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The Dark Shadow Cast by Moon Sun Myung's Unification Church and Abe Shinzo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Peter McGill
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Abstract

The killing of Abe Shinzo sparked a backlash in Japan against the Unification Church, after the assassin blamed it for his family's destitution and linked the former prime minister to the Korean cult. This has led to a government investigation of the Unification Church, popularly known as the Moonies, that may result in its disbandment in Japan. The scandal has focused attention on the vital role played by Japan in financing the sect founded by Moon Sun Myung, and the strange history that spawned a global empire swaddled in taboo.

Keywords

Abe ShinzoUnification ChurchMoon Sun MyungMoonies
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 20 , Issue 17 , October 2022 , e10
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2022

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References

Notes

1 ‘Moon's Japanese Profits Bolster Efforts in U.S.,‘ John Burgess and Michael Isikoff, Washington Post, September 16, 1984.

2 ‘Tenchi Seikyo: A Messianic Buddhist Cult,‘ Thomas H. Pearce, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies (1994), 21/4.

3 安倍政権時に記述消失 公安調査庁報告書「特異集団」とは旧統一教会, Mainichi Shimbun, August 15, 2022.

4 Guwonpa, WMSCOG, and Shincheonji: Three Dynamic Grassroots Groups in Contemporary Korean Christian NRM History,' David W. Kim and Won-il Bang, Religions (2019), MDPI.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 ‘How one man's epiphany on a Seoul mountain in 1955 laid the foundation for many religious sects in South Korea,‘ Joshua Berlinger, CNN, March 7, 2020.

8 ’Investigation of Korean-American Relations. Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations U.S. House of Representatives.’ October 31, 1978 (henceforth ‘Koreagate’ main report).

9 Ibid.

10 ‘The Forgotten History of South Korean Massacres in Vietnam,‘ The Diplomat, May 15, 2020.

11 ‘South Korea spy unit admits kidnapping Nobel winner,‘ Reuters, October 24, 2007.

12 ‘Koreagate’ main report.

13 Inchon was directed by Terence Young and produced by Ishii Mitsuharu. Released September 17, 1982 (USA) and distributed by MGM and United Artists. See the entry for ‘Inchon (film)‘ on Wikipedia.

14 ‘Kanayama Masahide: Catholicism in Mid-Twentieth Century Japanese Diplomacy,‘ Ikehara Mariko, in Xavier's Legacies: Catholicism in Modern Japanese Culture, ed. Kevin M. Doak, UBS Press, 2011.

15 ‘Policymakers’ interest wanes for undersea church tunnel,' Asahi Shimbun, September 5, 2022.

16 ‘The World Anti-Communist League: Origins, Structures and Activities’ by Pierre Abramovici, in Transnational Anti-Communism and the Cold War. Agents, Activities, and Networks, ed. By Luc van Dongen, Stéphanie Roulin, Giles Scott-Smith. Palgrave Macmillan 2014. See also review by Richard Saull in International Review of Social History, Vol. 60, No. 3 (December 2015) pp. 507-509. Cambridge University Press.

17 ‘CIA, Moonies Cooperate in Sandinista War,‘ Jack Anderson. Washington Post, 16 Aug 1984.

18 ’Moon's ‘Cause’ Takes Aim at Communism in Americas,' Washington Post, Aug. 28, 1983.

19 BBC television documentary, The Rev Sun Myung Moon: Emperor of the Universe, broadcast 2001.

20 PJR/Japanese Prime Minister Nobuske [sic] Kishi Correspondence Concerning Moon, etc. Box: OA 11414. Rusthoven, Peter J. Files. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections. Also WHORM Subject File Code: JL001 (Judicial – Legal Matter: Amnesty – Clemency – Pardons) Case file Number(s): 245461-245499. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections.

21 ‘Les étranges affinités de la secte Moon,‘ Peter McGill, Le Monde Diplomatique, April 1996.

22 ‘Korea's Peace Motors readies opening,‘ UPI, April 2, 2002.

23 For dénouement of car venture, see: ‘South Korean church to end car venture with North: source,’ Reuters, November 27, 2012; ‘The Short Unhappy Life of Pyeonghwa Motors,’ Marcus Noland, Peterson Institute for International Economics blog, December 27, 2012; For a detailed history of Pyeonghwa, see blog by Erik van Ingen Schenau of China Motor Vehicle Documentation Centre; For return of Pothonggang Hotel, see: ‘Head of Inter-Korean Automaker Given Honorary Pyongyang Citizenship,’ Yonhap News Agency, January 22, 2013.

24 ‘Locked and Loaded for the Lord,‘ Tom Dunkel, Washington Post, May 21, 2018.