Sun Myung Moon
June 7, 1975
World Rally for Korean Freedom
Yeouido Plaza, Seoul, Korea
Photo date and location unknown
Honorable and beloved brethren and world members of the Unification Church from sixty countries: This May 16th Square is a historical place. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for attending the World Rally for Korean Freedom to begin a new history at this historic plaza today.
The significance of the World Rally for Korean Freedom
Today, June 7, 1975, is the day of a new historical declaration both for me and for God. Already, at this very plaza, you have sent up a great roar shaking heaven and earth, denouncing Kim Il Sung for taking advantage of the situation in Indochina and trying to invade the south. There have already been many rallies for total unity and national security. However, this World Rally for Korean Freedom is a most unique and historic rally in two senses.
First, today's rally is the only one that has denounced Kim Il Sung, not only in the name of the Korean people and all of humanity, but also in the name of God. Second, this rally is on a global scale, for the Korean people are not the only ones who have gathered here to resolve to defend Korean freedom. Our rally includes some one thousand representatives from sixty countries, people of different languages and cultures who have gathered here to protect freedom in Korea and around the world. This is a global rally to show the world the resolve of free people to protect the freedom of Korea.
The domestic purpose of this rally is to encourage unity among our people in the face of the national crisis brought about by the fall of Vietnam and Cambodia to communism. Its global purpose is to show the people of the world the direction and determination that are needed this time. This rally is significant in that it will warn Kim Il Sung against any rash action, miscalculation or provocation that would lead to war, as his actions on June 25 in 1950 led to the Korean War.
Communism is the enemy of humanity but first and foremost it is the enemy of God
Ladies and gentlemen, what is communism? We know very well that communist rule, which began with the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, has engulfed more than half the world in the last half century, and that it carries out ruthless and savage acts against humanity. Communism is a dreadful, satanic ideology that results in horribly criminal and destructive acts. We Korean people, who have experienced the savage acts of communism, know the criminal behavior of the communists better than any other people in the world. We have suffered greatly because of communism. At this very moment in North Korea, our fourteen million brethren are still the victims of communism. However, the criminal acts of communism do not stop there.
Today we know the reason we have to oppose communism and annihilate it from the face of the earth. Communism is not only the enemy of human beings; more significantly it is the enemy of God. More than an ideological system of politics and economics, it is a pseudo-religion based on atheism.
Communism completely controls the individual's thinking, acting and way of life. This is an abuse of the unique power that only a religion can have. Communism is a false religion that insists there is no God. Moreover, the ideology itself occupies the place of God in the person's thinking, acting and way of life, turning human beings into slaves and machines. Because communism opposes God, there is no justifying it. It is a satanic religion that seeks to annihilate God from the face of the earth.
Were communism to win victory on the earth, it would be the complete defeat of God. Before it is the defeat of democracy and the free world, it is God's defeat. Therefore communism is God's enemy even before it is the enemy of humankind. However, the omniscient and omnipotent God cannot be defeated. God will not simply sit back and watch communism gain victory over the whole world.
Therefore, through today's rally we realize that the Unification Church and other virtuous religions that teach faith in God will surely win victory over communism, the Satanic religion that denies God. I sincerely declare that the Unification Church, which calls God our Father, joining with other people of faith and ethics, will defeat communism, God's mortal enemy. Therefore we must realize that all religious people, especially Unification Church members, are God's warriors, called to the frontline to win victory over communism. They are the vanguard and flag bearers in the battle between God and Satan.
God's fight to overthrow communism
We can never defeat communism if we depend upon weapons. This is because no weapons, not even an atomic bomb, can destroy stubborn human belief. Rather, it is through faith and its teaching that we can defeat falsehood. The force that will win victory over communism, the false ideology, is a spiritual belief and its teachings of a higher dimension.
Today we must increase our national power. We must equip our armed forces and fortify our fines of defense. However, what is more important is to be armed with truth. That is to say, we need to arm our spirits with faith and its teachings. We must arm our understanding with the truth that there is a God, and we must arm our spirits with faith and the resolution to fight at the cost of our lives to fulfill God's Will. We can win victory over the communists' false faith and ideology only through true faith and true teachings.
The completely false ideology will only fall before the true teaching, which clearly shows that God actually exists. When we bring the fight of truth to shine upon communism, its real identity will appear and its false foundation will shatter. This is the ultimate task for Unification Church members and all religious people. This is the way to win victory over communism and root it out completely.
Today two ideologies are facing each other. One claims there is a God, and the other claims there is no God. One world is centered on material, and the other world is centered on spirit. The world that believes there is a God is on God's side, and the world that believes there is no God is on Satan's side. When these two worlds clash, the outcome will prove the existence of God. Therefore the fight to defeat communism is the fight for God.
Now these two world powers are opposing each other here in Korea. Korea is the final battlefield of these two opposing global ideologies. Protecting Korean freedom is not only for the sake of Korea; it is for the sake of the whole free world. It is for the defense of eternal freedom and for God's final victory. This is the reason all freedom-loving people of the world need to rise up and defend Korean freedom.
The people of the free world say the problem of Korean freedom is Korea's affair. But Korea's problem directly affects the free world's existence. The free world's security is a function of the security of God. Therefore, in the Korean War, God sent soldiers from sixteen countries who shed their precious blood to protect freedom in Korea. If North Korea invades the South again, passionate young people from sixty different countries will defend this country to the last, at the cost of their lives.
Let us overthrow communism in the name of God
Today the worldwide membership of the Unification Church from sixty countries has taken a stand and united in the name of God with all people of the world, to carry out His Will in this meaningful place. The Unification Church is a flag bearer and bridgehead in the battle against communism, standing in the frontline of the free world in the belief that communism is the last enemy of God. This religion, which manifests God clearly, provides the truth, faith and teaching that can overcome communism.
The aim of all people of faith in Korea must be to free the city of Pyongyang. The North Korean people, who are enslaved by communism, are waiting for God to liberate them. Kim Il Sung and his followers dug underground tunnels for the purpose of invading the South. We people of faith, with our higher perspective, need to build a bridge to Pyongyang that brings freedom and unity, and have the courage to liberate our brethren with the same love and heart.
We have to pray, and also fight, in order to ignite a heavenly explosion of truth and love in the center of the city of Pyongyang. Fourteen million North Korean brethren are waiting for God's hand. Our hands, these hands, must be the very hands of God.
In the Old Testament, Goliath stood imposingly, nine feet tall and armed with a spear, while before him stood the boy David with only a stone in his hand. Today we need to hear David's battle cry. He did not cry, "You, my enemy, receive my stone!" or "Though I am very small, I am very strong. Come and fight with me!" David cried, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." (1 Sam. 17:45) David defeated the giant Goliath with God's power. We must oppose Kim Il Sung, defeat Mao Zedong, and bring an end to the Soviet Union in the name of God. We can gain victory only through faith. Let us completely and bravely fortify our line of defense. Let us fight to the last at the cost of our lives in the holy battle for God. The final victory will be ours. God is on our side.
Communist strategy disguised as a peace offensive
Ladies and gentlemen, today we must know the strategy of communism. I who stand here know communism better than any other person. After Korea's liberation from Japan, when I was in North Korea doing missionary work, I faced death many times. The communists considered me their enemy, captured me and imprisoned me in Hungnam Prison in 1948. This compulsory labor prison was actually a death camp, where political and religious prisoners died sooner or later. I spent nearly three years in this prison, and was finally liberated by United Nations forces sent by God in 1950. I have experienced deeply the reality of communism. I know too well its strategy and tactics.
In 1930, a key staff member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, Dimitry Manuilsky, speaking to core partisans at the Lenin School of Political Warfare, described the strategy of communism as follows: "Communism cannot coexist with capitalism. It is too early to attack; our time will come in twenty or thirty years. We can gain victory only through surprise attack. Let the capitalist world eat well and sleep well, by all means. The best way to do this is to initiate an absolute peace policy. Knowing nothing, they will enjoy peace and will respond to peace negotiations. In this way the capitalist countries will stupidly cooperate in digging a trap for themselves. We pretend to be their friends and gain time. And while they are relaxing we will deliver a decisive iron fist."
This was the very strategy of the Soviet Union written by Lenin; this was the very strategy of Mao Zedong to govern the mainland of China; this was the very strategy of the North Vietnamese to control Vietnam, and they all succeeded. And this was the very strategy of Kim Il Sung when he was looking for the chance to invade the South. However, we will never be deceived by this strategy again. And we will never again tempt Kim Il Sung to miscalculate. Today let us show Kim Il Sung our capability.
Unificationists will defend Korea, the homeland of their faith
Our fifty million fellow countrymen, who love our homeland, are willing to defend this country at the cost of their lives. We will never allow communism to set foot in our territory. We have powerful allies. The United States is a powerful ally, and Japan is a powerful ally. Heaven helps those who help themselves. If we denounce Kim Il Sung in the name of God, and if we defend this country in the name of God, our country will never become another Vietnam.
However, ladies and gentlemen, that is not all! Kim Il Sung must know about the forces present at this World Rally for Korean Freedom on the May 16th Square. There is another very strong ally that Korea and the Korean people need to know about. It is the worldwide members of the Unification Church, who believe that Korea is their religious homeland. They are absolute anti-communists who love Korea completely. How much do they love Korea? According to their belief, Korea is their religious homeland and their holy land. To a faithful believer, an invasion of this holy land is an invasion of his or her own home, his or her own body. This means that the worldwide members of the Unification Church love Korea as they do their own bodies. Accordingly, the worldwide members of the Unification Church take it as their duty to protect Korea, their religious homeland.
Ladies and gentlemen, some one thousand representatives from sixty countries are gathered here. They are intimate friends of Korea who firmly believe in this land and are ready to protect and defend it with their lives. These people gathered in this historical plaza believe it is God's will that they protect their religious homeland to the end. If North Korea provokes a war against the South Korean people, they are resolved to organize a campaign for world unity and participate in the war as a volunteer army to defend both Korea and the free world.
Korea is a nation God loves
Until the Eastern Sea runs dry, the white-topped mountain falls, God will guide and shield our country, for eternity." Since our liberation from Japan, we have been singing this as our national anthem. We have learned that this national anthem is God's revelation to the Korean people. God revealed that through His guidance and protection our country would stand for eternity.
God truly loves the Republic of Korea. Since our forefather Tangun founded the Korean nation, we went through many hard times due to our location between larger nations. Yet, we never invaded a foreign country. God helped us to steadfastly keep t e traditions of our people. It was God who brought liberation to our country on August 15, 1945. It was God who mobilized sixteen nations to protect this country during the Korean War; otherwise it would have fallen like South Vietnam. It was God who set up a powerful new leader, Korea’s current president, and a new order in our society in 1961, when this country was confused and facing a crisis brought on by communist infiltration from
God is helping us gain victory on the final battlefield between God and Satan. Just as in the First and Second World Wars, it involves many nations: North Korea, the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the Republic of Korea, Japan and the United States. With this special favor and protection from God, let us be courageous and stand up without hesitation.
The Korean Peninsula is the region where human civilization is brought to fruition
God loves Korea so much; He intends to establish a global civilization of unity starting in this country. According to God's providence, human civilization has advanced around the world toward an ever-higher dimension, and now it is going to bear fruit in Korea.
Ancient civilization began on a continent beside the Nile River; then it moved to the peninsulas of Greece and then Italy, where the Mediterranean civilization developed. The center of civilization then moved from those peninsulas to the island of Great Britain, and the Atlantic civilization flourished. The island civilization of Great Britain crossed the Atlantic Ocean, landed on the American continent and crossed it to spawn the Pacific civilization, leading to the miracle of modern civilization. However, the flow of human history did not stop there. Civilization crossed the Pacific Ocean and formed a new island civilization in Japan that, in its full bloom, corresponds to Great Britain. It will next move to the Korean Peninsula to form a united civilization corresponding to that of the Roman Empire.
The Republic of Korea is God's beloved land in the new era, and the Korean people are the ones He has chosen. Korea is the cradle of the new civilization that God desires. Therefore Korea is the country where God will bring His providential work to culmination in the unity of world civilization. This should be the pride of the Korean people, whom God loves.
Unificationism is the teaching that can lead to united world
To bear a wonderful child a mother will unavoidably endure pain. Korea is now suffering such pain through our present-day trials. God is testing our ability, bravery, and qualifications through these trials, and through this pain He is going to bring us the glory of a great son. Therefore each of the great powers on Satan's side invaded this country one after another.
We can overcome these trials with God's love and with faith and hope. By gaining victory over communism in spite of all difficulties, Korea will be able to take a leading role in bringing about a united world, which is God's Will. In other words, Korea is the flag bearer for the whole world.
It is absolutely impossible to do this without the true thought and teachings of the Unification Church. These are: the Divine Principle, which was revealed in Korea in order to bring together all religions, the ideology of Victory over Communism, and Unification Thought. All religions that accept God as their Father need to unite to face the communists who deny God. However, it is with truth and love that we will defeat them. We must help them recognize their errors, and finally we must embrace them as our brothers and sisters. The ideology of Victory over Communism, based on this principle, analyzes all philosophies and ideologies and enables us to unite with God as our center. This principle, ideology and thought arose in Korea. They constitute Godism.
We will govern the country by consulting with God and centering on God. There will not be a party in power and a party out of power. The time has come when all religious and conscientious people need to unite with our government to defeat communism with Godism, and unite our territory and people. That time is now.
Korea, the light of the East
Joy comes after pain, and the new way comes by way of difficulties. When the time comes, let us display the full potential of the Korean people who believe in God.
The famous Indian poet Tagore sang about Korea as follows:
In the golden age of Asia Korea was one of its lamp-bearers
That lamp is waiting to be lighted once again for the illumination of the East
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls
Where words spring up from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way in the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
My beloved brethren! Korea will be a bright light in the Orient illuminating the whole world in the near future. The day will surely come when God governs Korea, and all the people of the world will view Korea as their homeland, just as the poet Tagore predicted. That time is at hand.
A unified world of peace in the name of God
Ladies and gentlemen, Unification Church members from 120 countries, who regard Korea as their religious homeland and one another as brothers and sisters beyond language and culture, are united. They will march together to defeat Kim Il Sung, God's enemy, and Satanic communism.
My beloved brothers and sisters of Korea! The present task, more than anything else, is to perceive that communism is the enemy of God before it is the enemy of humankind. So today we denounce Kim Il Sung in the name of God. I clearly declare that God will not allow Kim Il Sung to invade the South.
Let us fight at the risk of our lives to defeat Kim Il Sung and communist countries in the name of the free world and Korea! Let us fight to the last! Let us fight until we win! God is with the Republic of Korea; it is under God's protection!
My beloved Korean brethren! We have nothing to fear. Be strong, be courageous, be totally united, and march on in the name of God. Until we restore North Korea into the land of God, and until we reclaim the brothers and sisters of our own blood, let us fight at the cost of our lives.
Let all democratic countries in the world completely liberate the communist countries from Satan and accomplish the unity of the free world in the name of God. Since God is on our side, victory will surely be ours.
Be strongly united in the name of God. Let us rise up! Let us march on together! Let us go forward together!
Thank you very much.