Since its founder's start in advocating for the Korean independence movement, the Unification Church led by Sun Myung Moon has been highly politically active. The degree of involvement of the Unification Church, as well as some of its specific stances, have also been part of the reason for the movement's controversial status over the years. The belief in the establishment of a literal Kingdom of God on earth and church founder Sun Myung Moon's teaching that religion alone is not enough to bring this about provides a motivation for political involvement.Tingle, D. and Fordyce, R. 1979, Phases and Faces of the Moon: A Critical Examination of the Unification Church and its Principles, Hicksville, NY: Exposition Press p86-87
In the 1950s and 80s, the Unification Church set up media companies, research centers, and educational institutions that focused on anti-communist ideologies. The media heavily criticized them for possibly leading to nuclear war. The Unification Church also took part in politics, particularly concerning the reunification of Korea. Moon had links to conservative politicians, including members of the Abe family in Japan, leading to debates about the extent of the Unification Church's influence in political matters.
The Unification Church has distinct teachings on politics as depicted in its central book, the Divine Principle. The book argues that God-centered governance will eventually replace existing political structures. This is envisioned as a family-like structure with Moon serving as the monarch and being referred to as the "True Parent." The Unification Church teaches about establishing a “Kingdom of Heaven on Earth,” which would be a religious monarchy.
The Unification Church connections and activities in Japan was a subject of attention when a member of the Unification Church was implicated as the mother of the man who admitted to assassinating former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. In the United States, the involvement of Moon's son, Hyung Jin Moon, in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.
1940s - 1960s
In the 1940s, before starting the Unification Church, Moon cooperated with Communist Party of Korea members in support of the Korean independence movement against Imperial Japan. After the Korean War (1950–1953), he became an outspoken anti-communist.
In 1964, he founded the Korean Culture and Freedom Foundation, a public diplomacy agency that promoted South Korea's interests and sponsored Radio Free Asia. Former U.S. Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon were honorary presidents or directors at various times.
Moon viewed the Cold War between liberal democracy and communism as the final conflict between God and Satan, with divided Korea as its primary front line.Christianity: A Global History, David Chidester, HarperCollins, 2001, , 9780062517708, pages 514 to 515 Soon after its founding, the Unification movement began supporting anti-communist organizations, including the World League for Freedom and Democracy founded in 1966 in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan), by Chiang Kai-shek,The World's Religions: Continuities and Transformations, Peter B Clarke, Peter Beyer, Taylor & Francis, 2008 , 9781135211004 and the Korean Culture and Freedom Foundation, an international public diplomacy organization which also sponsored Radio Free Asia. The Unification movement was criticized for its anti-communist activism by the mainstream media and the alternative press, and many members of them said that it could lead to World War Three and a nuclear holocaust. The movement's anti-communist activities received financial support from Japanese millionaire and activist Ryōichi Sasakawa.
1970s–1980s In 1972, Moon predicted the decline of communism, based on the teachings of the Divine Principle: "After 7,000 biblical years—6,000 years of restoration history plus the millennium, the time of completion—communism will fall in its 70th year. Here is the meaning of the year 1978. Communism, begun in 1917, could maintain itself approximately 60 years and reach its peak. So 1978 is the border line and afterward communism will decline; in the 70th year it will be altogether ruined. This is true. Therefore, now is the time for people who are studying communism to abandon it."The Way of Restoration, (April 1972) In 1973, he called for an "automatic theocracy" to replace communism and solve "every political and economic situation in every field".Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church, Frederick Sontag, Abingdon Press, 1 January 1977, page 122 In 1975, Moon spoke at a government sponsored rally against potential North Korean military aggression on Yeouido Island in Seoul to an audience of around 1 million.
In 1976, Moon established News World Communications, an international news media conglomerate which publishes The Washington Times newspaper in Washington, D.C., and newspapers in South Korea, Japan, and South America, partly in order to promote political conservatism. According to The Washington Post, "the Times was established by Moon to combat communism and be a conservative alternative to what he perceived as the liberal bias of The Washington Post." Bo Hi Pak, called Moon's "right-hand man", was the founding president and the founding chairman of the board.Pak was founding president of the Washington Times Corporation (1982–1992), and founding chairman of the board. Bo Hi Pak, Appendix B: Brief Chronology of the Life of Dr. Bo Hi Pak, in Messiah: My Testimony to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Vol I by Bo Hi Pak (2000), Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Moon asked Richard L. Rubenstein, a rabbi and college professor, to join its board of directors."Rabbi Joins the Board of Moonie Newspaper", The Palm Beach Post, 21 May 1978 The Washington Times has often been noted for its generally pro-Israel editorial policies.As U.S. Media Ownership Shrinks, Who Covers Islam?, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997 In 2002, during the 20th anniversary party for the Times, Moon said: "The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world."
In 1980, members founded CAUSA International, an anti-communist educational organization based in New York City."Moon's "Cause" Takes Aim At Communism in Americas." The Washington Post. 28 August 1983 In the 1980s, it was active in 21 countries. In the United States, it sponsored educational conferences for evangelical and fundamentalist Christian leadersSun Myung Moon's Followers Recruit Christians to Assist in Battle Against Communism Christianity Today, 15 June 1985 as well as seminars and conferences for Senate staffers, Hispanic Americans and conservative activists.Church Spends Millions On Its Image, The Washington Post, 17 September 1984. "Another church political arm, Causa International, which preaches a philosophy it calls "God-ism," has been spending millions of dollars on expense-paid seminars and conferences for Senate staffers, Hispanic Americans and conservative activists. It also has contributed $500,000 to finance an anticommunist lobbying campaign headed by John T. (Terry) Dolan, chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC)." In 1986, CAUSA International sponsored the documentary film Nicaragua Was Our Home, about the Miskito Indians of Nicaragua and their persecution at the hands of the Nicaraguan government. It was filmed and produced by USA-UWC member Lee Shapiro, who later died while filming with anti-Soviet forces during the Soviet–Afghan War.2 Americans Reported Killed In an Ambush in Afghanistan The New York Times, 28 October 1987 At this time CAUSA international also directly assisted the United States Central Intelligence Agency in supplying the Contras, in addition to paying for flights by rebel leaders. CAUSA's aid to the Contras escalated after Congress cut off CIA funding for them. According to contemporary CIA reports, supplies for the anti-Sandinista forces and their families came from a variety of sources in the US ranging from Moon's Unification Church to U.S. politicians, evangelical groups and former military officers.
In 1980, members in Washington, D.C., disrupted a protest rally against the United States military draft.30,000 participate in anti-draft rally in Washington , Daily Collegian, 24 March 1980 In 1981, the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court ruled that the HSA–UWC was not entitled to property tax exemptions on its New York City properties since its primary purpose was political, not religious.Moon's Sect Is Taxable, Court Rules, The New York Times, 7 May 1981 In 1982, this ruling was overturned by the New York State Supreme Court itself, which ruled that it should be considered a religious organization for tax purposes., Los Angeles Times, 6 May 1982
In 1983, some American members joined a public protest against the Soviet Union in response to its shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007. In 1984, the HSA–UWC founded the Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy, a Washington, D.C. think tank that underwrites conservative-oriented research and seminars at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and other institutions. In the same year, member Dan Fefferman founded the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in Virginia, which is active in protesting what it considers to be threats to religious freedom by governmental agencies. In August 1985, the Professors World Peace Academy, an organization founded by Moon, sponsored a conference in Geneva to debate the theme "The situation in the world after the fall of the communist empire."Projections about a post-Soviet world-twenty-five years later. // Goliath Business News
1990s
In April 1990, Moon visited the Soviet Union and met with President Mikhail Gorbachev. Moon expressed support for the political and economic transformations under way in the Soviet Union. At the same time the Unification Church was expanding into formerly communist nations.EVOLUTION IN EUROPE; New Flock for Moon Church: The Changing Soviet Student from The New York Times After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Unification movement promoted extensive missionary work in Russia and other former Soviet nations.
In 1991, he met with Kim Il Sung, the North Korean President, to discuss ways to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula, as well as on international relations, tourism, and other topics. In 1994, Moon was officially invited to the funeral of Kim Il Sung, in spite of the absence of diplomatic relations between North Korea and South Korea.
In 1994 the New York Times recognized the church's political influence, saying it was "a theocratic powerhouse that is pouring foreign fortunes into conservative causes in the United States." In 1998 the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram criticized Moon's "ultra-right leanings" and suggested a personal relationship with conservative Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The same old game , Al-Ahram, 12–18 November 1998, "The Washington Times is a mouthpiece for the ultra conservative Republican right, unquestioning supporters of Israel's Likud government. The newspaper is owned by Sun Myung Moon, originally a native of North Korea and head of the Unification Church, whose ultra-right leanings make him a ready ally for Netanyahu. Whether or not Netanyahu is personally acquainted with Moon is unclear, though there is no doubt that he has established close friendships with several staff members on The Washington Times, whose editorial policy is rabidly anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel."