Stranger Things

May 14, 2000: Moon Landing Looms for UPI: Reverend Sun-myung Moon Set to Buy Wire Service (New York Post)

QuoteTHE Moonies are very close to landing on Air Force One. Media Ink has learned that the venerable but battered United Press International is on the brink of being sold to News World Communications, the publishing arm of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church....

One of the perks of UPI ownership is a guaranteed seat in the press cabin of Air Force One as part of the permanent wire-service pool covering the President. The Moonies also land the legendary Helen Thomas as White House bureau chief. She started with UPI in 1943 and broke into the White House press corps bantering with President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

May 17, 2000: Helen Thomas Resigns as Moonies Buy UPI (The Register)

QuoteWhite House press corps Dean and permanent fixture Helen Thomas resigned her post with the United Press International (UPI) wire service, for which she worked for 57 years, on news that a Unification Church affiliate - which also owns the transparently Right-Wing Washington Times newspaper - has bought UPI.

May 21, 2000: UPI Star Escapes Moon's Orbit (The Guardian)

QuoteHelen Thomas, who relentlessly pursued Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton around the world and the West Wing with unrivalled persistence, refused to answer reporters' questions about her decision, issuing one brief statement: 'UPI is a great news agency. It has made a remarkable mark in the annals of American journalism and has left a superb legacy for future journalists. I wish the new owners all the best, great stories and happy landings.'

But Lee Michael Katz, who quit the same day as UPI's international editor, said he had no doubt about the reasons for her departure: 'Look at the timing of this, and Helen's devotion.' He said that his own decision was 'a no-brainer' and added: 'I cannot work for the new owners.'

And sometime in 2003, the piece de resistance:

May 21, 2018: Locked and Loaded for the Lord (The Washington Post)

QuoteUnification Church membership figures have always been elastic, ranging from tens of thousands to several million. In 2009, the Washington Times cited 110,000 "adherents." Whatever the correct number, it had peaked by the late 1990s. Yet the Rev. Moon pressed on. In 2003, a double-page ad in the Washington Times trumpeted this news: All 36 deceased American presidents acknowledged Sun Myung Moon's greatness. What's more, each one had written an endorsement letter from the Great Beyond. "People of America, rise again. Return to the nation's founding spirit," said Thomas Jefferson, once characterized as a "howling atheist" by political opponents. "Follow the teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the Messiah to all people."

And here they are. And I'll post part of George's message, he seems a little sad. Luckily, he provides us with a remedy for his meloncholly. But I thought heaven was supposed to be a happy place. As Trump would say, "It's full of Moonies!"

QuoteI, George Washington, am deeply moved to learn through Mr. Sang Hun Lee the identity of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, learn about Rev. Moon's accomplishments and philosophy, and come to a realization that he has appeared as the Messiah. I was introduced to poignant content, including the course of Rev. Moon's turbulent life and suffering that led to his ascension to the position of the True Parent of humankind, his bloody battle with Satan to discover the Divine Principle, his providential victories, and the circumstances of God as he oversaw the historical time periods that existed in parallel from ages past. In particular, I came to the realization that the Messiah is giving unlimited love to the people of the United States, and is offering the most profound sincerity and dedication in order to guide humankind to the philosophy of peace. Yet the people of America are greatly lacking in sincerity and dedication in attending the Messiah. I realize that the American people are blessed by the mere fact that the Messiah is present on American soil. Yet, they appear unable to realize this deeply. I am deeply distressed over this. ...

Will God guide you to the path of eternal blessing? Only if the people of America repent and receive guidance in the teachings of the Messiah will America become God's eternal Eden.

George Washington; June 9, 2002

June 19, 2005: Dear Leader's Paper Moon (John Gorenfeld for American Prospect - Internet Archive)

QuoteThe Washington Times has played an essential role in Moon's relations with the Kim dynasty, although the tone of its coverage alternates between promotional and hostile. Ironically, while Times editorial-page editor (and TV personality) Tony Blankley has published recent op-ed columns attacking the Clinton administration's "perverse policy of appeasement" for giving "enticements and sweetheart deals" to North Korea, a secretive organization housed just one floor above the very office where he writes his editorials serves as the headquarters for Moon's emissaries. However harshly The Washington Times may denounce North Korea, those emissaries and Moon himself have been providing attractive "enticements" and "deals" to Pyongyang for almost 15 years.

September 26, 2006: Hell of A Times (Max Blumenthal for The Nation)
Note to Self: Read the whole article, which is quite long. The quotes below are from the first part of the article:

QuoteStill one of the most important right-wing organs in the nation, the paper has a circulation base of around 100,000. According to a source close to senior management, in the past two decades it has burned through far more than the $1.7 billion previously reported. During that time its editorial stance has consistently leaned to the hard right, as its favorite targets have ranged from liberal comsymps to President Bill Clinton to, most recently, "illegal aliens" and their allies in the "open borders lobby." Throughout, the Times has served as a major key on the conservative movement's Mighty Wurlitzer.

A nasty succession battle is now heating up at the paper, punctuated by allegations of racism, sexism and unprofessional conduct, that has implications far beyond its fractious newsroom. According to several reliable inside sources, Preston Moon, the youngest son of Korean Unification Church leader and Times financier Sun Myung Moon, has initiated a search committee to find a replacement for editor in chief Wesley Pruden--a replacement who is not Pruden's handpicked successor, managing editor Francis Coombs. ...

Both Coombs and Pruden, meanwhile, are facing a litany of complaints from former and current colleagues of racism and sexual harassment. More than a dozen well-placed sources spoke to The Nation. Many wished to remain anonymous, for fear of jeopardizing their jobs. Others spoke on the record. But the sources are consistent about the atmosphere Pruden and Coombs have fostered inside the paper, which they describe as profoundly demeaning and abusive to women and minorities. Preston Moon has hired the powerhouse Washington law firm Nixon Peabody to interview Times staffers about the allegations of racism and sexism. ...

Now Coombs is driving the paper to the far shores of the right. Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Project executive director Mark Potok credits the Times with helping to fuel the nativism that has taken hold this year in Republican political campaigns. "The Times is a terrible little newspaper that unfortunately has vastly disproportionate influence on the right wing of the Republican Party," Potok said. "The vast majority of people who read it don't realize that this paper is in bed with bigots and white supremacists. The Times is a key part of the radical right's apparatus in the United States."

Pruden and Coombs have stonewalled Preston Moon's investigation and threatened to hold a public news conference, during which they would denounce "the crazy Moonies" and claim that Preston Moon and his father are pressuring them to inject pro-Unification Church propaganda into the paper's coverage, according to a senior newsroom staffer. Times president Douglas D.M. Joo is backing Coombs and Pruden to the bitter end. Joo is a business rival of Preston Moon who, the senior staffer says, would be stripped of his post at the Times and redeployed to Korea if Pruden and Coombs go down. "This is a cancer that goes all the way to the top," the senior staffer said of the paper's tolerance of bigotry. "And if you don't root out the cancer, it will kill you. If this ever got out to the mainstream press, we would be finished as a paper."

2022 Cont.

Sept. 21: Shinzo Abe: Man Sets Himself Alight in Protest at State Funeral for Killed Japan PM (The Guardian)

Sept. 23: Unification Church Says it Accepted 'Excessive' Donations from Mother of Suspect in Abe killing (The Guardian)

QuoteThe church has acknowledged that Yamagami's mother donated more than 100m yen, including life insurance and real estate, to the group. It said it later returned about half at the request of the suspect's uncle. A church lawyer, Nobuya Fukumoto, said he considered the donations by Yamagami's mother "excessive", and that "we have to take it seriously if that tormented [the suspect] and led to the outcome". ...

A party survey found nearly half of its lawmakers had ties to the church. The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has pledged to cut all such ties, but many Japanese want a further explanation of how the church may have influenced party policies.

Sept. 28: Predatory Cult: The Shadow of Unification Church Over Abe's Funeral (The Interpreter)

Sept. 29: Japan's Lower House Chief Admits Links With Dubious Religious Group (Kyodo News)

Oct. 1: Hotline to Stay for Victims of Unification Church Scams (Asahi Shimbun)

QuoteOne caller said, "A family member who belongs to the church had to file for bankruptcy after donating in excess of 100 million yen ($691,000). We want to get the money back." ... Thirteen percent of the calls touched upon problems among family members while 8 percent were about psychological problems.Of the calls related to money problems, 48 percent were made by relatives, while 24 percent came from former members and 7 percent from current members. About 30 percent of all calls were about so-called spiritual sales tactics in which the individual felt coerced to purchase expensive items or make hefty donations. When asked when the most recent payments were made to the church, 37 percent of the callers said more than 20 years ago, while 18 percent said within the past year.

Oct. 7: Unification Church Tries to Derail Ex-Believer's Press Conference (Kyodo News)

QuoteThe controversial Unification Church on Friday attempted to stop a former believer's press conference by sending a message purportedly signed by her parents, but she pressed ahead and spoke out on alleged abuses that she and other believers endured at its hands.

In a summarized version of the faxed message read out during the event, Sayuri Ogawa's parents called for the press conference to be halted immediately, saying their daughter has a "tendency to lie," and the psychiatric issues she said she suffers had worsened since a gunman killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

At the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, which hosted the event, Ogawa, who uses a pseudonym to protect her real identity, relayed her traumatic experiences as a so-called second-generation church believer. ...

Born and raised in the church, founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon and often labeled by critics as a cult, Ogawa said that after graduating from high school, she was sexually harassed by a public minister during a retreat. The woman said that at the retreat, she was also told she was "possessed by an evil spirit" and subsequently sent to a facility in South Korea for a supposed exorcism.

Ogawa said the contradictory practices of the church and her witnessing other believers suffer mental breakdowns impacted her own stability, leading to her being hospitalized in a psychiatric ward.

An emotional Ogawa also said she grew up in financial difficulty, with her parents making frequent donations to the church. She said her family confiscated 2 million yen ($14,000) that she had saved by working a part-time job, adding the money has not been returned.

Oct. 15: The Dark Shadow Cast by Moon Sun Myung's Unification Church & Abe Shinzo Asia Pacific Journal

QuoteIn 1984, the Washington Post was told by two renegade former officials of the Unification Church in Japan that from 1975 to 1984 it had transferred at least US$800 million to the United States, to finance a myriad of the cult's businesses, publications, and political operations, including the money-draining Washington Times newspaper.

Most of the money came from gullible and superstitious Japanese who were peddled marble vases, ivory seals, and miniature pagodas said to have miraculous powers, along with ginseng teas, at vastly inflated prices. Japanese members of the cult were given sales quotas requiring them to transfer to the United States about $2.5 million a month earmarked for the Washington Times, which lost an estimated $150 million in its first two-and-a-half years of operation, according to Soejima Yoshikazu.

Soejima had been editor of the cult's Japanese newspaper, Sekai Nippo, but was fired on Moon's orders for attempting editorial independence. A gang of toughs from the Unification Church, led by members of the affiliated anti-communist group Kokusai Shokyo Rengo, ransacked the newspaper office, and beat him up, according to Soejima. Then in June 1984, Soejima was attacked outside his Tokyo home and repeatedly stabbed. At the time, he had been preparing an article critical of Moon for Bungei Shunju magazine.

In 1987, the Asahi calculated there had been 15,000 complaints since 1980 of Japanese citizens being defrauded by Unification Church members, through total purchases amounting to ¥317 billion. A national network of lawyers to combat reikan shoho (霊感商法, selling of spiritual goods) was set up.

Oct. 19: UC Tries But Fails to Silence Farmer in Kochi (Asahi Shimbun)

QuoteA farmer in Kochi Prefecture who blames the Unification Church for the breakup of his family said a church leader made an unwelcomed visit to tell him to stop talking to the media. Tatsuo Hashida, 64, said the senior official, Hideyuki Teshigawara, would not leave the home even after a phone call to the police was made. "I don't want you to be on the mass media anymore," Hashida quoted Teshigawara as telling him.

Oct. 17: Ex-Unification Church Executive Reveals Quotas For Donations (The Yomiyuri Shimbun)

QuoteSakurai said there are several types of contributions, such as monthly offerings where a follower pays one-tenth of his or her income when attending religious services, so-called "blessing contributions" for marriages, and special contributions.

For special contributions, the church sets a target period and monetary amount to be collected, and allocates quotas to each of its prefecture-based districts according to the number of followers. General members of the group are not informed of the quota, and executives ask for donations in person or by fax, Sakurai said. Around 2000, a teaching called "ancestor liberation," which was not previously in the group's doctrine, began to spread within the church.

A former member of the church, now in her 60s and living in the Kanto region, told The Yomiuri Shimbun that she paid a total of ¥2.8 million five years ago in exchange for "liberating" seven generations of her and her husband's ancestors. She was told she needed to liberate their ancestors going back 420 generations, and she in fact made contributions that exceeded ¥5 million to liberate up to the 28th generation of their ancestors.

Oct. 24: Japan Minister Steps Down Over Allegations of Links to Cult Being Probed for Shinzo Abe's Murder (India Today/Reuters)

Oct. 28: People Born into UC Seek Law To Prevent Abuse (Asahi Shimbun)

Quote"We have been told that (public authorities) cannot intervene with issues involving a religion," one individual said at the news conference. "We urge the government to treat abuse cases involving religions and beliefs in the same way as other abuse cases." Second-generation former followers said they have been forced to undertake certain activities or follow a specific religion against their will. They said they have suffered both physical and mental abuse form the religious groups, and that instilling fear is a common method used by the organizations to get their way. But the former followers said child consultation centers and other public organizations have turned them away when they sought help, citing "religious issues."

Nov. 8: Japan PM Promises Law to Help Unification Church Victims (The Diplomat)

Nov. 24: What is The Unification Church & How Will Japan's Probe Affect it? (Asahi Shimbun)

Dec. 2: In Japan, Unification Church Scandal Stains Integrity of Ruling Party (Christian Science Monitor)

QuoteJapanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said Tuesday he will speed up the drafting and passage of a law to regulate the collection of donations by religious groups and protect families of believers after he met with victims of the Unification Church and was heartbroken by their "horrendous experiences."

Dec. 10: Unification Church Claims Abuse as it Faces More Questions (Asahi Shimbun)

Dec. 10: Japan Passes Funds Law Amid 'Cult-Like' Church Controversy (DW)

QuoteThe new law, approved at this year's closing parliamentary session, bans religious and other groups from using coercion or threats to solicit funds from followers. Many Unification Church followers claim they were forced to join, left in poverty, or neglected because of their parents' devotion to the group.

July 12: What is Unification Church & Why is It Controversial? (The Korean Herald)

July 12: How Abe & Japan Became Vital to Moon's Unification Church (The Washington Post)

QuoteRepresentatives for Trump, Pompeo, and Gingrich did not respond to Insider's queries about why they appeared at the conference and what compensation they received.

July 13: We Were Wrong to Forget About the Moonies (The Telegraph/Internet Archive)

QuoteElgen Strait, who was born into the Moonies in the US in the early Eighties, but now hosts a podcast in which he rails against the church's sinister and bullying behaviour, is sceptical.

"There's a concept that runs throughout the entire organisation that says your spiritual standing is directly impacted by the amount of money you give," he says. "In the US you're meant to give 10 per cent of your pre-tax income every month. In Japan, it's 30 per cent. But that's just to start with."

On top of this, further donations are expected, he says, in order to "liberate your ancestors" and for a multitude of other "spiritual reasons". Ancestor liberation ceremonies are held to "promote ancestors in the spiritual world" (Dr Chryssides' words); or, as the late Rev Moon put it, to "completely change the lineage of all human beings back into God's lineage, as completely ideal sons and daughters" because "most of your ancestors have actually gone to hell". Liberating them can cost up to hundreds of dollars.

July 13: Problems Over Money Continue at Unification Church: Lawyers (Asahi Shimbun)

QuoteIn 2021, the group held an online event dubbed the "Rally of Hope" and its star-studded lineup, mainly consisting of conservative politicians, stunned many. The list of speakers included former US President Donald Trump, former Japanese PM Abe and current Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

July 13: Lawyers in Japan say Unification Church Lying About not Extorting Donations from Followers (Mainichi Shimbun)

July 13: Trump Allegedly Has Close Ties with Unification Church Which Caused the Assassination of Shinzo Abe (Indonesian National Police)

QuoteAs reported by The Straits Times, Abe became the first foreign leader to meet Trump when he won the 2016 US presidential election. The second meeting is said to have occurred because it was assisted by the Unification Church. According to Japanese magazine Shincho 45, the Unification Church helped mediate the meeting between Abe and Trump at the time. The Unification Church is even said to have close relations with many conservative politicians not only in South Korea, but also in Japan and the US.

July 14: Relative - Mother of Abe Murder Suspect Donated 100 Million Yen (Asahi Shimbun)

QuoteThe organization on July 13 released a statement to the media that said, "Although we still haven't figured out the exact amount (of the donations from Yamagami's mother), 50 million yen was returned to her for the period of 10 years from 2005."

Comment: Since she's still a member, I wonder what she did with that money if it really was returned? I have a feeling her family didn't see any of that.

July 19: More Victims Can Be Expected if The Cult of UC is Connived With to Continue Its Criminal Activities: Japanese lawyer (Global Times)

QuoteThe so-called spiritual sales take advantage of people's religious beliefs and anxiety to sell seals, rosary beads and pagodas at high prices by stirring up people's minds with common hoaxes. For example, they say that the ghosts of their ancestors can haunt them and that their families can suffer from misfortune. The Unification Church is the most representative spiritual sales group in Japan with 30 million yen (over $217,000) in sales of the so-called holy book to its worshippers. The lawyers' association was founded to help Japanese worshippers of the Unification Church resolve legal disputes.

July 19: Unification Church claims Its Members Face Death Threats Over Abe's Death (The Korea Times)

QuoteThe Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, better known as the Unification Church, claimed that the church and its members in Japan faced death threats and hate crimes following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The threats were reactions to "abusive" donation practices of the church, founded by self-claimed messiah Moon Sun-myung in 1954 in Seoul. ...

In a statement released on Monday, the church's headquarters in Korea blamed media outlets for what it called "inaccurate and biased" news reports, following a news conference hosted by a group of Japanese lawyers on July 12 that it claims triggered a raft of hostile media coverage against it.

Since then, the church noted that several media reports have been produced solely based on comments from the members of the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales of Japan, a group that represents former Unification Church members and their families.

"Due to these unbalanced media reports, not only our church but also our members were seriously defamed and their human rights were undermined. The media coverage is also feared to spur hate crimes against our members," the church said in a statement. "Our church's branches all across Japan have received numerous phone calls from people who threatened to kill our members. On our website, hate messages have been uploaded as well." Ahn Ho-yeol, head of the public relations department of the Unification Church in Korea, pointed to anti-Korean far-rightists in Japan as the ones behind the death threats. ...

"In Japan, media outlets are not interested in human rights violations and hate crimes and they heavily focused on producing stories highlighting the church's donation practice," he said, explaining why the church's headquarters circulated the press release to Korean reporters and foreign journalists based in Seoul. The Unification Church accused the Japanese lawyers of spreading "misinformation."

The Japanese lawyers apparently portrayed the Unification Church as being evil and described Yamagami and his mother as victims of the church's exploitative donation practices. "With these scathing remarks, they tried to justify the terrorist act that killed Abe," the church said.

It's the Unification Church's second official press release regarding the assassination of Abe and its fallout on the church following a previous one released on July 11....

Hiroshi Yamaguchi, a lawyer for the group, was quoted as saying by the Japan Times that Yamagami's act, which took the life of the former prime minister, was simply barbaric and can never be forgiven."But if reports about his motive ― that his mother's large donations to the Unification Church led to the family's collapse and made him vengeful ― are true, then we can understand how much pain he must have suffered due to his mother's action," he said.

On Tuesday, Kwak Chung-hwan, the former president of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification who was once called the No. 2 man of the church when its founder was alive, urged the church and its members to repent for the aftermath of the assassination of Abe. "I was shocked by the news that the suspect targeted Abe because he held a grudge against the Unification Church," he said during a news conference held at Hotel Koreana in central Seoul. "I had been in several different leadership posts in the church for a long time, so I thought I am partially responsible for his death. I offer my sincere apologies."

Kwak said the assassination of Abe is a chilling reminder of the derailed Unification Church and encouraged its current leaders to repent and offer apologies to the Japanese public as well as other nations. Kwak is the father-in-law of Moon Hyun-jin, the son of the church's founder. ...

July 22: Politicians' Ties to Unification Church Should be Made Public (Editorial) (Asahi Shimbun)

July 25: People Born into Unification Church Speak Out About Hardships (Asahi Shimbun)

QuoteShe came to feel uncomfortable about what her parents continued saying: "Satan is in the outside world." The woman and her parents clashed fiercely when she began seeing a man who had no religious affiliation. Her mother was outraged that her daughter was "tricked by Satan," and even called her boyfriend's home to protest[/b]

July 26: Shinzo Abe's Assassin & Japan's Complicated Spirituality (New Yorker/Internet Archive)

QuoteIn 1992, a pair of Japanese stars announced that they would participate in a mass wedding ceremony in Seoul, South Korea. One was a pop singer and actress by the name of Junko Sakurada; the other, an Olympic gymnast named Hiroko Yamasaki. Shortly thereafter, they married Japanese grooms handpicked by Sun Myung Moon. The media derided the pair as "pandas on display," a jab referring to the way that zoos rely on the most adorable animals to draw in crowds, and used the situation to report more broadly on the Unification Church's activities in Japan.

Yamasaki broke with the church the following year, in a tearful public press conference. In a 1994 memoir, she alleged being subjected to brainwashing and being persuaded to donate money and purchase expensive religious items. In a press conference held shortly after Abe's assassination, a group called the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, which helps people victimized by religious groups, disclosed that more than thirty-five thousand complaints involving problematic donations to the Unification Church had been lodged in Japan during the past three and a half decades, totalling 123.7 billion yen, or about 900 million U.S. dollars.

Aug. 1: Revelations Since Shinzo Abe Death Shed Light on Moonies' Influence (The Guardian)

Aug. 3: Name Change by Unification Church a Baffling Issue Years Later (Asahi Shimbun)

Aug. 10: Unification Church Pushes Back Against 'Abusive' Media Reports in Wake of Shinzo Abe Assassination (The Washington Times/Internet Archive)

Quote"We strongly condemn the fake news and abusive language disseminated by a heartless media, which as hate speech, encourages religious discrimination, undermines the rights of individuals and, if anything, violates people's freedom of religion," he said.

Aug. 16: Church Ties Cited in 40% of Senior Administrative Position (Asahi Shimbun)

Aug. 17: Bonds Between LDP, Unification Church Date Back Half A Century (Asahi Shimbun)

Aug. 16: Japanese Donations Likely Funded Unification Church Projects in North Korea (NK News)

Aug. 19: Unification Church Protest in South Korea Targets Japanese Media (Asahi Shimbun)

Aug. 20: Donald Trump & Mike Pompeo spoke at a 'Moonies'-Affiliated Event, Despite Japan Controversy (Business Insider)

Sept. 13: Unification Church & $210 mil. Annual Donation Target in Japan: Ex-Top Official (Mainichi Shimbun)

QuoteA former senior official of the Unification Church, who belonged to the religious group's headquarters for around 20 years before leaving in 2017, told the Mainichi Shimbun that the group set an annual target of collecting donations in Japan totaling around 30 billion yen (about $210 million), which put immense pressure on followers to meet quotas.

Masaue Sakurai, 48, was the deputy director of the family education bureau at the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, better known by its former name, the Unification Church. He responded to a Mainichi Shimbun inquiry in a rare case where a former executive exposed the group's internal affairs while revealing their real name. Sakurai condemned the group's stance, stating, "The group's methods clearly went against social morality, and the collection of donations through coercion continued even after 2009, which is when the group claimed it enforced adherence to laws and regulations."

2022

July 8: Shinzo Abe: Japan Ex-Leader Assassinated While Giving Speech (BBC News)

July 10: Abe's Suspected Killer Led Life of 'Hard Times' Because of Group (Asahi Shimbun)

July 12: South Korean Church Known for Mass Weddings in Spotlight After Abe's Killing (The Straits Times)

QuoteIn Japan, a network of 300 lawyers have sued the church for its controversial practices and urged Japanese politicians including Mr Abe to stop supporting it. In a petition signed last year in response to Mr Abe's speech, the lawyers accused the church of suppressing the human rights of followers, breaking up families, and causing "serious adverse effect" on Japanese society.

"In order for Mr Abe to continue being an active politician, it is not a good idea for him to cooperate with the Unification Church and its affiliated groups and support their events," they said. "We strongly urge you to consider your reputation and do not repeat this kind of action."

During a press conference held on Wednesday, the lawyers said that the Unification Church continues to seek huge donations and sell spiritual items today - even though the Japanese branch had said their attitude towards donations changed after 2009. The lawyers released documents showing that they made 34,537 consultations from 1986 to 2021 regarding monetary losses of about 123.7 billion yen due to large donations or purchase of expensive spiritual items, according to The Asahi Shimbun.

July 12: Unification Church: Murder Suspect's Mother Still a Member (Asahi Shimbun)

July 12: Why Did Abe Appear in a Unification Church Video? (Chosun Ilbo)

QuoteThe relationship between the Unification Church and Japanese political circles is being all the more highlighted due to the religious movement's enormous success in Japan. Last September, Abe delivered a keynote address at the Rally of Hope event co-hosted by the Universal Peace Federation — a group affiliated with the Unification Church — and the FFWPU via video following their launch ceremony for "Think Tank 2022: Toward Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula." The event saw other participants along with Abe, such as former US President Donald Trump, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and former President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso. ...

Abe seems to have made his video address for the Unification Church event due to the long-held ties between the church and right-wing political forces in Japan. Moon Sun-myung (1920-2012), the founder of the Unification Church, reportedly held intimate ties with right-wing Japanese politicians ever since the founding of the Japan chapter of the International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFVOC) in April 1968.

The relationship between the Unification Church and Japanese right-wing political forces can also be seen in the fact that former Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's maternal grandfather and an ultranationalist within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), visited a Unification Church in Japan in April 1970. Afterward, Kishi reportedly proactively utilized the IFVOC in Japan to garner financial support and build consensus for anti-communist legislation such as the establishment of an anti-espionage act by the LDP in the 1970s.

Hiroshi Yamaguchi, the president of the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales — a team of lawyers who have brought suits for damages against the Unification Church — and a lawyer who wrote the expose concerning the church titled "The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification," pinpointed Kishi and Ryoichi Sasakawa, a former member of the House of Representatives and a Class A war criminal, as key figures who helped the church gain political influence within the LDP during an interview with CBS.

Note: Time Magazine in April 2024 reported that Trump was paid $2.5 million for the above.

QuoteToday, the mainstream Unification Church and its splinters compete for endorsement from the American right. Dunkley's leaked Zoom call also revealed a ramping up of political influence operations in "America centering on the work of the Washington Times."

On Aug. 12, 2022, former CIA director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich addressed a Unification Church-front Universal Peace Federation (UPF) event in Seoul to mark the 10th anniversary of Moon's death. Trump, meanwhile, sent a video message that described Moon as a "true inspiration" and Hak Ja Han as a "amazing and wonderful woman." According to financial records, Trump received around $2.5 million to make that and two other video appearances between 2021 and 2022, while former Vice President Mike Pence was paid $550,000 for speaking at a UPF event. In May, Trump sent another video message to a UPF event.

Strait says the Unification Church leadership twists such paid endorsement "as proof of the divinity of mission" to coerce more donations from its members. The effect is circular: the more donations the church can solicit, the more it can spend on attracting high profile patronage, which it then leverages to attract more donations.

Related: What Is a 'Class-A War Criminal'? More on the Yasukuni Controversy (The Atlantic - January 11, 2014)

Quote"Class-A War Criminal" had a very specific meaning in the context of the Tokyo trials. "Class-A" war crimes were defined as "crimes against peace". Crimes against humanity, such as genocide or the Nanking massacre were "Class-C" crimes while the more usual war crimes, such as shooting helpless prisoners, were "Class-B" war crimes.

The 25 Japanese officials tried for Class-A war crimes were tried for plotting and waging war, i.e. crimes against peace. Some of them were tried additionally for Class-B and Class-C crimes, and all those multiply convicted were executed. But at least two of those charged with Class-A crimes resumed civilian life, in the Japanese cabinet in the 1950s and as the CEO of Nissan, respectively.

Aug. 12, 1988: Reporter Quits Over Dukakis Story (UPI)

QuoteA reporter for the Washington Times said Friday he resigned from the newspaper in a dispute with his editors over their handling of a story suggesting Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis had sought psychiatric counseling. The reporter, Gene Grabowski, resigned Wednesday in a disagreement with editors who revised his original story appearing Aug. 4 to emphasize what Grabowski felt was a more remote possibility Dukakis had visited a psychiatrist. ...' This was the first instance in my personal experience where a story was changed substantially,' said Grabowski, who worked for The Associated Press for nine years before joining the Times in February 1987.

Note: The Washington Post is currently having issues of its own.

1991: A fascinating panel discussion from 1991:

• James Whelan was the founding editor of the Washington Times as well as the editorial page editor.
• Michael Warder was a Director of the Unification Church of America in 1977.

Transcript of Michael Warder's Speech (How Well Do You Know Your Moon)

QuoteOver a period of time I began to reach the conclusion that Moon had a literal, biologic, belief in the superiority of Koreans, and that they, among the orientals were superior, but that orientals were superior to all the rest anyway. So there was a real racial, nationalistic hierarchy involved in the concept. ...

We had a little girl. Shortly after her birth Moon established a nursery in Tarrytown, and all the couples were called together by Moon at a meeting in the New Yorker [Hotel] and basically ordered to put the children in the nursery in Tarrytown. We were living on 34th and 8th Avenue in Manhattan. Now this was very difficult, but we did it. We would see our daughter on the weekend, on Sundays.

Then about two weeks later, we had a meeting at the Belvedere Estate. This was phase two, and he must have known phase two before he started phase one. He basically ordered all of the wives to go on a three-year evangelical mission for C.A.R.P. on the West Coast. My wife at the time was three months pregnant, and she went off to California on this trip, led by Tiger Park.

Meantime, in the nursery, our daughter, she would literally, there would be one person assigned to take care of five infants and when one person wasn't there, they would have these tape recordings of Korean language so these kids would learn to speak Korean. The lady who ran the nursery could not speak English. The idea was that Korean was the heavenly language so they were going to get a leg up on the rest of us. It is pretty grisly, grim stuff.

Nov. 22, 1997: A Low-Profile Aide Plays a Powerful Role (The Washington Post)

QuoteFrom video production to real estate, one man plays an extraordinary role in Moon Inc.'s Washington operations. Dong Moon Joo, a South Korean citizen who is one of Moon's closest aides, heads Crown Communications, Unification Church International and Atlantic Video. He is a director of several other church entities, including Nostalgia and U.S. Property Development, a Delaware corporation that reported assets of $114 million in 1990.

Joo is also president of the Washington Times, a position not included in the list of executives that appears in the paper daily. ...

Joo took over many of the church's Washington enterprises after Pak left the United States. According to former church leaders, Pak was badly beaten in 1987 by a Zimbabwean tribesman whom Moon had recognized as the spiritual reincarnation of his son Heung-Jin, who had been killed in an auto crash.

Concerning the last sentence in the above quote:

March 29, 1998: Theological Uproar In Unification Church: Rev. Moon Recognizes Zimbabwean As His Reincarnated Son (The Washington Post)

QuoteSome senior officials of The Washington Times, which was founded by Moon, have been anguished over the affair, according to sources there. While now publicly dismissing reports about the new Heung Jin Nim as "wild" rumor, Editor in Chief Arnaud de Borchgrave previously worried that the Zimbabwean might be a North Korean plant designed to discredit Moon because of his staunch anticommunism, according to two of de Borchgrave's associates.

"From the bottom of my navel, I don't want to know about this," said Ron Godwin, The Times' senior vice president for business and a former executive of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, when asked about the new
Heung Jin Nim. "I know that such a person exists and that he's been preaching in the church. But I will walk a mile not to get involved . .

Stories that Pak had been injured spread rapidly throughout the church, partly because of Pak's position as Moon's most loyal deputy. Questions arose as to whether the Zimbabwean was responsible. Kate Tsubata said she was inclined to be skeptical until she heard the church elder describe a meeting with the Rev. Moon in which Moon was asked about the new Heung Jin Nim's reported violence. The lecturer "then added how 'even Col. Pak had been beaten,' " said Tsubata. "He just let it drop . . . It was quite significant."

Pak is out of the country and unavailable for comment, according to his office. "It's a sensitive matter," said Pak's son, Jonathan Park, yesterday. "It would be totally inappropriate for me to comment one way or another."

Since the incident, Pak has rarely been seen around The Washington Times. He attended the office Christmas party two days after his release from the hospital and had to be led around the building by an aide clutching his elbow. "He literally couldn't walk without assistance," recalled Kirk Oberfeld, managing editor of Insight, a national weekly magazine published by The Times. "He was dizzy; his equilibrium had been affected."

When asked about his health then, Pak was mum. "It was very clear he didn't want to talk about it," Oberfeld said. "He just said, 'I'm not feeling terribly well.' "

Pak returned to Korea, where, according to sources at the newspaper, he was hospitalized once again, undergoing head surgery. He returned to The Times, smiling and ambulatory but somewhat weaker and subdued, on Friday, March 18. Times officials put up a big "Welcome Home, Dr. Pak" banner in their auditorium, and Pak spoke for about 10 minutes, telling the assembled he was making a "rapid recovery.

Much more here. (Tragedy of the Six Maries)

And from the above link, two videos of that Zimbabwean, Cleophas aka "Black Heung-jin Nim", after parting with the Moons. He shares his version of events from 50:00 in the first video and claims it was all Moon's idea and shares knowledge of Moon's many affairs - although given the power differential between a "Messiah" and a young female follower, I don't think "affair" is the right word. And I have no idea of Heung-jin was a violent boy, but there are a lot of accusations that Black Heung-jin was.

Part 1: https://vimeo.com/39941021

Part 2: https://vimeo.com/39949809

As the thread title indicates, here is a collection of articles (and a video I just came across) regarding the UC ownership of The Washington Times and its purchase of UPI, which Preston Moon later took control of. Not all of the incidents/issues are directly related to Moon, but I just posted articles I found interesting/surprising. And now, let's go back in time to May 1982, a great month for pop music!

May 17, 1982: The Nation's Capital Gets A New Daily Newspaper (The Washington Post)
Note: long and full of lots of interesting tidbits

QuoteThe Washington Times is not just any newspaper. Commonly referred to as "the Moonie paper" since its plans were announced, it is supported by the religious movement that Moon founded in Korea 28 years ago. Preaching "The Divine Principle," Moon sees himself as the new Messiah and Korea as God's chosen country. Since the church emerged in the United States in the early 1970s, questions have been raised about its finances, its suspected ties to the Korean CIA and its alleged brainwashing of young recruits. It is now an international business empire that encompasses entertainment, fishing, food retailing, publishing and, for a time, the Diplomat National Bank here. Robert Boettcher, the staff director of a 1978 House subcommittee investigation into Korean-American relations, says the church aims at creating a global theocracy that Moon would control. ...

But the real Washington story at The Times is its staff members--the ones who aren't church members. Many are familiar bylines from the Star. Some were bored writing books, others joined because of pleadings from already hired colleagues whom they trusted. Many badly needed a job; for them, their decision was proof that you can't eat your principles. Almost all had serious reservations. "You'd have to be a brick not to go though some sort of moral convulsions," says Doug Lamborne, The Times sports editor and former Washington Star copy editor. "I lost five pounds the first week. We all had these twitchy sort of feelings: 'Is what we're doing right?' " ...

With Moon and his family standing before them in ceremonial Korean dress, selected church officials played different religious and political leaders, such as Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, President Reagan and Japanese Emperor Hirohito. Each one prostrated himself before Moon, bowing his forehead to the floor three times, Soejima said. "The meaning is that Moon is higher than all of them," Soejima said. In church theology, "Sun Myung Moon is the father and his wife is the mother of the whole human race."

The next day, with the church officials assembled at Moon's estate in Tarrytown, N.Y., Moon expressed disappointment with his inability to win more converts in the United States. But he spoke with pride of The Washington Times, bragging of important officials who had attended its opening cermonies. Moon said that James Whelan, then publisher of The Washington Times, "listens to what I say and makes the newspaper as I tell him," according to Soejima. ...

"With journalism, we have now reached success by establishing The Washington Times," Moon said, according to Soejima. "We now have a direct influence on Reagan through The Washington Times."

May 16, 1983: Year-Old Paper Seeks Its Place in the Sun (The Washington Post)

Quote"No business that Moon owns is ever independent from Moon," said Warren Adler, an author and an owner of Dossier magazine. "To me, it's a myth that The Times is independent . . . They the church are establishing a powerful beachhead in the nation's capital that reaches right into the White House."

Adler and his wife were among 50 people who picketed a gala Times celebration at the Corcoran Gallery of Art a year ago. The Adlers' son, David Adler, chief operating officer of Dossier, briefly belonged to the church. His parents alleged that he had been brainwashed during a 1978 vacation trip to California. ...

James R. Whelan, 49, a former editor of The Sacramento Union who was coaxed into taking the Washington Times job by a persistent Pak, discounts most of the criticisms of Moon as "religious persecution." He said he negotiated a contract that gives him a free hand to run the paper.

July 17, 1984: Washington Times Riled by Charge of Moon Church Control (The Washington Post)

QuoteAt a morning press conference at the National Press Club, James R. Whelan charged that The Times "is firmly in the hands of top officials of the . . . Unification Church Movement" and that Col. Bo Hi Pak, the South Korean who is Rev. Moon's top aide and president of News World Communications, has taken "direct, on-site, executive control of all noneditorial functions of the newspaper on behalf of the newspaper's owners."

Orders were being given, Whelan said, by unnamed "elders of the church."

Whelan, saying that "a covenant of independence has been irreparably breached," also held out the possibility that he might sue the newspaper for breach of contract....

"I have one major message to give to you," said Hempstone, who has been executive editor at The Times since it began publishing in May 1982. "The Washington Times is not -- I repeat, not -- a 'Moonie newspaper.' "...

Newspaper analyst John Morton, of the brokerage firm of Lynch Jones and Ryan, said of Whelan's going public with his claims: "It won't have much impact on advertising support because they don't have any. I doubt it will have a substantial effect on circulation."

July 18, 1984: Moon Newspaper Head Dismissed in a Dispute (The New York Times)

QuoteThe publisher, James R. Whelan, said he was replaced Friday by Smith Hempstone after Bo Hi Pak, president of News World Communications, the newspaper arm of the Unification Church, failed to keep promises assuring Mr. Whelan control of the editorial content of the newspaper....

According to a statement released by the Times, Mr. Whelan was dismissed after he demanded ''in excess of $2 million over five years'' as the price for giving up the publisher's position.

July 20, 1984: It's Only a Paper Moon (Washinton Weeky/CIA Reading Room)

QuoteBut the dream won't end, and Whelan glances down at the text and resigns himself to the inevitable. The words are spoken haltingly, as though extracted from his mouth one by one with a pair of pliers-"The Times is a
Moonie paper."

July 23, 1984: Ex-Pubisher Says Moon Church Ran Newspaper (The New York Times)

QuoteIn a July 18 letter to The Washington Post released Friday by Mr. Whelan, he said, ''I had no intention ever of impugning the motives of those who, until a few days ago, were my close associates and who, until they realized I was going public, were together with the owners, unstinting in their praise of me.''

Mr. Whelan said he had watched in shock as his former colleagues engaged ''in the vilest form of character assassination, dredging up every resentment - every grievance, every grudge, real or imaginary - all for the sole and single purpose of disguising the fact that they had gone along with what they had said they would never go along with: direct Moonie control of The Washington Times. ...

Conscious of the mistrust that surrounds its relationship to the church, The Times takes great care in handling coverage of articles involving Mr. Moon or church activities. In an effort to avoid charges of bias, the newspaper used a wire-service report for its front-page article on Mr. Moon's conviction of tax fraud, and according to one senior editor it agonized for many months before running an editorial in support of Mr. Moon's position. Dozens of religious and civil liberty groups had also taken Mr. Moon's side in the case

Note to Self: Compare recent coverage of Moon with that bolded quote in mind. In particular Religiocide in Korea: The Attempted Assassination of a Faith

Sept. 16, 1984: Moon's Japanese Profits Bolster Efforts in US (The Washington Post)

QuoteThe Japanese branch of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church has transferred at least $800 million over the past nine years into the United States to finance the church's political activities and business operations, including The Washington Times newspaper, according to two former high-ranking church officials.

This money is generated in Japan, primarily through a Tokyo-based business operation that uses church members to sell marble vases, miniature treasure pagodas and other religious icons that are represented as having supernatural powers, the former officials said.

Nov. 28, 1984: FBI Holds 6 in Kidnapping of Moon Aide (The New York Times). Note: More here about the kidnapping.

QuoteThe church leader (and founding chairman of The Washington Times Corp.) 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.

Feb. 20, 1986: Media Cautioned on Stories About Editor : Lawyers' Letter Seen as Novel Attempt to Influence News Coverage (Los Angeles Times)

QuoteThe circumstances of Whelan's ouster from the Washington Times remain unclear even 18 months later. Whelan charged at the time that control of the newspaper, which has considerable visibility in the White House, was being seized by its controversial owners, officials from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. "The Washington Times has become a Moonie newspaper," he told a press conference.

Washington Times editors denied Whelan's accusations in their own press conference and charged that Whelan had been removed after he demanded a lucrative new contract, including a gift of an $800,000 house. ...

Larry Chandler, promotion and research director for the Washington Times, contended in an interview that Moon and the Unification Church have no legal or financial connection to the newspaper, although previous statements by Washington Times editors contradict that.

November 28, 1984: FBI Holds 6 in Kidnapping of Moon Aide (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.

November 28: Six South Koreans Charged in Moon Official's Kidnapping (UPI)

QuotePak got into a car driven by Su Il Yi, 51, where he was met by several other Koreans who pulled guns, handcuffed and blindfolded him....

Lee Laster, the FBI's assistant director in New York, said Pak's captors used electric shocks and fired guns close to his head in a day and a half of torture to convince Pak 'they would kill him if he did not agree to transfer $1 million to a Swiss bank account.' ...

Laster declined to speculate whether internal church politics or South Korean politics were involved but, 'We believe it was a strictly financial deal. They were looking for a million dollars and any way they could get it.'

But during an arraignment in Newark, N.J., Yi's attorney told U.S. Magistrate G. Donald Haneke that the kidnapping 'ostensibly is a power struggle within the Unification Church.' He did not elaborate.

December 10: Crime: Kidnaping of a Moonie (Time Magazine)

QuoteThey threatened to harm Pak's wife and six children, who live in suburban Virginia, if the ransom was not paid. ... An attorney for Nam said that the abduction arose out of an internal church dispute and was an attempt to change Unification Church policy. Joy Garrett, a church spokeswoman, said that Nam's claim was "absolutely false," adding, "As far as we are concerned, this is not a church matter."

June 14, 1985: Kidnap Plea Entered (The Washington Post)

August 21: US Releases Moon, Ending Prison Term On Tax Fraud Count (The New York Times)

The above article has more about the kidnapping, and I spotted a 40-year-old typo:

QuoteIn another action involving the church, a South Korean national who admitted kidnapping a top assistant of Mr. Moon last year was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and attempted extortion charges.

The man, Yung Soo Suh, 49, admitted in Federal District Court in Manhattan that he led a group that kidnapped the church official, Col. Bo Hi Pak, in Manhattan last September and held him in upstate Orange County.

Colonel Pak, who served as acting head of the church during the imprisonment of its leader, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, on tax-evasion charges, was held for two days. He was rleased when he agreed to transfer $500,000 in church funds to his kidnappers' secret Swiss bank account.

Six men, all Korean natives, were arrested two months after the kidnapping. Charges were dropped against three and another was acquitted of kidnapping charges. The last defendant, a retired South Korean Marine general, Sang Whi Nam, is to go on trial Nov. 18.

I was surprised to find such indepth and recent research into Moon.

January 2025: The Narcissistic Messiah: Personality Disorder, Sun Myung Moon, and its Legacy in the Unification Church (Dr. Stephen Kent & Dr. Robin Willey)

Sept. 28, 1998: Do As I Preach, and Not As I Do (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 (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. 26, 2009: Moon Family Quarrels Over Crumbling Empire (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.

July 22, 2010: A 'Common Sense' Approach to Leadership: An Interview With Kook-jin Justin Moon (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 (The Korea Times)

2012

June 22: South Korea: In The Kingdom of Reverend Moon (Al Jazeera)


Sept. 2: Rev. Sun-myung Moon Dies at Age 92 (UPI - Owned by Hyun-jin Preston Moon)

Sept. 3: Two Sons to Lead Unification Empire (The Korea Times)

Sept. 3: Founder's Death Unlikely to Bring Major Change to Unification Church (The Korea Times)

Sept. 3: 'Moonies' Founder Sun-myung Moon Dies (ABC News)

Sept. 3: Unification Church Leaders Vow to Complete Rev. Moon's Mission (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. 4: Sun Myung Moon's Death Leaves Conservative Newspaper at a Crossroads (US News)

Sept. 4: Feuds A Concern As Children Inherit Moon's Empire (Yahoo News)

Sept. 4: Rev. Moon Oversaw Large, Often Bickering Brood (Deseret News)

Sept. 5: Moon & Wife 'True Parents' but Children Suffered Estrangement, Tragedy - & Reality TV (Yahoo News)

Sept. 6: Moon Sun-myung's Legacy (Donald Kirk for The Korea Times)

Sept. 11: Moon Wake Shows Family Tension (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. 15: Funeral for Rev. Moon Draws Thousands (CNN)

Sept. 15: Thousands of Faithful at Funeral of UC Founder

Old news, but I just though it would be interesting to explore articles and opinions on the case as his second wife and widow gets ready for her own trial about not completely unrelated matters: The Moon's use of money donated by followers.

Included below are articles about Moon's criminal trial and conviction as well as a civil case brought by a member over an attempted deprogramming which is related as the case happened around the same time and was dropped to avoid further testimony by Moon after he invoked the 5th Ammendment 9 times and was threatened with a contempt charge.

1981:

Oct. 23: Criminal Case: Bigotry Charge Raised at Rally For Rev. Moon (The New York Times)

QuoteMost of the speeches at the three-hour rally took up the religious persecution theme, with the president of the Unification Church, Dr. Mose Durst, declaring that Mr. Moon was being harassed because he was ''the most moral man in America.'' ...

He said the 40,000-member Unification Church was ''the only church in America which has been forced to pay taxes on church property.'' He was referring to a New York court decision that several of the church's properties were primarily used for political purposes and could not be tax-exempt. State laws vary, but in New York, church-owned property not used for religious purposes is taxable. A spokesman for Trinity Parish said the Wall Street Episcopal church paid about $4 million a year in taxes on its properties.

Unification Church officials say the funds challenged in the Federal indictment were church monies and did not represent personal income for Mr. Moon. Dr. Durst said he did not know how much Mr. Moon earned, nor who paid him.

1982:

March 1: Criminal Case: United States v. Sun Myung Moon, 532 F. Supp. 1360 (Justia US Law)

QuoteThus, with the exception of Kamiyama's motion regarding the accuracy of the translations during the grand jury proceedings, see note 4 supra, the defendants' motions are denied. Trial will commence on March 22, 1982.
SO ORDERED.

April 4: Singapore Government Bans Rev. Moon's Religious Group (The New York Times)

QuoteSingapore has banned the religious sect headed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who is on trial in New York on charges of tax fraud.

A Home Affairs Ministry statement issued Friday night said that the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, set up here two years ago, had been dissolved because its activities were ''prejudicial to public welfare and good order.''

April 9: Criminal Case: Defense Asserts Moon's Church Owns Mansion (The New York Times)

QuoteThe prosecution and the defense presented contrasting views of the real-estate transaction, although there was no dispute that Mr. Moon lives on the estate with his family and staff.

In the prosecution's view, the arrangements to buy the expensive estate showed that large amounts of money from Mr. Moon's bank accounts were regarded by the church as his personal funds to be used for his personal needs.

According to the defense, Mr. Moon had merely provided money from church funds held in his name and had used the money for church purposes.

May 19: Criminal Case: Rev. Moon Convicted of Tax Fraud (The New York Times)

Quote...They sought to prove that Mr. Moon had deliberately failed to report more than $100,000 of bank-account interest and $50,000 of stock on his tax returns....

The jury of two men and 10 women also convicted one of Mr. Moon's top aides, Takeru Kamiyama, of conspiracy, perjury and obstructing the investigation that led to the trial. ...

Moments after the verdict, a Unification Church official issued a statement expressing confidence that Mr. Moon would be ''fully vindicated.'' It described him as ''the most abused and misunderstood religious leader of the 20th century.''

The 62-year-old Korean evangelist, who lives on an estate in Irvington, N.Y., had asserted after his indictment last year that he was being prosecuted because of prejudice against him and his church members.

Many prosecution witnesses were church officials who testified reluctantly under subpoenas. A prosecutor muttered, ''Getting their testimony is like pulling hens' teeth.''

The main question was whether the bank accounts and stock held in Mr. Moon's name belonged to him personally or to the international Unification Church movement, the judge explained. He said, ''This is the crucial issue of fact for you to decide.''

Key evidence included backdated documents about loans and finances in the church's records. Watermarks provided evidence that some documents had been created long after the transactions they purportedly recorded had taken place, and that the documents had been backdated as if signed at the time of the transactions.

The judge had told the lawyers in an earlier discussion, when the jury was not present, that evidence of an ''attempt to cover up'' had turned the initial failure to report income into a ''criminal tax case.''

The prosecution presented immigration documents contending that Mr. Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, had fraudulently obtained permanentresident status with a false statement that she worked for a Korean foundation here. They could face immigration hearings.

May 19: Criminal Case: Moon Found Guilty of Filing False Income Tax Returns (The Washington Post)

QuoteCodefendant Takeru Kamiyama, a close aide to Moon, was found guilty of conspiracy, aiding in the filing of false returns, obstruction, submitting false documents and perjury. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 51 years and a fine of up to $95,000.

May 26: Civil Case: Judge Refuses to Dismiss 'Moonie' Suit (UPI)

QuoteA judge hearing evidence in a trial of a $9 million complaint brought by a member of the Unification Church against a professional deprogrammer Wednesday rejected a motion to dismiss the complaint to spare the Rev. Sun Myung Moon from testifying under subpoena.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen ordered Moon, the church founder and leader to testify at the trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Moon's lawyer, Charles Stillman, advised the judge that the 62-year old Korean evangelist would refuse to answer questions on his Fifth Amendment rights against possible self-incrimination. Moon could be cited for contempt of court.

In rejecting the motion to dismiss, Owen said he had doubts whether the proposal represented the wishes of Anthony Columbrito, the plaintiff in the case. 'The Unification Church has been running this trial from beginning to end,' he said. 'It has called all the shots.'

May 27: Civil Case: Moon Invokes 5th Amendment In US Civil Trial (The New York Times)

QuoteUnder the threat of jail or a fine, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon answered scores of questions about the Unification Church yesterday, but invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination nine times on questions about his yacht, residences and commercial ventures and some of the sexual doctrines of his church.

Much of the testimony dealt with the marriage doctrine of the church as the defendant, a church deprogrammer, sought to show that Mr. Moon's church was a sham operation. There had been earlier testimony that sexual relations after marriage were often delayed for years to permit ''fund-raising teams'' to remain on the streets selling flowers.

Mr. Moon conceded under questioning that he decided when a married couple could have sexual intercourse based on ''divine revelation of God and the theology of the Church.''

At one point, Judge Richard Owen became visibly annoyed when Mr. Moon refused to answer a question about his role in the church and was apparently concerned that his lawyer was prompting him. Judge Issues Warning. He peered down at the witness and said: ''Rev. Moon, look at me. Do you understand that the Court has directed you to answer the question and if you refuse, that could result in a finding of contempt? Do you understand I can take certain steps to compel the answers?''

May 27: Civil Case: The Rev. Sun Myung Moon Testified Today That He.. (UPI)

QuoteThe Rev. Sun Myung Moon testified today that he has frequent conversations with Jesus, Moses and Buddha and believes he 'has the possibility of becoming the real Messiah.' ...

Moon said he could not recall when he first talked to Moses and Buddha, but it was after the Pusan revelation, he said. About Buddha, he testified, 'He talked about the antagonisms among churches and he urged me to help in the unification of all churches to save the universe.'

Moon's testimony was frequently interrupted by his lawyer, Charles Stillman, who vigorously objected to what he considered an unconstitutional intrusion into Moon's personal religious beliefs.

'This is an American court,' he implored. 'It's inappropriate to ask these questions of this witness.'

But Judge Richard Owen allowed the examination to continue, saying previous trial testimony by former Moon followers related 'to incredible acts of almost self-slavery' performed on Moon's behalf as a religious leader.

In his testimony Wednesday, Moon spoke of his control of such matters as who and when church members marry. 'I act on the divine revelation of God and the theology of the Unification Church,' he said.

He invoked the Fifth Amendment nine times in responding to about 60 questions about the policies and practices of his Unification Church. His testimony came in the trial of a $9 million suit brought by a Unification Church member against a professional deprogrammer.

Judge Owen advised the witness that he could be jailed if he refused to answer questions the court decided were not self-incriminating.

May 28: Civil Case: Moon, On Stand, Tells Of His Religious Beliefs (The New York Times)

QuoteA hearing was scheduled for this morning on Mr. Moon's contention that he is being subjected to a ''Federal judicial inquisition'' and a request that the case be dropped.

Mr. Stillman says he is concerned that the testimony could jeopardize Mr. Moon's appeal of his criminal conviction last week on Federal tax-evasion charges. Mr. Moon did not testify at his own trial, and his testimony yesterday was monitored by the United States Attorney's office.

Mr. Moon's lawyer also said that significant constitutional questions had been raised by Judge Owen's decision this week to allow the trial to continue. The plaintiff, Anthony Colombrito, had sought to dismiss the case when he learned that Mr. Moon would be forced to testify.

Judge Owen declined to drop the case, saying he was not convinced Mr. Colombrito had arrived at the decision on his own. Mr. Colombrito has pressed his case for more than three years. He asserts that he was abducted from a church center in Barrytown, N.Y., in an effort by his parents to make him renounce the church. The effort was unsuccessful....

At one point yesterday, John DeGraff, Jr., the lawyer for the defendant, Galen Kelly of Kingston, N.Y., sought to question Mr. Moon about what he said was his first conversation with Jesus on Easter morning when he was 16.

Mr. Stillman leaped to his feet, protesting the line of questioning. ''This is an American courtroom,'' he said. ''I must protect my client's rights.''

Judge Owen interjected: ''I have heard testimony during this trial from college graduates who said they spent two to three years fundraising on the streets, who have been told that the witness here is their personal Messiah and that he is responsible for their wellbeing on this earth and the hereafter.

''It is on the basis of this that these young people follow him, doing incredible acts of almost self-slavery, selling flowers from buckets from 8 A.M. to 11 P.M. year after year. Mr. Galen has been charged with trying to interrupt this life. And so we want to know whether this is a bona fide religion or not.''

Judge Owen said that one reason so many young people had joined the Unification Church was that they believed in Mr. Moon's conversations with Moses, Jesus and Buddha. If these conversations did not take place, the judge said, that was important to know.

Mr. Moon said: ''I'm ready to answer. I met Jesus Christ.'' ''How did you know it was Jesus Christ?'' Mr. DeGraff asked. ''I remember Him from his holy picture,'' Mr. Moon answered. ''He said He was the Jesus Christ.'' Mr. Moon said he still spoke with Jesus ''whenever I pray.''

July 17: Criminal Case: Moon Is Sentenced To 18-Month Term (The New York Times)

QuoteThe Rev. Sun Myung Moon was sentenced to an 18-month prison term yesterday for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice, but he remained free pending an appeal. ...

Mr. Moon, who would be eligible for parole after serving one-third of the sentence, was also fined the maximum of $25,000 plus the costs of prosecution. And he could face deportation proceedings. The maximum sentence for Mr. Moon could have been five years for conspiracy and three years on each of three tax charges involved in his failure to report $150,000 in income from bank accounts and securities. ...

The judge imposed a six-month sentence and a $5,000 fine on a codefendant, Takeru Kamiyama, one of Mr. Moon's top aides. Mr. Kamiyama was convicted of the conspiracy charge, of assisting in the tax fraud and of lying to the grand jury. Mr. Moon was extolled as a man of unique qualities by his lawyers, Charles A. Stillman and Prof. Laurence H. Tribe of Harvard Law School. They contended that he had merely held church funds in his name as a religious trust and that he had been prosecuted because of widespread public hostility toward the Unification Church.

"The man has been punished by our system," Mr. Stillman said, asserting that imprisonment would merely "satisfy a public bloodlust for Sun Myung Moon." ...

In the crowded courtroom, filled with somber supporters of Mr. Moon, Judge Goettel declared that "general deterrence" called for a prison term. He said it would be unfair to free someone who could afford top lawyers when "poor people who get caught" go to jail for relatively minor crimes. ...

If Mr. Moon received a suspended sentence, the judge went on, millions of people would believe that "the rich and the powerful go free." Judge Goettel said he had received "several thousand letters" in Mr. Moon's behalf, some from scientists, political leaders and officials of other churches expressing "fear that freedom of religion was being threatened."

"I think these fears are totally unwarranted in this case," he continued, saying the letters indicated a misunderstanding of the issues. He added, "It is the crime that dictates the sentence more than anything else."

The case was not limited to tax-fraud charges involving the failure to report income from bank accounts and securities, Judge Goettel said. He stressed that Mr. Moon had also been convicted of a conspiracy involving false documents, perjured testimony and obstruction of justice.

If the failure to report the income had been the only charge, a suspended sentence could be appropriate for Mr. Moon under the circumstances, the judge said. He suggested that the "the cover-up scheme" was more serious than the original offense.

Sept. 13: Criminal Case Appeal: USA, Appellee, v. Sun Myung Moon & Takeru Kamiyama, Defendants-Appellants (Justia - US Law)