Know Your Moon blog, which is operated by former members.

I was happily surprised that Eileen Barker acknowledged the Dong-a Ilbo violence as she leans more towards the apologist side (https://peterdaley.net/strangerthings/index.php?topic=115.msg410#msg410). If anyone doubted the above links, this is further evidence they occured. And of course the fact that around 700 members particiated shows this was a very well-planned ... attack - I can think of no better word.

2018: The Unification Church: A Kaleidoscopic Introduction (https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/62323/ssoar-socreg-2018-2-barker-The_unification_church_a_kaleidoscopic.pdf;sequence=1) (Eileen Barker)

QuoteSeveral members and former members have talked about smuggling money across national borders (Hong 1998: 173); I have been told by a former Unificationist that she was instructed to sew money into her petticoat; another said he had carried a suitcase packed with notes through customs. I have heard directly and indirectly of Unificationists entering into marriages that they had no intention of honouring in order to acquire visas for other Unificationists. In August 2006 it was widely reported that around 700 Unificationists had broken into the office of a newspaper company, destroyed the computers and other objects as well as violently attacking a photographer and a reporter. It has been alleged by several former Unificationists, and by his son, that the movement was responsible for the death of Professor Tahk (Tark) Myeong Hwan, a Korean scholar who was reportedly attacked on a number of occasions for refusing to stop publishing material exposing Moon and his Church.

Note 1: Professor Tark Senior has three sons all involved in some way with cult awareness/education, but I do not think Ji-il is the son mentioned above who believes the UC is responsible for his father's death.

Note 2: The reference "Hong 1998:173" is a reference to Nan-sook Hong's book In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family (https://amzn.to/4sB9qTB). I have more details here as well as a link to the text of the whole book (https://peterdaley.net/strangerthings/index.php?topic=67.0), which is now sadly out of print. The reference to sending large amounts of cash illicitly into America was actually something I had been looking for. It was a detail that had stuck in my mind from reading the book perhaps around 20 years ago! I skimmed through my copy of the book recently - but failed to find it. Thank you, Eileen:

Circa 1986:

QuoteOne benefit of her enormous entourage was that Mrs Moon had plenty of traveling companions with whom to enter the country. I was given $20,000 in two packs of crisp new bills. I hid them beneath the tray of my makeup case... I knew that smuggling was wrong, but I believed the followers of Sun Myung-moon answered to higher laws. ... In the distorted lense through which I viewed the world, God actually had thwarted the customs agents. God did not want them to find the money because the money was for God.

Aug. 22, 2013: Unification Church Member Sets Self on Fire, Injures Others (https://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/22/world/asia/south-korea-unification-church) (CNN)

More about the above here. (https://peterdaley.net/strangerthings/index.php?topic=64.0)

Some internal violence from 13:11 by Hyun-jin Preston Moon:
May 2010 Footage: The Unification Church - The Moonies (Al Jazeera/Fundie Fridays YouTube)


Feb. 2026: A friend sent me this: Chase Hofer, a comedian, hired a violinist to play in his home and in addition received some thoughts and experiences of a former second generation member. A casual mention of internal violence:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2134953384007891