Climate of Suspicion: Peace Reframed as Politics

Attempts to trap Family Federation in a narrative of suspicion as decades old peace legacy is being recast as political maneuvering

The South Korean daily newspaper Segye Ilbo published on 24^th December an opinion piece titled “Moving Beyond the Narrative Frame Toward Peace, A Paradox Emerging from the Family Federation’s Crisis”.

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Religious affairs correspondent Jeong Seong-su (정성수) points out that in recent months, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification ‒ also called the Unification Church ‒ has found itself at the center of an unprecedented crisis. Founded in South Korea in 1954 by Reverend Sun Myung Moon (문선명), the movement has long positioned itself as a religious organization devoted to global peace, family values, and international cooperation.

Today, however, it faces the most severe challenge in its history. Its leader Hak Ja Han (한학자), also called Mother Han, and a former leader have been detained for months on allegations related to illegal political funding. Public debate has escalated to the point where even the dissolution of the organization as a religious body is being discussed.

In his opinion piece, Jeong writes,

“Recently, a senior pastor who served the Family Federation in pastoral ministry for 47 years published a piece in Paris titled ‘Regrets over the Unification Church Gate’. In it, he stated that during his lifetime, Reverend Sun Myung Moon strictly and categorically prohibited any financial transactions with politicians, treating this as an inviolable principle.”

For the millions of members worldwide, the situation is both shocking and painful. They see themselves not as political operatives, but as believers who have participated in peace initiatives, humanitarian projects, and interfaith efforts in alignment with their religious convictions and, often, in cooperation with government policies aimed at stability and reconciliation.

The central difficulty the Family Federation now faces is what the article describes as a “frame” ‒ specifically, a narrative frame of church-state collusion. Once such a frame takes hold in public discourse, every activity, regardless of intent or historical context, tends to be interpreted through that lens. Explanations are dismissed as self-serving, and long-standing peace initiatives are reinterpreted as political maneuvering. This is the environment in which the current controversy is unfolding.

To understand why the Family Federation ever engaged with political leaders at all, the article argues that one must return to the original worldview of its co-founder, Reverend Moon. His approach to politics was not rooted in a desire for power or influence in the conventional sense, but in a broader philosophical vision of peace. Reverend Moon believed that lasting peace could not be achieved through political systems alone, nor through religion acting in isolation. Instead, he saw religion and politics as complementary spheres that must cooperate while maintaining distinct roles.

In his conceptual framework, religion represented the “mind” of society ‒ the source of moral values, conscience, and ultimate purpose ‒ while politics and economics represented the “body”, responsible for implementing policies and managing material realities. Just as a healthy individual requires harmony between mind and body, Reverend Moon believed that a peaceful world required moral guidance and political authority to work together, centered on universal ethical principles.

This perspective shaped his view of Korea’s role in the world. Emerging from colonialism, war, and ideological division, South Korea stood at the fault line between communism and capitalism. Reverend Moon argued that Korea had a unique historical mission: to overcome ideological conflict not by choosing one extreme over another, but by articulating a higher, God-centered ethic emphasizing mutual coexistence, shared prosperity, and justice. In his view, this approach could resolve internal polarization within South Korea, enable peaceful reunification with the North, and ultimately position Korea as a model for global peace.

The article also emphasizes that Reverend Moon’s peace vision extended far beyond abstract theology. One of his most ambitious ideas was that physical connectivity ‒ literally building roads and bridges between nations ‒ could help dismantle psychological and political barriers. This belief culminated in the proposal of an “International Peace Highway”, first introduced in 1981 at a major global science conference in Seoul attended by hundreds of scholars, including Nobel Prize winners.

The idea was bold: begin with an “Asian Peace Highway” linking China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, and then expand it into a global network connecting continents. Most famously, this included the concept of an undersea tunnel between Korea and Japan. While such a project might sound utopian, the proposal attracted serious attention from respected academics, engineers, and policymakers. For them, the appeal lay not only in infrastructure development, but in the project’s symbolic and practical potential to foster reconciliation, economic cooperation, and long-term stability in a historically tense region.

Importantly, Reverend Moon did not treat this vision as mere rhetoric. Organizations were established to study feasibility, conduct research, and gather expert input. Prominent figures in Japan and South Korea ‒ from polar explorers and university professors to civil engineers and former government officials ‒ participated in these discussions. Over time, the idea gained enough legitimacy that multiple heads of state in South Korea publicly referenced it as one possible avenue for improving relations with Japan. Japanese political leaders, too, expressed interest and even suggested alternative names to emphasize its international character.

The Segye Ilbo article points out that as deliberations on the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel progressed, political attention increased accordingly. In South Korea, Presidents Roh Tae-woo (노태우), Kim Dae-jung (김대중), Roh Moo-hyun (노무현), and Lee Myung-bak (이명박) each referred to the project as a potential instrument for advancing Korea-Japan reconciliation.

In Japan, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori (森 喜朗) went so far as to suggest calling it the “ASEM Tunnel.” Numerous political leaders, including former Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa (野沢 太三) and Takeo Kawamura (河村 建夫), secretary-general of the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians’ Union, likewise expressed strong support for the concept.

From the perspective presented in the article, this history is crucial. The engagement between the Family Federation and political figures did not emerge from partisan ambitions or covert influence, but from long-term peace projects that inherently required governmental cooperation. Large-scale infrastructure, international reconciliation, and regional integration are, by definition, impossible without dialogue with political authorities.

This does not mean, the article cautions, that any unlawful or unethical behavior should be excused. Allegations of improper financial dealings must be investigated and judged on their own merits. However, the author argues that it is a mistake to conflate the entirety of the Family Federation’s peace-oriented vision with specific accusations against individuals. To do so risks discarding decades of intellectual, moral, and practical efforts aimed at reducing conflict and fostering cooperation.

Jeong’s article appeals to a broader historical perspective. Many of humanity’s most transformative achievements ‒ from international institutions to cross-border infrastructure ‒ began as controversial dreams. They were often criticized, misunderstood, or dismissed before becoming part of accepted reality. Regardless of how the current legal and political disputes conclude, the aspiration for peace that motivated these initiatives should not be abandoned. Dreams of cooperation, reconciliation, and shared prosperity, the author reminds us, are not naïve indulgences. They are the starting point of nearly all meaningful human progress.

See also When Probes Risk Becoming Collective Judgment

See also Some Religions Are Welcome in Politics, Some Not

See also Response to “Pilgrimage by Ferry” Media Claims

See also Fact-Based Clarification of Media Misreporting

See also Advisory Fees Misrepresented in S. Korean Media

See also State Failure and Non-State Peace Projects

Text: Knut Holdhus, editor

Featured image above: Mother Han at the Sunhak Peace Prize award ceremony 11th April 2025 in Seoul. The Sunhak Peace Prize is one of numerois peace projects she and her late husband Sun Myung Moon founded. Screenshot from PeaceLink TV. 

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