Tongil Group ( ko, 통일그룹) is a Korean business group ( chaebol) associated with the

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). (“Tongil” is Korean for “unification,” the name of the Unification Church in Korean is “Tongilgyo.”) It was founded in 1963 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon (following the purchase of a surplus Japanese lathe in 1962 page 151.) 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. In 1998 Tongil Group was about 35th in size among South Korean business groups and was in the process of expanding into

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, with the blessing of the South Korean government which had previously forbidden relationships between North Korea and South Korean businesses. In the 1990s Tongil Group suffered as a result of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. By 2004 it was losing money and was $3.6 billion in debt. In 2005 Moon’s son, Kook-jin Justin Moon (founder of Kahr Arms) was appointed chairman of Tongil Group. As of 2010 he was in the process of reforming its businesses by hiring new managers and by closing unprofitable operations. Among Tongil Group’s chief holdings are: The Ilwha Company, which produces

ginseng Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus '' Panax'', such as Korean ginseng ('' P. ginseng''), South China ginseng ('' P. notoginseng''), and American ginseng ('' P. quinquefolius''), typically characterized by the presence of ginsenosides ...

and related products; Ilshin Stone, building materials; and Tongil Heavy Industries, machine parts including hardware for the

South Korean military The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

. The Tongil Group funds the Tongil Foundation which finances about 20 religious and educational institutions, including the

Sun Moon University Sun Moon University is a university located in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. Sport The university's football team participated in the 2014 IFA Shield tournament. Notable people *Oh Jung-se Oh Jung-se (born February 26, 1977) is a ...

, and the Little Angels Children’s Folk Ballet of Korea. And it donates to the UC, how much and whether by personal or corporate channels, is not public.

References

External links

Tongil Group
- Official Website
Interview
with Kook Jin Moon on Tongil Group's future in the ''

JoongAng Daily ''Korea JoongAng Daily'' is the English edition of the South Korean national daily newspaper ''JoongAng Ilbo''. The newspaper was first published on October 17, 2000, originally named as ''JoongAng Ilbo English Edition''. It mainly carries news a ...

''
Interview
with Kook Jin Moon in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' {{Unification Church Unification Church affiliated organizations Chaebol Conglomerate companies established in 1963 Conglomerate companies of South Korea