The Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations (also known as the Fraser Committee) was a committee of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

which met in 1976 and 1977 and conducted an investigation into the "

Koreagate "Koreagate" was an American political scandal in 1976 involving South Korean political figures seeking influence from 10 Democratic members of Congress. The scandal involved the uncovering of evidence that the Korea Central Intelligence Agency (KC ...

" scandal. It was chaired by Representative Donald M. Fraser of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. The committee's 447-page report, made public on November 29, 1977, reported on plans by the

National Intelligence Service (South Korea) The National Intelligence Service (NIS; Korean: 국가정보원, 국정원) is the chief intelligence agency of South Korea. The agency was officially established in 1961 as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA; Korean: 중앙정보� ...

(KCIA) to manipulate American institutions to the advantage of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n government policies, overtly and covertly.

Hearings

The committee conducted an extensive investigation into

South Korea–United States relations International relations between South Korea and the United States commenced in 1950, when the United States helped establish the modern state of South Korea, also known as the Republic of Korea, and fought on its UN-sponsored side in the Korean W ...

, and held a series of hearings. The committee's hearings were highly publicized, and the term "Koreagate" began to be used by American news media outlets at the time. During these hearings, former KCIA director

Kim Hyong-uk Kim Hyong-uk (Hangul: 김형욱, Hanja: 金炯旭, January 16, 1925 – c. October 8, 1979) was a South Korean brigadier general who served as director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. Born in Hwanghae province, he left for the S ...

testified that he had offered favors to Pak Tong-sun in exchange for the latter's efforts to lobby in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Kim also testified that a month before the hearings, South Korean president

Park Chung Hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

had attempted to dissuade him from testifying, and had ordered his kidnapping or assassination if he proceeded to testify. Various members of the

Unification Church of the United States The Unification Church of the United States is a religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Churc ...

testified that churchmembers had been involved in attempts to lobby congress. Dan Fefferman, a leader in the

, refused to cooperate fully during the hearings.

Fraser Report

The committee made its findings public in what became known as the "Fraser report". The committee's report that there were South Korean plans to plant an intelligence network in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and to influence the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, newsmedia, clergy, and educators. The report found that Korean businessman

Tongsun Park Tongsun Park (born in 1935 Sunch'ŏn, Korea) is a former South Korean lobbyist. He was involved in two political money-related scandals: Koreagate scandal in the 1970s, and the Oil-for-Food Program scandal of the 2000s. Park had a reputation a ...

had begun lobbying for in 1970, immediately after Nixon withdrew the

U.S. Seventh Army The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fran ...

division from South Korea. The committee found that the KCIA was working with

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) 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 Unif ...

, founder of the

, and that some church members worked as volunteers in congressional offices. Together they founded the

Korean Culture and Freedom Foundation 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 Spi ...

, a nonprofit organization which undertook a

public diplomacy In international relations, public diplomacy or people's diplomacy, broadly speaking, is any of the various government-sponsored efforts aimed at communicating directly with foreign publics to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influen ...

campaign for the

Republic of 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 east ...

. The committee also investigated possible KCIA influence on the

Unification movement 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 Spi ...

's campaign in support of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

during the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

. The report of the committee also found that the KCIA planned to grant money to American universities in order to attempt to influence them for political purposes. It also said that the KCIA had harassed and intimidated Korean people living in the United States if they protested against Republic of Korea government policies.

Aftermath

In response to the investigation, the

House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The House E ...

filed and heard charges against members of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. Congressman

Richard T. Hanna Richard Thomas Hanna (June 9, 1914 – June 9, 2001) was a U.S. Representative from California. He became involved in a scandal dubbed Koreagate by accepting bribes from a businessman working for the South Korean government. He was found guilty ...

was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States Government, and was sentenced to serve between 6 and 30 months in prison. The ethics committee censured

Edward R. Roybal Edward Ross Roybal (February 10, 1916 – October 24, 2005) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for thirteen years and of the U.S. House of Representatives for thirty years. Biography Roybal was born on February 10, 1916, into a Me ...

for failing to report that he had received a $1,000 gift from Park. Two other congressmen,

Charles H. Wilson Charles Herbert Wilson (February 15, 1917 – July 21, 1984) was a California Democratic politician from the Los Angeles area. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1981.Ralph Nader, "Charles H. Wilson, Democrat ...

and John J. McFall were reprimanded. A fourth congressman,

Edward J. Patten Edward James Patten (August 22, 1905 – September 17, 1994) was an American lawyer and politician. Patten, a Democrat, represented the now-redistricted New Jersey's 15th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for ...

, was found not guilty. The committee investigated claims that

Edward Derwinski Edward Joseph Derwinski (September 15, 1926 – January 15, 2012) was an American politician who served as the first Cabinet-level United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, serving under President George H. W. Bush from March 15, 1989 to Sept ...

had leaked confidential information to South Korean officials, but the inquiry ended inconclusively. Kim Hyong-uk disappeared in October 1979, and was reportedly assassinated on the orders of Kim Jae-kyu, then-director of the KCIA.

References

External links

Excerpt from the report
on the Rick Ross Institute website
''Oversight of Foreign Policy: The U. S. House Committee on International Relations''
Fred Kaiser, ''Legislative Studies Quarterly'', Vol. 2, No. 3 (Aug., 1977), pp. 255–279

Mose Durst Mose Durst (born 1939) is an author, educator, and the former president of the Unification Church of the United States. He was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, a predominantly Orthodox Jewish community, to immigrants from Russia. He ...

* ttp://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Books/Tims1/Tims1-06.htm Press Conference

Bo Hi Pak Bo Hi Pak (August 18, 1930 – January 12, 2019 in Korea. Korean: 박보희/朴普熙) 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 ...

, January 17, 1979 {{Unification Church South Korea–United States relations United States House of Representatives Unification Church controversies

Hearings

Fraser Report

Aftermath

See also

References

External links