United States Congressional investigation of the Unification Church

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Between 1977 and 1978, the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the United States House of Representatives' Committee on International Relations conducted an investigation into Korean-American relations. The subcommittee, which was chaired by Representative Donald M. Fraser of Minnesota, issued a 447 page report entitled Investigation of Korean-American Relations; Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Comittee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives. Eighty-one pages (pages 311 to 392) of the report presented the subcommittee's findings on Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the Unification Church, and what the subcommittee termed "the Moon Organization."

Contents 1 Issues raised during an earlier investigation 2 On the use of the term "Moon Organization" 3 On Moon's teachings and objectives 4 On Moon's strategy 5 Conclusions and recommendations 6 The Unification Church's response 7 External links 8 See also 9 References

[edit] Issues raised during an earlier investigation

In its report, the subcommittee described issues that had been raised during its earlier 1976 investigation into the activities of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) in the United States.

The subcommittee had received allegations concerning Sun Myung Moon and organizations associated with him:^[1]

By that time, Moon and the Unification Church (UC) had generated controversy throughout the United States over a variety of issues. Many Americans were distressed by the recruitment techniques of the UC. Others questioned the failure of the UC to state openly its ties with the numerous groups it had set up; the use to which it 312 put its tax-exempt status; the propriety of its owning and operating an armaments plant in South Korea; possible links to the South Korean Government; and Moon's statements in late 1973 and 1974 concerning President Nixon and Watergate. The most volatile controversy raged around the charges that "Moonies" were brainwashed. The UC in turn countercharged that parents were kidnaping UC members for "deprogramming" and successfully obtained court orders restricting the activities of the deprogrammers.

Lee Jai Hyon, a former official of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Government who had been stationed at the Korean Embassy in Washington, testified at that earlier investigation: "Lee described what appeared to him to be 'a curious working relationship' involving the Korean Government, the UC, and other organizations associated with Moon." Lee Jai Hyon's allegations included:^[1]

• That Pak Bo Hi, Moon's aide and translator and president of the Washington-based Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation (KCFF), had access to the Korean Embassy's cable channel to Seoul.
• That agents of the KCIA at the Embassy maintained contact with the Freedom Leadership Foundation (FLF), "another Moon-related organization in Washington."
• That Moon had founded the "Little Angels," a Korean children's dance troupe which had appeared around the world as official representative of the Korean Government.
• That South Korean President Park Chung Hee had mailed out 60,000 letters on behalf of the KCFF.
• That Moon operated an anti-Communist indoctrination center in Korea for Korean Government employees and military officers. Lee also pointed to Moon's rise to wealth and prominence under the Park regime and suggested that this could only have occurred with the active cooperation of the KCIA and other branches of the Government.

Alan Tate Wood, a former UC member who had been president of the FLF, also testified to the subcommittee, alleging that "Moon, through the UC and its numerous front organizations, wanted to acquire enough influence in America to be able to "dictate policy on major issues, to influence legislation, and move into electoral politics." In the United States, the political goals of the UC and those of the KCIA "overlap so thoroughly as to display no difference at all." Wood also charged that Moon was violating U.S. laws by importing aliens to raise funds and that fundraising by UC members was often done under false pretenses."^[1]

[edit] On the use of the term "Moon Organization"

During the 1977-1978 investigation, the subcommittee investigated organizations with which Moon was allegedly involved:^[1]

It soon became apparent that he was the key figure in an international network of organizations engaged in economic and political as well as religious activities. The numerous churches, businesses, committees, foundations, and other groups associated with Sun Myung Moon emerged as parts of what is essentially one worldwide organization, under the centralized direction and control of Moon. This organization began as a small movement started by Moon in Korea in 1954. In the diversity of its functions and basic organizational structure it now resembles a multinational corporation, involved in manufacturing, international trade, defense contracting, finance, and other business activities. However, it goes beyond that in that it encompasses religious, educational, cultural, ideological, and political enterprises as well.

The subcommittee further found that:^[1]

In the training and use of lower ranking members, it resembles a paramilitary organization, while in other respects it has the characteristics of a tightly disciplined international political party. Among the many organizations there is continuous and close interaction, principally in the form of personnel moving back and forth among organizations, intermixed finances, use of one component or another component as if both were one and the same, and, of course, the figure of Moon. Because of the close interrelationship of the various organizations, the subcommittee came to view them as one unit and refers to them in the aggregate as the Moon Organization in this report. Goals of Moon Before reviewing the components and activities of the Moon Organization, it is useful to look at various writings and speeches of Moon in which he discusses the goals of his movement and the 314 means required to achieve them. Within that context, the Moon Organization becomes more comprehensible. In many public statements and in applications for tax-exempt status, the goals of the Moon movement are said to be religious. Actions which appeared to be clearly political or economic to outsiders were explained as necessary means to achieve religious goals. The apparent contradictions in many of the activities of the Moon Organization are explained by Moon's overriding religious goal--to establish a worldwide "theocracy," that is, a world order which would abolish separation of church and state and be governed by the immediate direction of God.

The subcommittee categorized these organizations into three categories:

• The first category consists of organizaitons "whose major function is to attract new members to the UC, though their relationship with the UC may be hidden." The examples given are:
  • CARP (Collegiate Association for the Research into Principles)
  • Creative Community Project (formerly known as New Education Development Systems, Inc. and the International Re-Education Foundation)
  • The Center for Ethical Management and Planning
  • The One World Crusade
• The second category "consists of groups which focus on the secular goals of Moon and the UC." The examples given are:
  • The International Cultural Foundation
  • The Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation
  • The Freedom Leadership Foundation.
• The third category includes "economic enterprises, ranging from multi-million dollar industries to small retail stores."

[edit] On Moon's teachings and objectives

The subcommittee reported on what it had determined to be some of Moon's teachings:^[1]

• Moon is quoted as saying "...we must have an automatic theocracy to rule the world. So, we cannot separate the political field from the religious."
• The report states that Moon "visualized the establishment of a 'unified civilization' of the whole world, to be centered in Korea and "corresponding to that of the Roman Empire."
• Moon is quoted as saying that "In the meal [sic] world centered upon God, everyone will speak only Korean, so no interpreter will be necessary."

Moon is also quoted as saying:^[1]

"This system should eventually prevail so overwhelmingly, that even in Japan and Germany, the people will not buy products.from their, own country, but will buy according to centralized instructions. What kind of system of thought or economy can function to give these centralized instructions? Religion is the only system that can do that. So in the future, this system of thought or system of economy will have a close relationship with religious organizations. Our master is going to prepare for this system of economy."

[edit] On Moon's strategy

According to the subcommittee, "To achieve his theocracy, Moon has mapped out strategies for gaining control and influence over economic, political, cultural, academic, media, and religious institutions. The efforts of the Moon Organization are to be concentrated on key nations." Moon is quoted as saying that "We must approach from every angle of life; otherwise, we cannot absorb the whole population of the world. We must besiege them."^[1]

The subcommittee further states that "Moon based his movement on a church because it provides the greatest opportunity for reaching his goals. A UC publication discussed a change in the American organization's name from 'United Family" to "Unification Church," noting that "The reason for the change is that we must ultimately have our effect on the institutions of society."^[1]

[edit] Conclusions and recommendations

The subcommittee summarized its findings as follows:^[1]

• "The UC and numerous other religious and secular organizations headed by Sun Myung Moon constitute essentially one international organization."
• "The Moon Organization attempts to achieve goals outlined by Sun Myung Moon, who has substantial control over the economic, political, and spiritual activities undertaken by the organization in pursuit of those goals."
• "Among the goals of the Moon Organization is the establishment of a worldwide government in which the separation of church and state would be abolished and which would be governed by Moon and his followers."
• "In pursuit of this and other goals, the Moon Organization has attempted, with varying degrees of success, to gain control over or establish business and other secular institutions in the United States and elsewhere, and has engaged in political activities in the United States. Some of these activities were undertaken to benefit the ROK Government or otherwise to influence U.S. foreign policy."
• "While pursuing its own goals, the Moon Organization promoted the interests of the ROK Government, and at times did so in cooperation with, or at the direction of, ROK agencies and officials."
• "The Moon Organization established the KCFF ostensibly as a nonprofit foundation to promote Korean-American relations, but used the KCFF to promote its own political and economic interests and those of the ROK Government."
• "The Moon Organization extensively used the names of Senators, Congressmen, U.S. Presidents, and other prominent Americans to raise funds and to create political influence for itself and the ROK Government."
• "A Moon Organization business is an important defense contractor in Korea. It is involved in the production of M-16 rifles, antiaircraft guns, and other weapons."
• "Moon Organization agents attempted to obtain permission from an American corporation to export M-16's manufactured in Korea. The M-16's are manufactured under a coproduction 388 agreement approved by the U.S. Government, which puts M-16 production under the exclusive control of the Korean Government. Despite this, Moon Organization representative appeared-apparently on behalf of the Korean Government--to negotiate an extension of the agreement."
• "The Moon Organization attempted to obtain a controlling interest in the Diplomat National Bank by disguising the source of funds used to purchase stock in the names of UC members."
• "The Moon Organization used church and other tax-exempt components in support of its political and economic activities."
• "Although many of the goals and activities of the Moon Organization were legitimate and lawful, there was evidence that it had systematically violated U.S. tax, immigration, banking, currency, and Foreign Agents Registration Act laws, as well as State and local laws relating to charity fraud, and that these violations were related to the organization's overall goals of gaining temporal power."

[edit] The Unification Church's response

Bo Hi Pak, who was at that time one of the top leaders of the Unification Church and who was called to testify at the hearings, said:

Mr. Fraser conducted the most extensive congressional inquiry into a religious organization in recent history, alleging that the Unification Church was a front for the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. To prove this, he subpoenaed church officials, interviewed scores of present and former church members, minutely scrutinized church financial records (literally tons of documents were turned over to the subcommittee), probed the business and political affiliations of church members, sent investigators to Korea, and speculated about the meaning of the church's religious doctrines and teachings. Despite all of this, in the end he had to admit that all of his major allegations were false. Rather than apologizing for the ugly rumors his investigation had spread, however, Mr. Fraser buried his admissions in begrudging, single-line statements in the middle of a 447-page report that few people will ever read.^[2]

[edit] External links

• Excerpt from the report on Steven Hassan's Freedom of Mind Web site
• Excerpt from the report on the Rick Ross Institute Web site

House resolutions

• House Resolution 996, 1977
• House Resolution 999, 1978

Scholarly articles

• New Religions and Public Policy, Michael D. Langone, John G. Clark, Jr., paper presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Division American Association for the Advancement of Science, June 1983, also published in Scientific Research and New Religions: Divergent Perspectives, edited by Brock K. Kilbourne, Pacific Division American Association for the Advancement of Science, San Francisco, California, 1985, pp. 90-113.
• Cults in Court, Cultic Studies Journal, 8 (1), 1991
• Oversight of Foreign Policy: The U. S. House Committee on International Relations, Fred Kaiser, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Aug., 1977), pp. 255-279

Media mentions

• The Cult Controversy, The Washington Post, 1982

[edit] See also

• List of United States House committees

[edit] References