Bo Hi Pak

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Bo Hi Pak (born August 18, 1930) is one of the most well-known members of the Unification Church. A Lieutenant Colonel in the South Korean army, he joined the nascent Unification Church in the 1950s, later rising to become one of the most important church leaders. During the 1970s and 1980s he was Moon's interpreter, the role for which he is the most famous. He also ran several non-profit foundations which advanced church goals. He was appointed as president of the Unification Church International from 1977 until 1991.

He has also been an active figure in the Washington Times Corporation, serving as the founding President and Chairman of the Board.

Pak's assistant, James Gavin, wrote:

Politics in a paper with several hundred employees was always interesting, to say the least; however, Dr. Pak was respected by the business side as well as the editorial side of the paper and ran a pretty smooth ship. The editorial people liked the fact that Dr. Pak just let them do their job and didn't meddle in the content of the paper [1]

[edit] Korean legal trouble

On July 20, 2004, the Eastern Seoul District Prosecutor imprisoned Dr. Pak and charged him with financial fraud because he was unable to repay his debts to a Korean businessman who had loaned him large sums of money to fund his floundering philanthropic projects. Pak says he was defrauded by Korean and African investors.

Pak's daughter-in-law In Jin Moon wrote:

• Dr. Pak made a terrible mistake entrusting his faith in certain church members who introduced him to the fraudulent deal
• Dr. Pak knows that he has made a terrible mistake in following bad investment advice from people with criminal motives and he takes full responsibility for his mistakes." [2]

He was given a 5-year sentence (reduced from 12 years), but could be released if he repaid the money. Rev. Moon declined to help him, without stating a reason. On August 17, 2005, Dr. Pak's daughter-in-law (Rev. Moon's second daughter), In Jin Moon, wrote an open letter to members of the Unification Church to raise money to get him released.

After serving 2 years and 3 ½ months of a five year sentence, on Nov. 3, 2006, Dr. Pak was released on probation by the court with the balance of his sentence suspended. On November 6, 2006, he disseminated a letter to be distributed by Unification Church publications worldwide to give an account of his experiences in prison. In the letter he wrote:

"Being able to live to the age of 76 was already a great blessing, but in my physical condition, I could not conceive how I would be able to serve time in prison until I became 81. I thought of John the Baptist 2000 years ago. He came with the mission to bear witness about Jesus but ended up dying in prison. I, Bo Hi, have lived with the conviction that I was born with the mission of John the Baptist for the time of the Second Advent. If it was my mission and destiny to die in prison in order to indemnify the failure of the first John the Baptist, then I was resolutely determined to solemnly receive my fate."