Sun Myung Moon was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification movement, and of its widely noted "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies, and the author of its unique theology the Divine Principle. He was an anti-communist and an advocate for Korean reunification, for which he was recognized by the governments of both North and South Korea. Businesses he promoted included News World Communications, an international news media corporation known for its American subsidiary The Washington Times, and Tongil Group, a South Korean business group (chaebol), as well as other related organizations.
The Washington Times is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout the District of Columbia and in parts of Maryland and Virginia. A weekly tabloid edition aimed at a national audience is also published. The Washington Times was one of the first American broadsheets to publish its front page in full color.
Bo Hi Pak was a prominent member of the Unification Church. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a major leader in the church movement, leading projects such as newspapers, schools, performing arts projects, political projects such as the anti-communist organization CAUSA International, and was president of the Unification Church International 1977–1991. He was also the president of Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea.
Lee Byung-chul was a South Korean businessman. He was the founder of the Samsung Group, which is South Korea's largest chaebol, and he is considered one of South Korea's most successful businessmen. He was a pioneer of modern entrepreneurship and was a beacon of national economic development for South Korea.
The Korea Times is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the Hankook Ilbo, a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer. Since the late 1950s, it had been published by the Hankook Ilbo Media Group, but following an embezzlement scandal in 2013–2014 it was sold to Dongwha Group, which also acquired Hankook Ilbo. The president-publisher of The Korea Times is Oh Young-jin.
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea, by Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012). Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han were the leaders of the church and are honored by its members as their "True Parents."
Seongnam FC is a South Korean professional football club based in Seongnam that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1989 as Ilhwa Chunma Football Club, the club has won seven national league titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, and two AFC Champions League titles. Seongnam also placed fifth in the IFFHS Asian Clubs of the 20th century.
The Lotte Giants are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Busan. They are a member of the KBO League. The Lotte Giants are owned by Lotte Corporation, which also owns the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.
News World Communications Inc. is an American international news media corporation.
Lee Myung-bak is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the mayor of Seoul from 2002 to 2006.
Julia H. Moon also known as Hoon Sook Moon is the General Director of Universal Ballet in South Korea, and daughter-in-law of Sun Myung Moon, founder of the ballet company. She was the prima ballerina of the company.
Moon Kook-hyun is the leader of the Creative Korea Party, who served as a well-known business manager and civil environmental campaigner in South Korea before entering his political career.
The Universal Ballet was founded in Seoul, South Korea in 1984. One of only five professional ballet companies in South Korea, the company performs a repertory that includes many full length classical story ballets, together with shorter contemporary works and original full-length Korean ballets created especially for the company. The company is supported by followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, with Moon's daughter-in-law Julia H. Moon, who was the company's prima ballerina until 2001, now serving as General Director.
Daniel G. Fefferman is a church leader and activist for the freedom of religion. He is a member of the Unification Church of the United States, a branch of the international Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon in South Korea in 1954.
Tongil Group is a Korean business group (chaebol) associated with the Unification Church (UC). It was founded in 1963 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon as a nonprofit organization which would provide revenue for the UC. Its core focus was manufacturing but in the 1970s and 1980s it expanded by founding or acquiring businesses in pharmaceuticals, tourism, and publishing.
Donald Kirk is a veteran correspondent and author on conflict and crisis from Southeast Asia to the Middle East to Northeast Asia. Kirk has covered wars from Vietnam to Iraq, focusing on political, diplomatic, economic and social as well as military issues. He is also known for his reporting on North Korea, including the nuclear crisis, human rights and payoffs from South to North Korea preceding the June 2000 inter-Korean summit.[1]
During the 2007 South Korean presidential election, there were allegations made about presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak's relationship with a company called BBK. In 1999, Lee would meet Kim, with whom he established BBK and the LKE Bank. Their business enterprise went bankrupt less than a year later. Kim was investigated for alleged involvement in the massive embezzlement and for alleged stock price-manipulation. Kim initially stated that Lee had no involvement in the company, despite allegations of an affair between Lee, the candidate and his sister Kim, then a Los Angeles-based practicing attorney, though subsequently disbarred. Kim allegedly introduced Lee to her brother Kim, a former Merryl Lynch investment banker, meaning Lee's alleged mistress enlisted the aid of her brother in order to make money for, and together with, Lee who allegedly was desperate for campaign funds. Kim Hong-il of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office cleared Lee of any wrongdoing, based on Kim's testimony and Lee's denial that he had ever been associated with BBK. That would soon prove to be untrue, as it soon came to light that Lee, in public speeches by him, had publicly admitted that he was the owner of BBK: Three days before the election, an October 2000 video surfaced of Lee delivering a speech to an audience of students at Kwangwoon University, in which he can be seen "bragging" that he had founded and directed BBK activities. Two days before the election, the National Assembly appointed a prosecutor and charged him with the task of investigating the matter.
The Slingshot is a 2009 South Korean television series starring Park Yong-ha, Park Si-yeon, Kim Kang-woo, Han Yeo-woon, Lee Phillip, and Park Ki-woong. It aired on KBS2 from April 6 to June 9, 2009 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.
Park Young-sun is a South Korean journalist-turned politician previously served as the second Minister of SMEs and Startups under President Moon Jae-in from April 2019 to 2021 and the first woman to lead SME-specialised government entity since its creation in 1996. Park is also a four-term parliamentarian of Democratic Party.
Yoon Suk-yeol is a South Korean politician, former public prosecutor and lawyer who has been serving as the 13th and current president of South Korea since 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as the prosecutor general of South Korea between 2019 and 2021.
