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T. Ward: Address to Summit 2022, Session VIIa
Written by Dr. Thomas Ward, President, Unification Theological Seminary (2019-2022); Professor of Peace and Development Studies, USA
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Greetings to everyone. I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Song Bae Jin for having provided me with the opportunity to share some thoughts today.
My topic is CAUSA and Father and Mother Moon’s role in global peacebuilding. Rev. Moon came to the United States for the first time back in 1971. Very soon after that, he began to speak of God’s three headaches, one of them related to the breakdown within Christianity, another to the moral challenges that were faced by American youth. But most significantly, he dedicated a great deal of time during those early years to addressing the problem of the advance of atheistic communism in the world. He pointed to the fact that within communism there was a theory and certain foundational points that included a denial of the existence of God, a notion that everything in the world was opposite to other things, and that there was a struggle. According to communism, change occurs first on a quantitative or a size level, and then on a qualitative reform level, which explains why revolutions are necessary in order to be able to radically change the society from one type of society to another. Likewise, within nature, change from one form to another occurs suddenly.
In 1971, when he came to the United States, he began a process of outreach to American churches, to leaders and to American youth. On July 1st, 1973, he made a very bold declaration in relationship to his concern about the spread of influence of the Soviet Union. He declared that he was beginning what he described as a march to Moscow. Now, how would Rev. Moon get to Moscow? First of all, he built a core membership. Many young people in their twenties, talented, college-educated people, were attracted by his message. And not just in the United States, but in Europe, in Latin America, eventually in Africa, obviously in Korea and Japan and around the world. These members were inspired, they were very clear in their convictions, and they were strong. Even by the late 1960s, some of them volunteered to go as missionaries into Eastern Europe, into the communist world. By 1975, there were missionaries throughout the entire communist world. Furthermore, there were missionaries in Latin America, in Africa, in Southeast Asia and in the Middle East.
Secondly, he realized that there was a need to establish an economic foundation, which he did through creating a variety of industries and fundraising projects. Thirdly, he began to conduct a series of rallies all around the world. Those rallies continue until today. In some ways, the program that you’re participating in reflects that particular project or effort.
Next, he established an international media network. Likewise, he built a worldwide victory over communism or CAUSA movement. This was not a normal movement in terms of anti-communism. It didn’t point to just the wrongdoings that had occurred in countries that claimed to be communist. Instead, it went to the heart and soul of the message of communism, dialectical materialism, and it challenged those theories, if you will, at their root. He received very favorable feedback from a number of prominent figures, including Mr. William Rusher, the public intellectual who served for many years as the editor of the National Review.
He described it this way. He said, “I have an enormous respect for the work CAUSA does, for the analysis, which is clear, accurate and honest…. These conferences call to the attention of leadership personalities the rather intricate aspects of communism that get overlooked in our daily debates.” Likewise, Ricardo de la Cierva, who served as Minister of Culture of Spain, spoke about the CAUSA lecture manual, which I just showed you, and he described it this way: “The CAUSA International movement has published a lecture manual that seems to me to be the best generic study of Marxism from within the anti-Marxist camp.” The Honduran Ambassador Santamaria described it this way. He said, “I am convinced that Rev. Moon and the movement that he leads offers genuine hope to the people of Central America, surrounded by underdevelopment, destroyed by violence, and attacked by totalitarianism. Our countries urgently need a worldview capable of mobilizing their moral resources to support liberty, justice and peace. The vision, of course, offers such a worldview,” he observes.
So to the world, Rev. Moon was bringing an idea whose time had come. It spread throughout Central America and South America. One of the key figures in that work was Professor Jesus Gonzalez Losada, who literally conducted seminars for tens of thousands of people on the South American continent. Likewise in North America, through CAUSA International and the American Leadership Conference there was a very broad outreach to more than 3,000 legislators in the U.S. who attended CAUSA two- and three-day conferences. More than 70,000 clergy, and half of all retired generals and admirals in the U.S. military participated in these programs. Top leadership in the U.S. Congress and Senate participated as speakers in these programs. It likewise spread to Europe. There was a whole variety of seminars and programs and rallies throughout Europe. It spread to the Philippines, where it played a very key role in helping as the Philippines went through a transition period. But even prior to that, it had been active in Japan from the 1960s and before that, it had been active in Korea. In this picture, on the right there is Rev. Sun Myung Moon. On the left is Dr. Sang Hun Lee, who was the person who collaborated with Rev. Moon in the development of the Victory Over Communism movement and theory, which was the basis for the CAUSA lecture manual.
I mentioned I was going to say a few things about building a world-class media network because that was another project of Rev. Moon. He established Sekai Nippo in Japan. He established Noticias del Mundo, a Spanish newspaper in New York, and later Tiempos del Mundo throughout all of Latin America. Likewise, he established Segye Ilbo, a Korean newspaper which is still very much in operation. And The Washington Times, which served as the flagship of this entire group of media, played a key role due to ongoing Soviet military presence in Afghanistan and in terms of addressing the issues of the Cold War. Rev. Moon described very clearly the role of The Washington Times, saying The Washington Times is not a business, it is a crusade.
As the Cold War began to wind down, Rev. Moon called for reconciliation in a post-Cold War world. He met, first of all, with Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the Soviet Union, in April 1990 in Moscow. He realized that just going to Moscow was not enough, but it was necessary to go to Pyongyang. Much of our discussions this week in Korea are about the reunification of the Koreas. He began to think about how to get there in 1990, and he chose a very unique process. He chose, as a religious man, to learn from the lesson of Jacob and Esau. Jacob, as we know, had a problem with his brother. What Jacob did was he went away for 20 years and he built a fortune. He became successful, but he never forgot his brother. He had a compassionate desire to meet with his brother again. He met him, not judging him, but he met him as his brother and embraced him. Esau was able to receive him and the brothers were able to reconcile.
In some sense, Rev. Moon knew that there was a similar problem with North Korea. Yuki Kimura, a member of the Japanese Red Army, which was headquartered in North Korea and trained there, was arrested on the New Jersey Turnpike on April 12th, 1988. At that time, they found on his person three pipe bombs and three high-powered rifles. They also found a hit list. And on that list, the name of Sun Myung Moon figured very prominently.
Rev. Moon did the same thing that Jacob did. He built a foundation: a foundation of industry, a foundation of educational institutions, a media foundation, and a foundation of people who were inspired by his message. Kim Il-sung could see that there was something substantial there. That is what led him to invite Rev. Moon to come to Korea in November of 1991, and the two met on December 4th, 1991, in Pyongyang. The Atlantic, one of the most prestigious of America’s magazine publications, described in September 2012 this phenomenon in an article by Armin Rosen which said that Rev. Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon were welcomed in Pyongyang because “The Kim regime recognized that the church had a global reach and a certain amount of political influence, and they thought that they could benefit from that.”
They had this meeting on the 4th of December, but this was not meant to be just a photo op, because a few months after that, The Washington Times sent reporter, Josette Shiner, to interview Kim Il-sung. There they didn’t interpret Kim’s words. They gave him an opportunity to speak his words directly in an interview to The Washington Times, which Kim Il-sung very much appreciated. And in May and June, 1992, the American Freedom Coalition, also a project sponsored by Rev. Moon, likewise came to Pyongyang. In that delegation was Congressman Richard Ichord, whom you see depicted here with President Kim Il-sung.
On June 23, 1992, I received a phone call from Ambassador Ho, the DPRK ambassador to the United Nations, and he asked to meet with myself and with Congressman Ichord. There he explained that President Kim Il-sung had made a decision to suspend for the first time since the end of the Korean War the Hate America Month. He explained that President Kim Il-sung had made that decision for three reasons. The first was because Rev. and Mrs. Moon had traveled to North Korea and met him in a gesture of friendship. Secondly, he so much appreciated the chance to speak directly to the American people through The Washington Times. And thirdly, he was very impressed by the group of former congressmen, senators and former members of the administration who came there to visit him in a track two diplomatic move.
I spoke a little bit about Jacob. I want to mention that one more time. Jacob and Esau embraced each other when they met after 20 years of being apart. But the tragic thing is that immediately after that, the Bible says that they parted ways and they never were to see each other again. Esau went to the south. Jacob went to the north.
Rev. and Mrs. Moon were not interested, as I said, in a one-time encounter; they wanted to build a long-term relationship. In this picture of Rev. Moon with President Kim Il-sung, you will notice that they are holding hands. It’s sometimes said that once Rev. Moon takes the hands of someone, he never lets go. Following that particular visit, the Little Angels were sent to North Korea to entertain. This is a cultural troupe founded by Rev. Moon. And likewise, a North Korean cultural troupe was sponsored by Rev. Moon to come to the South. Women’s Federation for World Peace, an affiliate organization of UPF, provided service and different types of equipment for many, many years to the DPRK. When Kim Il-sung passed in 1994, Dr. Bo Hi Pak, the special assistant to Rev. Moon, was the only South Korean who dared to cross the border and commemorate the passing of Kim Il-sung.
Ten years later, Dr. Peter Kim, who later served as special assistant to Rev. Moon, traveled to North Korea in order to mark the 10th anniversary of the Moons’ visit to Korea, emphasizing that they had not forgotten. The Moons established a hotel in order to build a tourism industry in North Korea. They established the Pyonghwa Motor Corporation in partnership with the DPRK. Likewise, they built a peace academy located centrally in Pyongyang to harbor that hope of peace between the North and South. For the past 30 years, they have maintained a representative to the DPRK, Mr. Park Sang Kwon, who, during all this period of time, has communicated back and forth between both sides.
The Bush administration’s secret link to North Korea, according to The Daily Beast, stems from the fact that Dr. Dong Moon Joo served as a track two diplomatic representative between North Korea and the United States, advising both sides about what needed to be done, really playing a role of a partner, which has been important in order to keep that line of communication open.
We’re all aware that on September 3rd, 2012, according to the solar calendar, Rev. Moon passed. At the time of his passing, a flower arrangement was sent to honor Rev. Moon by DPRK President Kim Jong-un. Also, there have been exchanges and communications between North and South on the part of our movement. During all this period of time and in recognition and in appreciation of all the things that Rev. Moon has done, on September 5th, 2012, Sun Myung Moon was honored just two days after his passing as a hero of national reunification by the DPRK government. He was given this medal (shows picture).
The Atlantic, reflecting on Rev. Moon’s work in North Korea, described it this way: “His role in North Korea may turn out to be his most enduring legacy, a fascinating story of how one man opened one of the very few cracks in this modern hermit kingdom.” Yet Mr. Rosen of The Atlantic laments and says, “The Unification Church may have helped to foster engagement between Pyongyang and the outside, but Moon never lived to see his efforts pay off as he dreamed.”
Fortunately, Rev. Moon’s wife survives him, and she has assumed the leadership of the movement. Currently, she’s working very closely with both the former UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations, and also with the Cambodian prime minister, the honorable Hun Sen. Likewise she continues to work with the Universal Peace Federation and its affiliated organizations. I’m proud and grateful to be part of today’s program with the International Association of Academicians for World Peace. UPF and all of these organizations together strive for interdependence, mutual prosperity and universal values.
I would like to also express my special thanks for the invitation to be part of the commemoration of the life and work of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a man who lived for the sake of others. Thank you. And I hope that you have a great conference. God bless you.
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