Chung Hwan Kwak, (born January 22, 1936) is a South Korean religious leader. He was a prominent leader of the international

Unification Church 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 Sp ...

(UC), having been appointed to many leadership positions in Unification Church related organizations by its founder Sun Myung Moon. Since 2002 he had been the Chairman and President of

News World Communications News World Communications Inc. is an American international news media corporation. Background It was founded in New York City, in 1976, by Unification movement founder and leader Sun Myung Moon. Its first two newspapers, ''The News World'' (l ...

, which owns

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

, and numerous other publications, including the ''

Middle East Times News World Communications Inc. is an American international news media corporation. Background It was founded in New York City, in 1976, by Unification movement founder and leader Sun Myung Moon. Its first two newspapers, '' The News World'' (l ...

'', and ''Tiempos del Mundo'', a Spanish-language newspaper published in 16 countries throughout the Americas. He was also the president of the ''Family Party for the Universal Peace and Unity'', a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n political party founded by UC members, one of whose main goals is the reunification of Korea. He was formerly the President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and has been described as Sun Myung Moon's assistant and advisor. He was also the chairman of the ″Social Responsibility Committee″ for the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly i ...

. In 2004, ''Washington Post'' columnist

David Ignatius David Reynolds Ignatius (born May 26, 1950) is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He has written eleven novels, including '' Body of Lies'', which director Ridley Scott adapt ...

reported that Kwak wanted ''

The Washington Times ''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 throughou ...

'' to "support international organizations such as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and to campaign for world peace and interfaith understanding." This, Ignatius wrote, created difficulties for editor

Wesley Pruden James Wesley Pruden Jr., known as Wesley Pruden (December 18, 1935 – July 17, 2019) was an American journalist and author. He was the editor-in-chief of ''The Washington Times'' from 1992 until his retirement in 2008. Early life Pruden was b ...

and some of the ''Times'' columnists. Ignatius also mentioned the Unification movement's reconciliatory attitude towards North Korea, which at the time included joint business ventures, and Kwak's advocacy for greater understanding between the U.S. and the Islamic world as issues of contention. Ignatius predicted that conservatives in Congress and the

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

administration would support Pruden's position over Kwak's. Kwak's daughter, Jun Sook Kwak, is married to Moon's son, Hyun Jin Preston Moon, the leader of the Global Peace Foundation. Kwak left the UC in 2009 after internal strife and is now the Honorary President of the Global Peace Foundation. After the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

, Kwak held a press conference in which he apologized, saying that the UC was responsible for the assassination. According to Kwak, a wave of bankruptcies, divorces and suicides among Japanese UC members had prompted him to attempt to normalize Japan's status as an "economic force" in 2001, but his attempt was thwarted by strong opposition from other UC leaders.

Speeches and writings

collected speeches and writings

References

Living people 1936 births South Korean Unificationists {{SouthKorea-reli-bio-stub