Interview of Young Ho Kim
January 22, 2012
Movie Producer
Young Ho Kim at the interview; he holds Hyo Jin nim in high regard.
On July 19, 2008, a helicopter with True Parents and three of their grandchildren aboard crash-landed in the hills near Chung Pyung. Although some were injured, all survived. On that day, Young Ho Kim, who was then chairman of the Korea Film Producers Association, happened to be fishing at Chung Pyung Lake with some of his colleagues. After he saw angels supporting the helicopter as it descended, Mr. Kim decided to approach our church to describe his vision. Subsequently, he became an Unificationist. Mr. Mamoru Kamono and Mr. Kunihiro Ogino conducted the interview in Korea on January 22, 2012.
Question: Mr. Kim, did you have a religion previously?
Mr. Young Ho Kim: For twenty years, I was a Christian. In the Christian church, I worked as head of the department that produced the services. In those days, I even took part in activities to oppose the Unification Church.
True Family helicopter crash survivors on the day of True Mother's release from the hospital: True Parents, Shin Whul nim (with a gift she painted for Mother) Shin Joon nim and Shin Goong nim
Question: Please tell us about your experience at the time of the helicopter crash.
On that day, I was surprised to see a helicopter and surprised to see a rainbow. I was so surprised to see people who looked like angels with wings appear from under the rainbow that I couldn't stand up.
The following morning, when I saw the newspaper, the miraculous story of sixteen survivors beginning with Rev. Sun Myung Moon, was in the news. I turned on the television, and all channels were airing this news every hour. Even on the internet, the news was covered in a big way by every station. The crash site was the place that I had witnessed.
That afternoon, I went to attend the Pucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. At the time, I was chairman of the Korea Film Producers Association. So I had been invited to attend, and I sat up front as one of the guests.
Following the Pucheon Film Festival, it was time for the banquet. There were twelve large dining tables set up in a big dining hall. There, before I knew it, I found myself standing up and saying in a loud voice, "You may all know that Chairman Moon had an accident yesterday. Do you know how he was able to survive?" Without any embarrassment, I was just moved to stand up and speak.
I said, "God helped him. Angels helped him, a rainbow helped him...." I astonished the people that were there. They were all taken aback. Some yelled at me to sit down, and there was a big commotion. At the time, I was a public figure under the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. However, because all of a sudden I had stood up to say these things, the place was in chaos. After the banquet, inside the sightseeing bus headed back to Seoul, I grabbed the microphone and started again in a loud voice. "Do you know the reason Chairman Moon and his group of sixteen were able to survive? The angels helped him, and God helped him...." I cried out, "You all need to know this!" So, there was another big uproar, and people said that 1 had gone insane.
Question: Where did you witness the helicopter crash?
At the time of Father's helicopter accident, I was fishing at Chung Pyung Lake. There is a naturally formed fishpond where I go to fish a number of times a year. There is an embankment with a sturdy bungalow. We would hold film production seminars there.
That day, five of us went fishing. It rained in the morning, so I thought about not going, but everyone said, "Let's go," so I ended up joining them. In the car on the way there, a younger friend gave me a call, saying, "What are your plans there today? Why don't you come to our house across the river?
You can fish, drink a glass of soju, and we can analyze movie scripts." So we all got on a boat and went across the river.
We got to the shore on the other side and set up our fishing poles nearby. Over some soju, we were discussing this and that. "It's an action film, so who should be the lead actor? Who would be good, who, not good?" and so on. Then, I went over to check the fishing poles, when I heard a helicopter.
I looked up in the direction of the sound, and to my surprise angels appeared, together with a rainbow that looked as if children had colored it with crayons. I was astounded. The colors of the rainbow were vivid, and I saw a cloud shaped like a lotus flower. You know, the kind that looks like a lotus flower that you see in Buddhist paintings, the flower that Buddha sits on. That kind of a cloud was firmly supporting the helicopter. People that appeared to be angels spread their wings while following the helicopter. As far as I saw, there were fifty to sixty angels.
This was what I spoke about at the Pucheon Film Festival. I myself am not sure why I got up at the festival, crowded with people, and cried out as if I were mad. What reason is there for me to promote Chairman Sun Myung Moon? It was strange.
However, later after I joined the Unification Church, as I prayed about it and studied, I came to know why.
Mr. Kim was fishing at Chung Pyung Lake at the time of crash.
Question: How did you come to join the Unification Church?
I had no intention of joining the Unification Church. So, how did I end up doing so?
When I raised my voice on that bus, someone who knew the church was onboard. He called the Unification Church headquarters, telling them that I was talking about the incident. Following that, Dr. Chang Shik Yang called about meeting me. I told him I would not. I said I was a public figure, and that it would create a big ruckus, so I refused. For three months, I did not meet him.
Then, a funny thing happened. People in the film industry like to drink. I was no exception. One evening, I went to sleep very drunk. The following day was a Sunday, and I woke up early. Before I knew it, I'd put on my clothes and had gone looking for a Unification Church. This was truly strange. I called Information, 114, but they couldn't locate a Unification Church. In those days, it was the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
So then, I went to the Dowon Building in Mapo. Being a Sunday, however, the shutters were closed. "Strange, this should be a church...." I thought, and I next took a taxi to Pildong in Joong-gu. I had lived before in Pil-dong for twenty-four years. When I got there, I found the local Unification Church. I went in, prayed and attended the service. The minister there at the time was Rev. Nam. I attended for three weeks, without even speaking to him.
People in the entertainment business are busy on Sundays. But for some strange reason, nothing came up on my schedule during those Sundays, and that is how I attended the service three weeks in a row. When I went for the third time, the minister asked me to fill something out and then encouraged me to greet the congregation from the front of the chapel.
When I picked up the microphone, my testimony about True Parents' helicopter accident flowed out. There was a big uproar, and a report went to the headquarters right away. One interesting thing: For the past two weeks, I had just quietly attended the church service, but on that Sunday, I'd offered a donation of gratitude for the first time. On the day I made an offering, I was asked to greet the congregation and had a chance to speak.
In this way, I decided to meet Dr. Chang Shik Yang. I met him first in front of the Dangseong-sa Theater in Jongro, and we had a meal together. After the meal, Dr. Yang said, "Let's go," so I asked, Where? It turned out that there was a church behind the theater. I was suddenly asked to give a testimony there.
About five hundred people were on hand. I could hardly find my way to the podium. When I saw the crowd, I was surprised and started shaking. Dr. Yang told me, "Once you get onstage, you'll be all right." So I went up, said hello and after that the words just kept coming. I was being guided. Members that were listening were in tears. I spoke in a frenzy, crying together with them.
This painting by Young Joon Choi is an impression of what Young Ho Kim described seeing on the day of the fateful helicopter flight.
Question: We heard that you offered devotions at the crash site; please tell us about that.
At first, I offered prayer in the basement of the Family Federation headquarters, before Cheon Bok Gung was built. If you go there, there's a place where Father prayed, right? I offered prayer there with a minister. I prayed in tears, asking, "Why do you hold on to me and not let me go? Let me go, so that I can run around and do as I please." I cried out to Heavenly Father in a loud voice. I shouted with tears, saying, "Why do you bother me?"
Following that, I visited the helicopter crash site for the first time to pray. You need permission to enter that area. I decided I wanted to pitch a tent there, bring a copy of Cheon Seong Gyeong, and stay there for twenty-one days. However, the headquarters asked me not to do that, but to stay at the Chung Pyung training center and commute from there.
I was doing that, walking to the site and praying there, and in ten days, I had lost quite a lot of weight. The director of the training center was worried that if I kept doing this, I might collapse, but I continued in the hot summer to walk there daily from the training center. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes on foot, but after studying Father's course, I thought that it was nothing.
When I got there, I read Cheon Seong Gyeong and Exposition of Divine Principle and prayed. One day, as I opened my eyes after praying, a butterfly was resting on Father's autobiography. I knelt down and got close, but it didn't fly away. I thought I'd take a picture and approached the butterfly with my mobile phone, and it was still there. I took a picture of it, and it was still there. I stuck out my hand like this, and the butterfly came onto my hand. I took a picture of that as well.
While I was doing the condition, members came up to see the site and to ask me to share just a little. I spoke for about five minutes. Hearing me speak, they were soon in tears. We held hands and I was in tears, too.
I have raised children. When they ride in a bus, little kids trip and fall if the bus sways. The helicopter fell to the ground, but the grandchildren were not hurt at all. This cannot be explained in a scientific way. It is truly impossible that the small children, Shin Goong nim, Shin Whul nim and Shin Joon nim did not have one scratch on them.
The helicopter was on its side, and when the pilot opened the door, he said it opened as if someone had opened it from the outside. If the door hadn't opened, they would all have died. I asked, "What were the children doing?" I heard that the children were under the seats and that they asked for their mothers. When I think about this, I get cold with fear for them.
How much fuel would there have been in such a large helicopter? Immediately after Father got out of it, didn't it explode? I heard that the insurance company avoided dealing with this accident for a whole year. Later, they tried to extract a propeller from the site, but it was embedded deeply in the ground and wouldn't move easily, so they finally had to use a crane to pull it out.
Ten years ago, we were filming a scene over the Han River using a helicopter, and in a sudden accident, four people, including actors and a movie director died. It was a wedding scene, and the groom was to descend on a helicopter. The cameraman kept saying, "Come down just a bit more, a bit more...." so the pilot came down but the propeller struck the water. The helicopter went down, and tragically all of them died. Even over water, people aboard a helicopter die, but in the case of Chairman Moon's accident, the vehicle's body, weighing fourteen tons, became embedded in the ground.... This is something that just cannot be understood by science.
There has never been an incident like this in the history of religion. This has to be made known quickly. We must show people that this was possible because Father is the Messiah. It has to be shown to the whole world. Just talking about it won' do it. There has to be or credibility, and there has to be devotion.
Question: Have you experienced opposition or been persecuted?
I taught many people in the film industry. I brought them to Chung Pyung Training Center, and had them receive much education. Then, people around me started to say, "Young Ho Kim has gone mad. He'll make you go through the Unification Church education. This is a big problem." Therefore, I did receive incredible persecution from the film industry. They bashed me on the internet also.
One day when I got home, there was a knife stuck in my front gate. I went in and told my wife, who was shocked, and asked me to quickly toss it out. I took the knife out, and saw what was written on the handle in small letters, "X Tongilgyo." I brought that to church with me. The minister saw it and was also shocked.
I had a three-year term as chairman of the Korea Film Producers Association. However, someone sued me on a charge of embezzlement so that I wouldn't remain chairman. They said that I had embezzled the association's money. For two months, I had to go back and forth to the police station. I showed them my wife's bankbooks as well as mine. They couldn't find any evidence of such acts. While being charged with embezzlement, things took six to seven months until the case went to the prosecutor's office, and then the charge was withdrawn.
Because of this, I lost a lot of ground in the film industry. Some people had accused me, and while I was caught up with the police, they elected another chairman. I suffered serious financial damage too.
Remains of the helicopter that crash landed while carrying True Parents, Hyung Jin nim's daughter and one of his sons, Hoon Sook nim's daughter and eleven others
Question: Please tell us about when you met with True Father.
I met True Father for the first time at Hoon Dok Hae. Father knew my name. I offered a bow. Father looked at me as if to pierce a hole through me and then said, "You cherish your ancestors." He said, "You're a lonely guy. You grew up alone, didn't you? You've lived life on your own. Isn't that so?" Then he said, "You value your ancestors, so things will go well with your children, too."
I was astonished. When I heard what Father said, tears welled up in my eyes and wouldn't stop. As I had expected, they are the True Parents. Father knew everything. Soon after I was born, I lost my parents in the Korean War.
It's now been three years since I started attending the Unification Church, and I still don't know what kind of person Father is. That is why I study, to try to inherit Father's will. I hope to study well. I heard the other day that True Father was looking for me. During Hoon Dok Hae, he called out in a loud voice, "Is that producer, Young Ho Kim, doing well?" And someone replied, "Yes, he is doing well," to which Father said, "All right." Many people who heard this gave me a call to let me know.
I've heard from some members, that Hyo Jin nim had a strong desire to testify to True Parents through film. They say that I was guided to come to the church to do what Hyo Jin nim was unable to do. Didn't Hyo Jin nim ascend in March 2008? The helicopter incident took place that same year, on July 19. I always carry Hyo Jin nim's picture with me. I listened to his music. He's a genius.
When I make my next film, I plan to include Hyo Jin nim's music. It will go in the most decisive moments of the movie.
There are truly many wonderful songs. I will include his music at two points. One would be somewhere in the final scene, and in another decisive scene. The lyrics are fantastic. He has written many lyrics about the kingdom of heaven. He's truly a genius. Our members must not forget this. We need to let the world know. There are so many people who don't know what the spirit world is like. Even today, there are many who have no idea of who True Father is.
God showed me that scene, in order to tell me to create a film that will testify to True Parents. Otherwise, at that time, I would have been fishing at my usual spot. The question is, Why was I guided to go across the river that day?
True Father instructed me, "Give this testimony where there are many people." He encouraged me strongly; to testify boldly, in a big place.