hankyoreh

By Cho Yeon-hyun, religion correspondent

The founder of the Unification Church Rev. Sun Myung Moon died early on September 3. He has been frequently noted as one of the most controversial figures in modern Korean history.

He was called by some the leader of an apocalyptic religious cult, and the true father of a spiritually liberating movement by others. Throughout his time leading the Unification Church, he was undoubtedly one of the most recognizable Koreans on the planet.

In his 2009 autobiography, which sold more than a million copies, ‘As a Peace-loving Global Citizen’, he wrote, “I am a controversial person. The world…has associated many different phrases with my name, rejected me and thrown stones at me.”

Having been constantly criticized by Christians, Rev. Moon attempted to disassociate himself from Christianity by installing a special room at the church’s headquarters in Seoul to honor four major religious leaders: Confucius, Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed. Soon afterwards, his Unification Church began to publicly claim that Rev. Moon was the messiah.

In order to commemorate his 90th birthday in 2009, the Unification Church revealed its Cheon-Jeong-Gung, its so-called Unification Kingdom Center. The facility is 1.66 million m² and is located in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. In its opening ceremony, Rev. Moon was named to be the Second Advent, The Messiah, and the King of Peace. Then, he performed a coronation ceremony with his wife to become ‘The Great God’. Through the ceremony he claimed to have been fully deified.

Rev. Moon’s spiritual successor is his youngest son, Hyung Jin Moon, 34, president of the Unification Church. He was nominated at the age of 29, then inaugurated to his current position in 2008. Hyung Jin holds an MA from Harvard Divinity School, where he was known to walk around in a Buddhist monk’s robe with a shaved head. Mr. Moon also met Buddhist Monks Dalai Lama, Beop-jang, and Beop-jeon, current and former leaders of Korea’s Jogye Buddhist Order.

Some are now hoping that Hyung Jin will reform and open up the church, unlike his father who led the Church through the force of his personality. He may also bring a more modern management system into the Church, seeing as he is highly educated and has extensive experience abroad.

After his inauguration as president, Mr. Moon reduced the organization’s 430 churches to 200 with Yongsan Church as its center. It is not clear how many followers the church has in Korea, but in 2010 it was estimated to be 19,000.

The church’s wide range of business interests have occasionally been fought over by Moon’s sons. That happened when Rev. Moon’s 3rd son, Hyun Jin Moon, 43, the chief executive of the Unification Church International (UCI) clashed with his brother, fourth son Kuk Jin Moon, 42, the chief executive of the Tongil Group over construction right of the 15,300m² owned by the Tongil Group.

Despite Rev. Moon’s claims to work for human peace, harmony, and family, the church has been the subject of repeated suspicions over the sincerity of its activities. These concerns are heightened by the fact that the family members hold absolute control over the assets of the Unification Church, which are continuously fought over by the family members.

It is understood that Hyung Jin will be in charge of the church’s religious activities, and Kook Jin control the business part. Han Hak-ja, Rev. Moon’s widow, is expected to replace him for a while. Nonetheless, there is a growing concern over the stability and unity of the Unification Church as the force of its irreplaceable leader fades away.

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