Sept. 28, 1998: Do As I Preach, and Not As I Do (https://web.archive.org/web/20111221014352/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053845,00.html) (Time Magazine/Internet Archive)
QuoteRunning it all is the still-vigorous Moon, though the family's troubles have thrown his succession into doubt. Hyo Jin had been the heir apparent, but there is no way they are going to let him take over now, says a family friend. More likely, Moon's wife, Hak Ja Han, or another son, Hyun Jin, 29, who currently runs a church-affiliated business, will take the reins. Moon isn't talking, but the very public disintegration of his True Family portends a tempestuous transition. When the reverend passes away, they'll all be killing each other for power, says the friend. I don't think there will be anything left
April 26, 2008: Son of Moonies Founder Takes Over as Church Leader (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/26/religion.korea) (The Guardian)
QuoteSun-myung Moon, the founder of the Unification church known globally as the Moonies, has handed over control of the movement to his Harvard-educated youngest son in what is being seen as an attempt to broaden the controversial religious organisation's appeal.
In a ceremony near Seoul last week, 28-year-old Hyung-jin (Sean) Moon was anointed chairman of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the name the church has used since the late 1990s. "I hope everyone helps him so that he may fulfil his duty as the successor of the True Parents," Moon, 88, said, in a characteristically immodest reference to himself and his wife. ...
Despite last week's apparent transfer of power few expect Moon Sr, who was convicted in the US of tax evasion in 1982, to loosen his grip on power. "He may have appointed his son, but Moon is constantly giving orders, and people do as they tell him," a former member told the Guardian. "He is unlikely to transfer any actual power to his sons."
Experts say Moon's eldest son, Hyo-jin, might have been a more obvious choice as successor but was overlooked after scandals over drugs and extramarital sex. He died of a heart attack last month, at 45. The former disciple, who left several years ago in protest at Moon's increasingly narcissistic behaviour, said he expected the church to step up its fundraising activities under Hyung Jin and to forge alliances that go well beyond its pseudo-Christian origins.
Nov. 23, 2009: Church Disunity, Recession Worry Moon Followers & Operations (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/22/AR2009112202363_pf.html) (Washington Post)
QuoteThe ranks of the church's U.S. followers have thinned since the movement's heyday in the 1970s, according to church officials. In an attempt to retain young members, the church recently liberalized its marriage policies so parents, not just clergy, can match men and women to take part in the movement's mass weddings. Worldwide, the church has about 110,000 "adherents," according to a report in the Times in October. Church officials, however, have cited membership figures in the millions in recent weeks.
Last month, the church announced that Moon was passing day-to-day control to his three U.S.-educated sons.
But an apparent feud broke out this month between two of them when Hyun Jin Moon, often known by his American name, Preston, and Hyung Jin Moon, known as Sean, issued dueling memos asserting competing claims of control over portions of their father's empire. ...
As of August 2008, analysts estimated that Moon had subsidized the Wasington Times by at least $1 billion since it was launched in 1982; analysts have also estimated that the newspaper has lost close to $2 billion since it was founded.
Nov. 26, 2009: Moon Family Quarrels Over Crumbling Empire (https://web.archive.org/web/20091129144531/https://adg.nwanews.com/news/2009/nov/26/moon-family-quarrels-over-crumbling-empir-20091126/) (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/The Washington Post? - Internet Archive)
QuoteBut outside the church walls, the quest for inner contentment is overshadowed by a fractious Moon family dispute. This month's abrupt purging of top executives at The Washington Times, which Moon founded and subsidized, and downturns at some Moon connected businesses have rattled some Unificationists already worried about what will happen to their movement after the passing of its 89-year-old founder. ...
The ranks of the church's U.S. followers have thinned since the movement's heyday in the 1970s, according to church officials. In an attempt to retain young members, the church recently liberalized its marriage policies so parents, not just clergy, can match men and women to take part in the movement's mass weddings.Worldwide, the church has about 110,000 "adherents," according to a report in the Times in October. Church officials, however, have cited membership figures in the millions in recent weeks. Last month, the church announced that Moon was passing day-to-day control to his three U.S.-educated sons.
But an apparent feud broke out this month between two of them when Hyun-jin Moon, often known by his American name, Preston, and Hyung-jin (Sean) Moon, issued dueling memos asserting competing claims of control over portions of their father's empire.
Dec. 23, 2009: The Moonie Church Loses Its Grip on Doctrine, Money & Leadership in Slo-Mo (https://web.archive.org/web/20110727161834/http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2009-11-23-The-Moonie-church-loses-its-grip-on-doctrine-money-and-leadership-in-slo-mo) (The Daily Maverick/The Internet Archive)
July 22, 2010: A 'Common Sense' Approach to Leadership: An Interview With Kook-jin Justin Moon (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2923583) (Korea JoongAng Daily)
QuoteThe Tongil Group is owned by the Unification Foundation, and the mission of the foundation is to support the Unification Church. I am a member of the church and the members of the foundation's board of directors are members of the church. For these reasons, I can not foresee a situation in which the foundation and its business group could be completely separate from the church.
May 2, 2011: Rev. Moons Family Embroiled in Lawsuit (https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20110502/rev-moons-family-embroiled-in-lawsuit) (The Korea Times)
2012June 22: South Korea: In The Kingdom of Reverend Moon (Al Jazeera)
Sept. 2: Rev. Sun-myung Moon Dies at Age 92 (https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/09/02/Rev-Sun-Myung-Moon-dies-at-age-92/UPI-21891346611541/) (UPI - Owned by Hyun-jin Preston Moon)
Sept. 2: Rev. Moon, A 'Savior' To Some, Lived A Big Dream (https://www.npr.org/2012/09/02/159032325/rev-moon-a-savior-to-some-lived-a-big-dream) (NPR)
QuoteJames Beverley, a professor at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto and an expert on Moon, says Moon believed he was the Messiah, that he was sinless and that he was the true father of mankind. "He believed he was the true representative of God on Earth, and that he has liberated the universe," Beverley says. "He taught in one of his sermons that the 'Hallelujah' chorus is really about him, and people will eventually in heaven sing praises to Rev. Moon."
Moon's church spread from South Korea to other parts of Asia, and then to the U.S. By the early 1970s, he boasted churches in all 50 states. The growth was fueled by thousands of young people who dropped out of college to follow this new messiah. Phillip Schanker was one of them. He says he came from a tumultuous home and found in Moon a charismatic father figure who brought him spiritual peace.
"He's my parent, and he also changed my destiny. So in that sense, he's my savior. He changed the direction of my life," Schanker says.
Schanker, who's an official in the Unification Church, says he and others left everything to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, evangelizing, selling flowers, working 16 or 18 hours a day to raise money for the church.
"We innocently and faithfully left our homes," he says. "There was an urgency at that time. People didn't complete their school, and it caused our parents and families to really question."
Sept. 3: Two Sons to Lead Unification Empire (https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyle/others/20120903/two-sons-to-lead-unification-empire) (The Korea Times)
Sept. 3: Founder's Death Unlikely to Bring Major Change to Unification Church (https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20120903/founders-death-unlikely-to-bring-major-change-to-unification-church) (The Korea Times)
Sept. 3: 'Moonies' Founder Sun-myung Moon Dies (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-03/unification-church-founder-sun-myung-moon-dies/4239068) (ABC News)
Sept. 3: A Self-Made Man, a Self-Proclaimed Messiah (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2958885) (The Korea JoongAng Daily)
Sept. 3: Unification Church Leaders Vow to Complete Rev. Moon's Mission (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/unification-church-leaders-vow-to-complete-rev-moons-mission/2012/09/03/ae8c23f4-f5ec-11e1-91cb-58c92a8a140e_story.html) (The Washington Post)
Quote"He'll always be the messiah to us, and messiahs do not die," said the Rev. Zagery Oliver, 56, who was recruited into Moon's movement when "a beautiful young Japanese woman engaged me on the campus" of Queens College in New York City 35 years ago.
"We're confident we're going to grow and expand," said Randall Francis, the Unification Church's district pastor for the Mid-Atlantic states. ...Francis, who was introduced to the Unification Church at a rally Moon held at the Washington Monument in 1976 and has been married for 30 years to a Japanese woman to whom he was assigned by Moon, said that despite the battle among Moon's children ("a very painful situation for our whole church family") and "the natural downsizing of some of the business entities," the religion "has become a little more accepted in society as we became families and seemed less radical."
Sept. 3: Unification Church Founder Moon Sun-myung Dies at 92 (https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2012/09/03/FQGUQFK3LOVKCOKZWSJTZJTHZE/)(The Chosun Daily)
QuoteProfessor Tark Ji-il, who teaches religion at Busan Presbyterian University, contends that in the Unification Church's theology the ultimate goal was to establish a heavenly kingdom on the Korean Peninsula with Moon as king. Tark said this did not deviate since the church was established and its vast business activities were focused on this goal.
Sept. 4: Sun Myung Moon's Death Leaves Conservative Newspaper at a Crossroads (https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/09/04/sun-myung-moons-death-leaves-conservative-newspaper-at-a-crossroads?) (US News)
Sept. 4: Feuds A Concern As Children Inherit Moon's Empire (https://www.yahoo.com/news/feuds-concern-children-inherit-moons-empire-135452188.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAL0AL_QWQTTEw-QEEKvS3eat1e3Hj15ZFq1FnXFtssnl9snF3BftIRPgjw34v_9YR7y-R1BujvwRcfk09KbWiMi8KxTftwXr4451JU4dap5tAaebmEzqLU-Joeu8pofKCV3JrsRYS-KoaKpPR7j1XxDp7L3nXLuQ-Yjnru8fW5fh) (Yahoo News)
Sept. 4: Rev. Moon Oversaw Large, Often Bickering Brood (https://www.deseret.com/2012/9/4/20433652/rev-moon-oversaw-large-often-bickering-brood/) (Deseret News)
Sept. 4: Dark Side of the Moon: How Megalomaniac Moonie Leader Built a Billion-Dollar Business Empire Through Sinister Cult (https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/inside-the-sinister-moonie-cult-how-1301689) (The Mirror)
One tidbit that I hadn't heard before:
QuoteBy the 1990s there were reports of poor South Koreans being shipped in to boost numbers at Moonie weddings.
Sept. 5: Moon & Wife 'True Parents' but Children Suffered Estrangement, Tragedy - & Reality TV (https://www.yahoo.com/news/moon-wife-true-parents-children-suffered-estrangement-tragedy-113715368.html) (Yahoo News)
Sept. 6: Moon Sun-myung's Legacy (https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/20120906/moon-sun-myungs-legacy) (Donald Kirk for The Korea Times)
Sept. 11: Moon Wake Shows Family Tension (https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/09/11/Moon-wake-shows-family-tension/82041347355851/) (UPI - Owned by Hyun-jin Preston Moon)
QuoteThe Rev. Sun Myung Moon's eldest son Dr. Hyun Jin (Preston) Moon's car was blocked from proceeding to his father's wake by security guards.
Hyun Jin Moon arrived at World Center in Gapyeong County to pay his respects to his father whom he has not been able to see since being asked to leave his father's side at St. Mary's Hospital in late August.
Sept. 13, 2012: Sun Myung Moon, We Hardly Knew Ye—or Your Church's Finances! (https://nonprofitquarterly.org/sun-myung-moon-we-hardly-knew-yeor-your-churchs-finances/) (NP: Powering Nonprofits, Advancing Justice)
Sept. 15: Funeral for Rev. Moon Draws Thousands (https://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/15/world/asia/south-korea-moon-funeral) (CNN)
Sept. 15: Thousands of Faithful at Funeral of UC Founder
Dec. 4, 2013: South Korea's Unification Church to Sell Seongnam Soccer Club (https://web.archive.org/web/20150715171753/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303281504579222903108505482) (Wall Street Journal / Internet Archive)
Aug, 14, 2017: Meet the Billionaire Holy Mother of the Unification Church (https://culteducation.com/group/1277-unification-church/30457-meet-the-billionaire-holy-mother-of-the-unification-church.html) (Ozy/Archived at Cult Education)
I don't recall reading the about a "house arrest" during the early days of their marriage mentioned below. I'll check some other sources. It certainly wouldn't be a surprise!
QuoteThe charismatic preacher first glimpsed Han Hak Ja, the daughter of his cook, when she was just 14 years old. They met again three years later, and he announced they would wed the next day. Moon was determined to make his new bride pay for Eve's original sin, keeping her under virtual house arrest in a "believer's annex" until she turned 20. He sought "absolute obedience" from his second wife, ordering her to cut contact with her family so she could devote herself fully to the church. Soon the couple welcomed the first of their 14 children, and Moon moved the family to an estate in New York's Hudson River Valley. ...
For lay believers such as Yamanaka Im, 57, from Japan, Han remains a shepherd. Baptized in the church in 1982 and wed to a Korean man in a mass ceremony in 1988, Im estimates she's seen Han 20 times. She calls Han "patient" and "greedless" — even after enduring "a lot of hardship" — pointing out that Han sold her private jet and helicopter to benefit her educational foundation. "We just want our mother [Han] to rest now," Im says. "She's continuing what our father [Moon] couldn't finish."
2021June 17: D.C. Court of Appeals Zoom Oral Arguments (From 2 hours 15 minutes & 30 seconds)
Sept. 7: Lengthy Lawsuit Exposes Rifts Within Unification Church (https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/530522/lengthy-lawsuit-exposes-rifts-within-unification-church/) (Washington City Paper)
QuoteIf the Sunni-Shia schism or Martin Luther's revolt against Catholicism had taken place in an American courtroom, they might have resembled the scene at the D.C. Court of Appeals (or rather, on its split-screen simulcast) on June 17 (See above).
There, lawyers representing two of the main factions of the post-Reverend Sun Myung Moon Unification Church debated whether Unificationism was a religious denomination or a nondenominational movement and which exact peace festivals (there were many) Reverend Moon supported while he was alive. They became particularly entangled with the meta-issue of how to characterize their fight, with the defendants claiming it was a dispute over religious doctrine and leadership and therefore off limits to the court under the First Amendment, and the plaintiffs claiming it was a case about misappropriation of church property and violations of nonprofit law.
2025Jan. 9: DC Court Asked to Limit Use of 'Ecclesial Abstention' When Fraud is Involved (https://baptistnews.com/article/dc-court-asked-to-limit-use-of-ecclesial-abstention-when-fraud-is-involved/) (Baptist News Global)
Feb. 11: UC Dispute Over Funds Gets Day in DC Court (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/11/unification-church-dispute-funds-gets-day-court-d-/) (The Washington Times)
July 3: Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International v. Moon (https://law.justia.com/cases/district-of-columbia/court-of-appeals/2025/23-cv-0838.html) (Justia - US Law)
QuoteThe case involves a dispute within the Unification Church, also known as the Unification Movement, following a schism and succession conflict. The plaintiffs, including the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International, filed a complaint in 2011 against defendants, including Unification Church International (UCI) and its president, Hyun Jin (Preston) Moon. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants engaged in actions contrary to the church's mission, including amending UCI's articles of incorporation and transferring assets to entities like the Kingdom Investments Foundation (KIF) and the Global Peace Foundation (GPF).
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia initially granted partial summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that the defendants' actions were inconsistent with UCI's original purposes. However, the court's decision was reversed on appeal in Moon III, where it was held that resolving the plaintiffs' claims would require deciding disputed religious questions, making them nonjusticiable under the First Amendment's religious abstention doctrine. The case was remanded for further proceedings.
On remand, the trial court dismissed the remaining claims with prejudice. The court found that the plaintiffs lacked special interest standing to pursue their self-dealing claims against Preston Moon after Moon III, as the claims no longer involved extraordinary measures threatening UCI's existence. The court also determined that the contract claims were nonjusticiable under the religious abstention doctrine, as resolving them would require interpreting religious terms and doctrines. The court declined to apply the potential fraud or collusion exception to the religious abstention doctrine, finding no evidence of bad faith for secular purposes.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's orders, agreeing that the plaintiffs' claims were nonjusticiable and that they lacked special interest standing. The court also upheld the trial court's decision to deny the plaintiffs' motion to reopen discovery, finding no abuse of discretion. The litigation, which spanned over a decade, was thereby brought to a close.
July 4: Unification Church Loses 14 Year Suit Against Founder's Son (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/unification-church-loses-14-year-suit-against-founders-son) (Bloomberg Law)
Sept. 21: Moon Fortune to Stay in Zug Foundation (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-position/moon-fortune-to-stay-in-zug-foundation/90026322)(Swiss Info)
QuoteIt's the end of a protracted legal battle. On July 3, 2025, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals put an end to one of the longest legal disputes over the will of the reverend Sun Myung Moon, late founder of the Unification Church, better known as the Moonies. The background to all of this was the transfer of a fortune amounting to several hundred million dollars into a foundation in Zug, Switzerland.
The American court turned down all the petitions by the widow of the reverend, Hak-ja Han Moon, and their youngest son, Hyung-jin (Sean) Moon , against their rival Preston Moon, eldest son of the deceased Korean guru. The judges found that decisions of this man were an internal religious matter. Civil courts are not in a position to decide on this sort of dispute, it being excluded by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
2026March 31: 'Unification is 2nd Miracle on Han River': Global Peace Foundation Head (https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20260331/unification-is-2nd-miracle-on-han-river-global-peace-foundation-head) (The Korea Times)
QuoteGlobal Peace Foundation (GPF) founder and Chairman Hyun Jin Preston Moon said the two Koreas' unification would not be an economic disaster but could instead create a "second Miracle on the Han River" by expanding Korea's domestic market....
His mother, Han Hak-ja, was arrested on charges including alleged political funding violations and accusations of improper ties with former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his spouse around the 2022 presidential election. Han is currently being held at Seoul Detention Center. Moon also criticized current Unification Church leaders such as Yoon Young-ho, a former director-general at the church's world headquarters, and Jeong Won-ju, former chief of staff to the church president, questioning their qualifications while accusing them of consolidating power within the organization.
On the question of his mother's legal culpability, Moon said current leaders had placed her in a position of formal responsibility while exploiting her role. While his mother may have violated the law, he argued, she did not intentionally direct any wrongdoing. "I believe my mother is, like my two brothers, another victim created by the church's midlevel leaders," he said. "She had been protected within the church structure for decades and was likely unaware of the legal risks she faced." He added that he has repeatedly offered to help free her from detention.
"I reached out to the current leadership multiple times with offers to help," he said. "But they were so afraid of my mother and me meeting that they did not respond at all." He said that church leaders view him and the GPF as adversaries and have filed more than 30 lawsuits against him, while he has only responded in defense. Asked whether he has visited Han in detention, Moon said legal complications made a meeting difficult unless she requested one first.