Hyung Jin Moon Seeking a Peaceful Reunification of Korea

Ariana Moon and Tossa Cromwell
December 24, 2011
UPF -- International

Hyung Jin Moon and Yeon Ah Moon in Pyongyang, December 13, 2011

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the historic meeting between his parents, Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, and Kim Il-sung, the father of Kim Jong-il, UPF Chairman Rev. Hyung Jin Moon visited North Korea from December 9 to 16. After his return to Seoul, it was reported that Kim Jong-il had passed away on December 17 at the age of 69. The UPF Chairman returned to Pyongyang to pay his respects, laying a memorial wreath at the main mourning site in Kim Il-sung Square in front of a portrait of the late Kim Jong-il on December 24.

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and his wife, Yeon An Lee, first arrived in Pyongyang on December 9. According to a report from Sang Gwon Park, president of Pyung Hwa Motors in North Korea, they were escorted from the airport to the Moranbong Presidential Guest House for a welcoming dinner banquet with representatives of the Korean Asia Pacific Peace Committee. "Many things were said at the welcoming banquet and the atmosphere was truly congenial," Park reported, mentioning references to the elder Rev. Moon's remarks during his visit 20 years ago.

According to Park, Mr. Dong Yeon Won, vice chairman of the Korean Asian Pacific Peace Committee, said, "National Security Chairman Kim Jong-il arranged for every [aspect of the visit] and made available the national welcoming hall as well as the government's automobiles. I could never forget President Sun Myung Moon. I send my respects to him in consideration of his continuous efforts to bring about the unification of the Korean fatherland and world peace, especially through sending his beloved son to North Korea on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his visit."

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and his wife traveled north of Pyongyang to visit the birthplace of his father in Jungjoo City and the tomb of his parents, Kyung Gye Kim and Moon Kyung Woo Moon. They also visited the birthplace of his mother, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, in Anjoo.

On December 15, Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly and North Korea's ceremonial head of state, had a cordial talk with the delegation at the Mansudae Assembly Hall. Television News in Pyongyang showed Hyung Jin Moon speaking with Kim Yong Nam.

This visit also followed up on a donation of wheat flour the previous month by the Ambassadors for Peace Association of South Korea. Six hundred tons of wheat flour had been sent to North Korea to be delivered to the people of Jungjoo, where starvation has been an enduring problem. The Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's largest News Agency, had reported on November 30 that "There have been widespread allegations that the North could divert outside food aid to its elite and military, a key backbone of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's rule. …The North has relied on foreign handouts since the late 1990s when it suffered a massive famine that was estimated to have killed 2 million people." However, South Korean Ministry of Unification spokeswoman Soo Jin Park said that the distribution of flour was going well and that "the government plans to make efforts to ensure it can consistently monitor" aid to the North.

In his meeting with Kim Yong Nam, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon received confirmation that the flour had been duly distributed to the appropriate recipients.

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon asked people around the world to join him in offering devotion and prayer for the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula. 

One Door Closes, Another Opens as Rev. Hyung Jin Moon Visits Pyongyang

One Door Closes, Another Opens as Rev. Hyung Jin Moon Visits Pyongyang

Realistic Actualization of the Abel UN

Hyung Jin Moon
December 18, 2011
Cheon Bok Gong

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon in North Korea converses with Mr. Yong Nam Kim, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly

This past week I was in North Korea for seven days, and I was very moved by this experience. I was grateful to be able to spend a week there thanks to your prayers and Jeong Seong, and on the basis of the True Parents' concern and protection.

Today I would like to speak about securing True Parents' victory. Let's read the important Bible verses Matthew 5.18-19.

For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

I have heard that you have been setting many conditions and have been reading Father's speech, which he has been giving at the Cosmic Assemblies for the Declaration of the Word by God's Substantial Self. We also have been looking at that, thinking about it and puzzling over it a great deal.

Since 2004, True Father has been speaking about beginning the Abel UN era. A few years after 2004, as he began the Pacific Rim era, he transferred the essence of his thirty-four years of providential effort in America completely to Korea, God's homeland. In so doing, he began the era of tranquility and prosperity, the "True Parents eog-mansei" era. We have to consider how this is this going to be substantiated. Not simply symbolically, as in the past, with internal events at which we say, "The Abel UN is now established," in a room with members from various countries whose presence there, we say, means the whole world is there. If it's not going to be symbolic, we have to consider what kind of phenomenon it needs to be to be one by which the Unification Church community actually transforms the world.

We may not understanding all the proclamations Father makes. As I attend True Father, especially when he speaks to us at length, it might take days, weeks, months -- even years -- to understand the significance of what he has said. However, going to North Korea, I had many experiences that I will not forget as long as I live, and I realized that True Parents have succeeded on all fronts. When we visited North Korea, I could confirm with my own eyes that the work of the spirit has proceeded from the great love True Parents expressed twenty years ago.

Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim in front of the house where True Father was born and lived as a child. With him are Sang Gwon Park, Peter Kim, Ken Doo and a group of Japanese leaders also visiting North Korea for the anniversary of True Parents' 1991 visit.

I am saying this to you now because establishing the Abel United Nations, as you know, is Cheon Bok Gung's second mission. The first mission is to establish God's temple so that God can be upheld, and the second is to establish the Abel UN. When I thought about how we might establish the Abel UN in substantial terms and about how Korea might become the central nation of the world, I could not imagine it at all. Could that day ever come? Korea, God's homeland, is a small country. I have thought much about how this little country might be able to move the world. True Father has made a number of declarations to do with establishing the Abel UN, and I was unable to understand clearly what he meant at those times. Nonetheless, Father is showing us a certain vision, and over time, parts of that vision are becoming apparent to me.

I am grateful that True Parents are creating a global foundation in offering all these conditions. When they come to their homeland they offer Jeong Seong day and night. And when they do, some of the true children come and do those activities alongside True Parents and thus offer their support. I am very moved to see this. We experience many things as we attend True Parents, yet we feel much regret that we cannot meet other members very often.

However, as international president, as I work with True Parents, I am learning something of the perspective from which True Father views the world. I always feel that, when he carries out a certain aspect of the providence, in the face of his mission that is huge like the universe, there is nothing more important than directly learning and inheriting from him, and I feel grateful in my heart. Despite our inadequacies, attending Father puts us in a position to learn so much from True Parents.

Recently, in Chung Pyung, while True Parents were resting a bit, after concluding Hoon Dok Hae, I was able to share a meal with and talk to Kook Jin Nim, who'd been giving his "Strong Korea?" presentation at the Cheongshim School of Theology. He had come to Cheon Jeong Peace Palace to see True Parents, but because True Parents were resting, we were able to get together.

If we look at the providential activities in the United States, in the cold war era True Parents worked in a certain way to bring the Soviet Union to surrender. Dr. Joon Ho Seuk has testified that through True Parents' education and the Victory Over Communism campaign, about three thousand Soviet students came to workshops and training in the United States. At that time, it was hard to bring even one Soviet student a year to America, but to have brought three thousand to workshops in the space of a few years was a miracle. Moreover, these workshop graduates provided a strong foundation; they played a role in challenging the fearsome communist environment, even standing in front of tanks, putting their bodies in harm's way for the sake of freedom. Thus, Father's work in America gave the Unification movement the opportunity to actually affect and change the real world in that instance.

"They will take care to walk in the way of the Lord..." Hyung Jin Nim, Yeon Ah Nim and elder Korean and Japanese members walk down the path toward Mt. Myodu (visible in the background), where Father, as a young man, encountered Jesus in prayer.

However, we have fallen short in some ways, and because we did not keep up with the speed of the providence, when all is said and done, we haven't wrought the changes we could have. Facing up to reality, we feel frustrated but one way to look at it is that through those circumstances, we could learn and become much wiser.

In such a situation, listening to my brother Kook Jin Nim's speech, I feel he is saying remarkable things. As you may know, communist forces are gathering strength; and in some countries in the Arab world terrorist organizations are gaining political power.

This is the reality we face. This is the reality of the world. The Pacific region is becoming a more fearsome place. We can only agonize over the question of how a small nation such as this one, and a small group like the Unification movement, can do anything about it.

We are attending True Parents; we have given three reports to them about the world's situation, and each time they heard these reports, they said we must work quickly. Father has already given me instructions several times.

My older brother Kook Jin is receiving these directions and has already been giving the "Strong Korea?" talk to important people such as former government ministers, and others. In Japan also, the IFVOC is trying to renew Japanese society. In the 1960s, True Parents erected a foundation for change in Japan through their IFVOC work. Now, in an environment where one can sense an increased threat even in Japan at this time, people up to the level of government ministers are attending Kook Jin Nim's talks there and are deeply moved. People have reported this to me.

A month ago, I met with Tom Walsh, UPF's international president. He told me something very surprising, which was that the United Nations began from the presentation of an idea by just two countries -- the United States and the United Kingdom. It has expanded to include most of the world. As you know, many lack confidence that the UN has the power to resolve the problems of the world and doubt that it will be able to block the fearsome forces that are gathering.

In light of this, in 2004, Father declared the establishment of the Abel UN. When I first heard news of this, I couldn't understand what it meant. I came to understand much more when speaking to Dr. Walsh. I felt spiritually that if the Unification Church family were to help bring Korea and Japan together in the area of national defense (bringing the two nations together in actuality, not just at events) cooperating because they comprehend the threat of communist powers, this would be the beginning of the substantial Abel UN.

Father has said many times, as early as the 1980s -- and it appears in Cheon Seong Gyeong -- "Korea, Japan and the U.S. must become one. I have many Korean-Japanese blessed families in preparation for that time."

Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim arriving in Pyongyang, December 9

From decades ago Father has been working for the unity of Korea and Japan. While he was working hard on the unification of North Korea and South Korea, he was already working for Korean-Japanese unity. Through around six thousand Korean-Japanese families in Korea, and many more in Japan, the unification movement is participating in a historic transition. We are doing things that no one else has done, that no one else has thought of before -- uniting Korea and Japan.

The strong democratic countries in the Pacific region must bring their strength together as quickly as possible, for the communist realm is currently expanding, increasing in military strength and producing weapons, and we may soon face a major crisis.

In this era, no one other than our Korean-Japanese families, and furthermore, all families in the Unification Church hold the solution. Only the Unificationist families can bring peace to the Pacific region. Kook Jin Nim has already alerted us to this fact. Already, decades ago, Father said that Korea and Japan must be one. Therefore, I firmly believe that we need to fulfill this task substantially, and do our utmost to cooperate and bring this about.

The second mission of the members of Cheon Bok Gung is, notably, to establish the Abel UN, and so this is a very important mission. The time has come for that, and Father has opened that way for us and ushered in the era in which we can do so. If we can achieve our five percent responsibility, we can, by bringing together Japan and Korea, begin the work of establishing the Abel UN in substance. And through the countries that join together under this organization will come the possibility of bringing peace substantially to the Pacific Rim. I firmly believe this great task will be fulfilled.

The time has come, and this is something people cannot calculate. I believe I can finally see now what Father's vision is. The Abel UN is now visible to our eyes. We can now see clearly how we are meant to protect the Pacific Rim, and how the Abel realm nations on God's side upholding freedom and democracy can establish the Abel UN, so as to bring about the settlement of peace in the Pacific region. Father keeps saying how little time there is between now and Foundation Day, that we only have four hundred and something days and that we need to make all haste. We don't feel the urgency Father feels, but please think about this situation.

We need to look at the countries of the Pacific Rim and see the growing powers, and think about how we are going to protect the Pacific region in this Pacific Rim era. Countries in the Abel realm, the countries that uphold democracy and freedom, must establish the Abel UN and thereby bring about peace in the Pacific Rim era and protect it. If this comes to pass, then Father will become the substantial savior of the Pacific region.

The send-off ceremony at the border of North and South Korea, December 1, 2011 Ambassadors for peace, carrying signs that read "land may be divided but we are one people," and "Let's live together"

As you know, Divine Principle prophesies a third world war. There are two ways for this to happen. The first way is for an actual war of nations' military forces to break out. The second way is for it to be an ideological war. It is certain that a third world war will come, but if the Abel UN can be established and, as a result, we can block the outbreak of an actual war involving troops and weapons, then True Parents will indeed become the savior of the substantial world.

Ladies and gentlemen, we must repent in front of True Parents. Jesus said that if you want to go to heaven you must first repent. In the same way, when True Parents first made this amazing declaration I was unable to catch its meaning or how the vision would be realized. But it is now unfolding before us.

With the establishment of the Abel UN and the Pacific Rim era, and through preventing another world war, True Parents' eternal reign of peace will be established. Then everyone will shout eog-mansei for True Parents, as the savior of the world, and for the realm of tranquility and prosperity. Of course, True Parents would be eligible to receive the Nobel Peace Prize; plus True Parents' status will be made apparent to the world. This will be the realization of the hopes of all Unification Church members. That is the amazing time we live in now.

Not just the Unification Family, but in UPF, for example in Europe, we have a former defense minister working with us as an ambassador for peace. Those who have experience with helping countries come together to establish agreements have formed research teams to bring together Korea and Japan and begin the work of establishing the Abel UN.

At the same time, centering in particular on our young students and CARP, we are going to hold a global conference during Cheonbok Festival week. Our young students will hold a debate between theistic and atheistic viewpoints. We are holding this because if we cannot explain why theism is the more reasonable position -- why God exists -- there will be no reason to protect this small country. If we cannot explain, based on God and our theological foundation, that this is the fatherland to which the returning Lord has come, that its people are the chosen people, and that because this is the holy land we must protect it, then how can we bring atheists to believe in God? That is why in this time and age, when atheism is fast spreading in the world, young people are preparing to fight an ideological battle with those forces on university campuses.

This debate is going to be held on a large scale at the Cheonbok Festival. This time, CARP members from around the world will get a chance to strengthen their faith through the atheism-theism debate and Victory Over Communism activities, and what is more, they will be able to show why the 21st century will record a history of darkness if our world follows atheism and materialism. With hope, freedom and complete faith in God, and religious freedom plus a theistic worldview, young people will be able to turn away from atheism and, with hope, turn toward God and spirituality. Then the twenty-first century will see amazing change.

A send-off ceremony at the border, on December 1: Twelve trucks transported flour to North Korea. The long banners read, "The second overland transfer of three hundred tons of flour to the citizens of Jeongju, North Korea."

True Parents have called all the pastors from around Korea to a 3-day workshop: they are to study the Divine Principle as well as the detailed content from Kook Jin Nim's "Strong Korea?" lecture, which has been broadcast on news, and they will also receive lecturer training. Through the workshop, our pastors and we ourselves will learn through data and statistics, similar to the time when we carried out VOC activities. Our members will be central figures in this era to alert the country to the present situation and prepare its people, and establish the Abel UN in Korea and Japan. That is the great work that is going on now.

If we are able to do this before Foundation Day and offer this result to True Parents, if we can present them with the establishment of the Abel UN, the Pacific Rim era, and True Parents' era of the reign of peace and tranquility, for which we can offer cheers eternally, how relieved True Parents will be! How happy and proud of their children they will be!

Now we are finally getting to see how True Parents' declarations and vision are realized. To bring that about, we must repent in front of True Parents, and though we are late in gaining an awareness of this, we must understand this vision as quickly as possible and harvest the victory for True Parents in substantial form.

Let us become the blessed families and Unification Church members who accomplish that.

In commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the historic meeting of True Parents and North Korean President Kim Il Sung (December 6, 1991), the Republic of Korea Ambassadors for Peace Council sent two shipments of three hundred tons of wheat flour to Jeongju in North Korea, on November 14 and December 1.

The shipments comprised 1,500 sacks of flour each weighing twenty kilograms. These were prepared with donations collected during collection campaigns over the previous year.

Each shipment was transported in twelve trucks. South Korean drivers drove from south of the border overland to Bongdong Station at the gates of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a few miles inside North Korea (where South Korean companies are permitted to operate with North Korean workers in joint North-South economic ventures). There, the flour was handed over to the North Korean authorities and then transferred to Jeongju.

A delegation of six South Korean ambassadors for peace, led by Ambassador for Peace Council Chairman (and former government advisor) Min-ha Kim, accompanied the first shipment. They arrived at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex control office just before the trucks and were warmly received by North Korean representatives. The North Korean welcoming delegation comprised six senior officials of important civil organizations: two representatives from the Korean Asia Pacific Peace Committee (KAPPC), two representatives from Jeongju, and two representatives from the North Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation. The delegation demonstrated the North Korean authorities' sincere welcome of the relief efforts. Moreover, the warmth of the reception for Chairman Min-ha Kim showed that North Korean authorities recognize the role he has played in recent the exchanges between North and South Korea.

The ambassadors for peace accompanied the wheat flour all the way to Pyongan Province in the northwest, and oversaw its distribution to sixteen establishments, including nursery schools in True Father's hometown.

At 8:30 am on the same day, at Im Jin Gak just south of the border, a send-off ceremony for the flour had been held by UPF President Sun Jo Hwang and more than a hundred ambassadors for peace and interested parties, who also offered monetary donations that were also conveyed to the North.

The Ambassadors for Peace Council, which wants to carry out further relief efforts, hopes that their aid to North Korea will open the way for the North and South Korean governments to communicate with one another more freely. 

Hyung Jin Moon's visit to North Korea - Interview of Sang Gwon Park

December 17, 2011

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, Mr. Sang Gwon Park and others, including Japanese leaders, bring a wreath and bouquets of flowers to be placed in front of a large portrait of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square on December 24. The wording on the ribbon reads "We wish eternal life for respected Kim Jong Il, Chairman of the National Defense Commission."

On December 17, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died, and his country was plunged into mourning. Although Hyung Jin Nim had just the day before returned from Pyongyang to South Korea, within a week he would be leading a delegation back to the North Korean capital. Pyeonghwa Motors president Sang Gwon Park gave us these personal insights.

Question: What made Hyung Jin Nim return to North Korea for Kim Jong Il's funeral?

Twenty years ago, Father visited North Korea and met Kim 11 Sung. Now, this December, almost exactly two decades later, Hyung Jin Nim has visited North Korea twice, December 9-16 and December 24-30. The timing of these visits was very good, even dramatic.

Hyung Jin Nim had flown to America to report to Father about the first visit to North Korea, and on that day it was announced that Kim Jong Il had died. Father then asked Hyung Jin Nim to immediately go back to North Korea and convey condolences.

As Father said for us to go back to North Korea quickly, we wrote another fax to them saying, "We'd like to come." They replied, "Please come quickly." But there was no easy way to go quickly. So we thought to go overland, through the DMZ. They opened the DMZ to us [on the North side], and the Republic of Korea also opened the way for us specially and exclusively. Usually the government doesn't approve non-citizens crossing the DMZ but we received special approval.

South Korean people can usually go as far as Gaeseong, but the government allowed us to travel all the way to Pyongyang. Both the North and South Korean governments helped our team this time. That is good for our church. The countries on both sides of the line truly assisted us very much. As one of the party that travelled through and back, I felt it was extremely significant.

Question: What did you do while you were there?

We attended the funeral of course. Those of us who had gone from South Korea are American citizens but the North Korean officials treated us as Koreans. We were next to the widow of former South Korean president Kim Dae Jung Hee Ho Lee and Hyundai Group chairwoman Jeon Geun Hyun in offering condolences. We were officially invited to the ceremonies on both days -- the funeral on December 28 and a time for remembrance on the 29th.

Some days before that we had offered a wreath at the main site for paying last respects to the deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. In addition, we went to one of the smaller places set up for citizens to pay their respects, near our hotel. We went at three o'clock in the morning, and even then many people were coming. We expressed our condolences, signed our names and wrote some words in the visitors' book.

In the course of paying our respects to the late Kim Jong Il, we were able to greet his son and successor, Kim Jong Un and express our condolences personally.

A video capture of Hyung Jin Nim speaking to Kim Jong Un, a fellow youngest son and new leader of North Korea.

Question: Were you able to talk with him and form an impression?

Hyung Jin Nim spoke to him for a minute or so. He told us that he said to the new young leader that Chairman Sun Myung Moon had sent us to convey condolences, and that many people in the Unification movement throughout the world have the same heart. He had expressed his hope that the young leader would find the courage and strength for the tasks ahead, and expressed his desire to help and support North Korea for peaceful reunification.

President Dong Moon Joo said to Kim Jong Un that although he is aware of the issues with the United States, he would offer to help facilitate making of good relationships in order to bring the United States and North Korea together..."

As I am a businessman, I said to him "I will make the automobile company go well; and in the future, I will work to help alleviate this country's economic difficulties."

So all three of us met the new leader, Kim Jong Un; we all shook his hand. His hand was very warm. He said "Thank you." That's how it was.

While we were in North Korea, Kim Jong Un gave all of our delegation hotel accommodations and meals free of charge. He gave the Pyongyang citizens hot water to drink and warm places for them to shelter. During ten days or so, I felt he did many good things for his people. He seems to be someone with a lot of compassion. He seems to want to do a lot for his countrymen. Perhaps he can become a very good president for his country. That's the impression I got. We hope that everything will go well, and that we can develop a good relationship.

However, it's not that we can swiftly build a close relationship; it's going to take some time. It could even be a problem if we made too close a relationship with him too soon after the death of his father.

Wherever Hyung Jin Nim went, he was very well received, especially by the North Korean officials. They would say to me, "Oh Hyung Jin Moon is a truly religious person. He is a good person. We don't want to send him back to the South." They said the same about Yeon Ah Nim too. "We'd like them to be here in this country."

No matter who Hyung Jin Nim spoke with, their exchange was joyful. On the first visit, Hyung Jin Nim had met the Supreme People's Assembly chairman, Mr. Yong Nam Kim. During this second visit, they met again and had dinner together. Chairman Kim told me he had genuinely enjoyed meeting and talking with Hyung Jin Nim.

Mr. Yang Gon Kim, the Minister of Unification in North Korea, also spoken with Hyung Jin Nim at a banquet and they got on very well. He has a very high position, but he felt he could trust Hyung Jin Nim and was greatly inspired by him. Wherever he goes, Hyung Jin Nim makes a good impression on those he meets.

Left: Hyung Jin Nim speaks with North Korean Unification Minister Yang Gon Kim at a banquet in honor of Chairman Kim Jong Il; note that North Koreans often wear a red Kim II Sung pin; Right: A receiving line during the process of offering condolences

Question: Father initiated something twenty years ago when he visited Pyongyang. Has it been possible to build on that?

Father was able to go to North Korea twenty years ago. I have been working in North Korea for eighteen years. In that time I have never once missed President Kim Il Sung's birthday celebration. And I have been going there continuously every month, and building good relationships with them on behalf of True Parents. And so these relationships have become strong. That's the foundation True Father made.

Question: And the South Korean government is supportive.

If a person really wishes for unification and wishes to work for unification, he should be able to communicate with North Korea as well as with the South Korean government. That's my belief. If he can communicate with only one side, he will be of no help in achieving unification. Therefore, he should deal honestly with both the South and the North. I believe that only a forthright person can communicate and work well with both sides. I work honestly, which is why I am able to undertake this.

Question: How do you think our Unification movement can help in the relationship between North Korea and South Korea?

I speak about that even when I go to the North. Because Father Moon loves North Korea, all members of the Unification Church around the world love North Korea. In keeping with that, the first and most important way we can offer support for North Korea is through prayer. Prayer for North Korea is very important. Pray, pray for North Korea; that's very important -- more so than money or rice. Pray first.

What should we pray for? First, our wish for God to protect this nation. Second, for the Koreas to come together in unity. And third that they do not go to war. Pray that North and South Korea do not fight each other.

Some North Korean people have only meager supplies of food and may even be starving. We worry very deeply about these issues. If we can, I think we should help in these matters -- even with material things.

Every morning during our visits, Hyung Jin Nim held Hoon Dok Hae at five o'clock and offered 120 full bows. Then he offered very sincere prayer. He prayed for Kim Jong Il, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, to go to a good place in the spirit world. We prayed for that. Perhaps no one else prayed for that. We prayed sincerely for his soul. In this regard, I feel we did something very meaningful.

We had to remain at the hotel during much of the six days we were there. So when we could not do anything else, we prayed from our hearts for things to go well for the country and its people. We prayed a lot.

Question: Though most people in South Korea are not thinking much about reunification, you are still optimistic.

On the matter of reunification, some people do not want it. Others are not even interested in unification. However, if you are a Korean and they are Koreans, you should wish for unification. It is only right to wish for it. Were South Korea and North Korea united, Korea would be twice as large and there would be more people populating the nation. Only then would we be able to join the ranks of the more advanced nations, be better off financially, become a central nation in Northeast Asia, and not be under the thumb of strong powers. In short, only when we are united will the people in both the South and the North live happily.

As believers in God, we should try to save the North Korean people by bringing about the unification of the Koreas, so that we can all join hands and live together. Our church is the Unification Church, so we have to pray for unification between North and South. I believe that all Korean people should think of this as their duty.

Question: As a person who saw it first-hand, how did North Koreans seem to take the death of Kim Jong Il?

Everyone cried a lot. Many foreigners believe that their sorrow was feigned, and that they cried because they were forced to. I don't think so. I felt that they were crying from their heart. It is inhuman to think that the tears they shed were all false. I believe they meant it, and that they were sincerely mourning Kim Jong Il. They loved him.

Another thing was that it snowed a lot during the funeral service. I heard it hasn't snowed so much in fifty or sixty years. Because of the snow, the funeral took an extra two hours. People said that it was very peculiar to have so much snow. Also, many birds, including Korean magpies, came and perched here and there without flying away, so some people said that even the magpies were mourning the death of Kim Jong Il.

I see that the North Korean people have lost no time in establishing Kim Jong Un as their new leader, right after Kim Jong Il's death and that no conflicts have arisen in the process. I believe this displays a national characteristic. I also believe that the North Koreans will overcome their grief, become stable, and live as they had before in no time at all. 

Hyung Jin Moon's visit to North Korea

December 16, 2011

Father met North Korean president, Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju in 1912, died 1994) on December 6, 1991. Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong Il, who was leader of North Korea under the title chairman of the National Defense Commission, died on December 17, twenty years after Father was in North Korea and one day after Hyung Jin nim returned to Seoul from his first visit there. Kim has been succeeded by his youngest son, Kim Jong-un.

At True Parents' request, the international president Hyung Jin Moon and his wife Yeon Ah nim recently travelled to Pyongyang, North Korea, on their behalf. They arrived on December 9 and returned to South Korea a week later, in the early afternoon of December 16. They were accompanied on their trip by True Parents' special assistant Peter Kim, Pyeonghwa Motors president Sang Gwon Park, and Hyung Jin nim's personal assistant Seung Ryung (Ken) Doo. A group of senior Japanese members had coordinated a visit North Korea at the same time and were among those who welcomed Hyung Jin nim, his wife and their entourage when they arrived at the airport in Pyongyang.

The visit was to mark twenty years since the historic meeting between True Parents and the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, at the presidential palace near Hamhung. The city of Hamhung is adjacent to Hungnam, the location of the fertilizer factory where Father was a political prisoner in the first years (1948-1950) of Kim Il Sung's government. In a statement to the Chinese press on True Parents' return from the 1991 meeting, Father stated, "No one can claim more justification than I for harboring feelings of ill will against North Korea. I received severe persecution from the current government of North Korea because of my position as a religious leader and my unswerving anticommunist principles. I was tortured harshly and then imprisoned for nearly three years in a labor camp." Yet, in a triumph of a principle he lives by "to forgive, love and unite," he went on to say, "I entered Pyongyang this time as an apostle of peace. My firm conviction is that under no circumstances can we have another war on the Korean Peninsula that pits the people of Korea against one another."

During their visit, Hyung Jin nim and Yeon Ah nim stayed at the Moranbong Presidential Guest House in Pyongyang, where True Parents had stayed twenty years ago. The Korean Asia Pacific Peace Committee (KAPPC) hosted a welcoming banquet for them and those who accompanied them.

The World Peace Center includes our Pyongyang Church, at which members (mainly Japanese) living in Pyongyang worship on Sundays.

In a report to True Parents dated that first evening, Sang Gwon Park wrote, "The director of KAPPC came in person to accompany Hyung Jin nim and Yeon Ah nim in their vehicle. Mr. Dong Yeon Won, vice-chairman of the KAPPC, came and joined the delegation for the dinner welcome banquet. Mr. Won told us that for our visit, 'National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong Il made all the arrangements and made the national welcoming hall available to them as well as providing government cars."'

Describing the atmosphere of the banquet as congenial, Mr. Park added, "Many references were made to what you had said twenty years ago. Vice-Chairman Won said, 'I can never forget President Sun Myung Moon. I send my respects to him in consideration of his continuous efforts to bring about the unification of the Korean fatherland and world peace, especially through sending his beloved son to North Korea on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his visit.'" Concluding his description of the warm welcome, Mr. Park wrote, "Everyone stayed late at the banquet. Even though they were tired at the end, before they retired to their rooms, they thanked you for sending the delegation and blessing them."

This modern-day visit to North Korea included stops to pay respects at a statue of Kim Il Sung and a visit to Mangyongdae, birthplace of the Great Leader, the title with which North Koreans honor Kim Il Sung.

There were two other hometowns that the son of Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon surely felt a strong calling to visit -- those of his parents. That wish was fulfilled. The party visited Anju, True Mo”

There were two other hometowns that the son of Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon surely felt a strong calling to visit -- those of his parents. That wish was fulfilled. The party visited Anju, True Mother's birthplace, northwest of Pyongyang, and then continued in the same general direction for another hour to Jeongju, True Father's hometown. The area where Mother's childhood home was situated and where she played as a little girl is now occupied by an apartment complex. In contrast, True Father birthplace and boyhood home is still standing and still nestled in a rural setting.

This time we were able to see inside the house, through a video of the interior that was played at Sunday service, with Hyung Jin nim's personal commentary touching on all aspects of the house. He also shows us the surrounding area, conjuring up an image of Father as a young boy at one with nature and growing in his awareness of God's love. The video includes Hyung Jin nim's touching personal words to his father from the old homestead, and his uninhibited on-camera declaration to all that this is the birthplace of Christ.

A ceremony to honor True Father's parents, Kyoung Yoo Moon and Kyung Gye Kim, was held at their graveside

The Japanese members' group met up with the international president and his wife at True Father's birthplace. The party then visited the nearby graves of True Father's parents -- Hyung Jin nim's grandparents -- Kyung-woo Moon and Kyung Gye Kim, who passed into the spirit world long before Hyung Jin nim was born.

Following time-honored Korean tradition, Hyung Jin nim and Yeon Ah nim placed flowers on the graves and offered cups of a local beverage on a small altar. After offering a full bow and praying for some minutes, they poured the liquid from the cups around the perimeter of the burial mound, symbolizing serving True Father's parents directly.

According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, a celebration of True Parents' visit to Pyongyang was held on December 11 at the World Peace Center in Pyongyang. The actual date of Father's meeting with Kim Il Sung in 1991 was December 6.

True Father's birthplace stands against a backdrop of rolling countryside in North Korea.

On December 15, Mr. Yong Nam Kim, president of the Presidium of the DPRK's Supreme People's Assembly and our international president had a cordial talk at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, where the Supreme People's Assembly meets. Pyongyang TV news was reported to have shown them in conversation.

Arriving back at Incheon International Airport, the following afternoon, Hyung Jin nim stopped in the arrivals area to greet leaders in the Korean church and of providential organizations who had gathered to welcome him. Within a few seconds he was surrounded by Korean journalists and cameramen that had been waiting for him. After Hyung Jin nim made it clear that this wasn't the right time to speak to them, he and Yeon Ah nim walked quickly to an exit, stepped into a plain black car and were driven away.

Just days after their return, Hyung Jin nim sent the following tweet: "News of the sudden death of National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong Il has surprised the entire world. Let us in the Unification Family gather the power of our Jeong Seong and prayer for the sake of the peaceful reunification of North Korea and South Korea desired by God and True Parents. Aju." 

Interview of aunt Ho Soon Moon - True Father's Youngest sister – Hyung Jin Moon

Sang Gwon Park
December 14, 2011

On the 20th day of the 11th moth of the 2nd year of Cheon-gi (Dec. 14), Mr. Sang Gwon Park interviewed aunt Ho Soon Moon, True Father's youngest sister at Botonggang Hotel, joined by Hyung Jin Nim, Yeon Ah Nim and Dr. Peter Kim. The following is extract from the interview. (This is from a video clip of Peace TV. Katsumi Kambashi)

Aunt Ho Soon Moon first asked to tell Father to make his efforts for the unification of the Korean peninsula. Then she said Hyung Jin Nim is tall, looks manly and resembles True Father. She also said Father was really good at catching fish and birds, explaining how he caught them.

When she was asked to talk about her mother, she repeatedly said, "My mother suffered hardships in order to let my brother study." She said, "When my brother came here, he said 'Because of me, mother went through many hardships,' and cried."

When she was asked to talk about her father, she insisted that the photo she had shown to Mr. Park before was her father's. But Mr. Park said True Father had said that was not their father's photo. She said her father looked like her uncle (Gyeong Bok Moon, elder brother of True Father's father) but that photo had been taken after her uncle died. (The photo they talked about was the one taken at the occasion of 60th birthday of Mr. Gyeong Bok Moon's wife.)

Mr. Park questioned why then True Father's father stood in the back in the photo who Mr. Park believed should be closer to her since she is his sister-in-law. Then aunt Ho Soon Moon said her mother and her aunt (Gyeong Bok Moon's wife) had a problem between them at that time and therefore, her father went to the celebration without her mother's notice, and stood far from her aunt when the photo was taken. Aunt Ho Soon Moon said her uncle and her father looked similar but that was definitely her father in the photo. Also aunt Ho Soon said if the person was her uncle, he should have been seated with her aunt in the photo.

She said "My father died at the age of 60." When she was asked about the reason, she said because of asthma.

She said "when my brother visited us during his study at Waseda university in Japan, he bought bananas and oranges for us. I remember that as if it had happened yesterday."

When Hyung Jin Nim asked her to give her message to True Father, she said "Please make efforts for the unification of our country at the earliest time. I ask you for that and I am so sad since the unification has not been done yet. (To Hyung Jin Nim) Please tell your father that I sincerely ask him to make efforts for the earliest unification as possible."

When Dr. Peter Kim said Hung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim have five children, she asked "Five sons?" and Hyung Jin Nim answered "Four sons and one daughter." She said "You have done it well!"

(Everybody laughed.) Then Yeon Ah Nim asked her how to raise children well, and she said "You seemed to have raised your kids well." When aunt Ho Soon Moon was asked by Mr. Park her impression of Yeon Ah Nim, she said "She looks very smart," and then said to Hyung Jin Nim "You got a good wife." Hyung Jin Nim said "My father chose her and told me to get married with her."

Then Hyung Jin Nim said to aunt Ho Soon Moon "My father told us to make a soccer team having 11 children." When she said five children were enough, Hyung Jin Nim said "We made a basketball team." Then she said "Five children are good, not too many, not too little." Hyung Jin Nim said "The eldest is now 14 years old and the youngest is six years old." Then she asked "Then how old were you when you were married?" Hyung Jin Nim said "I was 18 years old." Then she said "Here people get married when they are 25 years old." Then her son said to her "Their custom is like that of old days." Then Hyung Jin Nim said "For us, when my father tells us to get married, we get married. When he tells us to wait, we wait." She said with smile, "So you obey your father's words."

Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim took a photo with Aunt Ho Soon and she sang a song for them. She sang very well. 

Rev. and Mrs. Hyung Jin Moon Travel to North Korea on True Parents' Behalf

Rev. and Mrs. Hyung Jin Moon Travel to North Korea on True Parents' Behalf

Report of Hyung Jin Moon's Arrival in North Korea

Report of Hyung Jin Moon's Arrival in North Korea