Religious affairs reporter Jeong Seong-su (정성수). Photo: Segye Ilbo
The logo of the Segye IlboJudging a Religious Legacy by the Lives It Shaped: The story of Choi Won-bok applying ideals from Unificationism to education
Continued from part 1: Scholar’s Journey: She Gave Up Academia for Faith
Helen Kim (김활란), president of Ehwa (Ewha) Women’s University 1939-1961, including during the well-known 1954–1955 Ewha incident when faculty members such as Choi Won-bok and Kim Young-oon, along with several students, were dismissed or expelled over their association with the newly founded Unification Church. Photo (1951): Abbie Rowe (1905-1967). Public domain image. Cropped
Maria Park (박마리아 – 1906-1960), vice-president of Ehwa (Ewha) Women’s University 1954-1960, including during the well-known 1954–1955 Ewha incident when faculty members such as Choi Won-bok and Kim Young-oon, along with several students, were dismissed or expelled over their association with the newly founded Unification Church. Photo: FFWPUYet, religion correspondent Jeong Seong-su (정성수) argues in his article 24th July in the South Korean daily Segye Ilbo that an equally important fact is often overlooked: while she left the university, she did not leave education.
See also Building Bridges Across Korea’s Religious Divide
See also Crossing the Walls of Religion
See also Calls for Renewal at Father Moon Anniversary
See also The Kingdom Within
Instead, Choi Won-bok (최원복 – 1916–2006) devoted her educational abilities to new settings.
Within the Family Federation she became deeply involved in member education, teaching the movement’s theology, known as the Unification Principles.
The revised second edition of Divine Principle published in 1973 that became the standard English version of the original Korean Wolli Kangron. After Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han moved to USA in December 1971, he commissioned Choi Won-bok to translate the Korean text into English. She did so during a 40-day period in 1972, and her text was edited by several American members before the first edition was published in early Summer of 1973 and the second edition later that year. Because she spoke fluent English and Japanese, she also worked extensively in international education and missionary activities, helping translate the Unification Principles into English and contributing to communication between the movement‘s members around the world.
According to Jeong, these efforts helped lay part of the educational foundation for the movement‘s expanding international activities.
Her most visible contribution, however, came after she became principal of Sunhwa Arts Middle and High School, where she served for more than nine years between 1977 and 1987.
Jeong considers this stage of her life especially significant. Rather than remaining in the more prestigious world of university education, she chose to devote herself to the education of adolescents. In his view, this demonstrates that she regarded education not merely as a profession but as a lifelong mission.
Many students who later achieved international recognition studied at Sunhwa during her leadership. While educational success can rarely be measured immediately, Jeong argues that the later accomplishments of these students testify to the lasting influence of the school’s educational environment during those years.
Equally important, he writes, was the philosophy that guided Choi’s work.
She believed schools should be places where character is formed as much as knowledge is acquired. Academic excellence was important, but it was not enough. Education, she argued, should produce people capable of maintaining integrity during hardship while also showing generosity toward others.
She often encouraged students to preserve their humanity in an increasingly technological world. Scientific and technological progress, she believed, should never come at the expense of imagination, poetry, or compassion. A truly educated person should combine professional competence with emotional depth and moral responsibility.
Sunhwa Arts Middle and High School in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: FFWPUHer understanding of art reflected the same philosophy. Art, she said, finds its highest purpose not simply through technical brilliance or public performance but through its ability to comfort people who are suffering and bring warmth into difficult lives.
Reading also occupied an important place in her educational vision. She described books as allowing a person, even in the humblest surroundings, to learn from hundreds of great teachers. Lifelong reading, she believed, was essential for continual personal growth.
One of the concepts Jeong highlights is Choi’s distinction between the “small self” and the “greater self”. Human beings, she taught, should not live only for personal success or private interests. By recognizing both their relationship with God and their responsibility toward humanity, individuals discover a larger purpose that transcends self-interest. Education should therefore cultivate not only capable professionals but also responsible citizens who contribute to society as a whole.
Jeong concludes that institutions are ultimately judged by the people they produce. Buildings may disappear and organizations may experience periods of crisis, but the lives of individuals endure as lasting evidence of the values they embraced.
He notes that the Family Federation is currently passing through one of the most difficult periods in its history. In such circumstances, he argues, it is worth looking beyond contemporary controversies to examine the lives of individuals who dedicated themselves to education, public service, and the development of others.
In his view, Choi Won-bok represents one such individual. Although she sacrificed an established university career because of her religious convictions, she never abandoned her commitment to educating young people. Instead, she spent the remainder of her life helping others grow intellectually, morally, and spiritually.
For Jeong, that lifelong commitment makes Choi Won-bok more than an important educator. It makes her part of what he considers one of the enduring educational legacies that the Family Federation has left to Korean society. Whether readers ultimately agree with that assessment or not, he suggests that the life of Choi Won-bok deserves to be considered as part of any balanced evaluation of the movement‘s historical impact.
See part 1: Scholar’s Journey: She Gave Up Academia for Faith
See also Building Bridges Across Korea’s Religious Divide
See also Crossing the Walls of Religion
See also Calls for Renewal at Father Moon Anniversary
See also The Kingdom Within
Text: Knut Holdhus, editor
Featured image above: Choi Won-bok in 1975. Photo: FFWPU. Lanczos upscaling by Grok xAI, July 2026.
Related to judging a religious legacy: At Issue: Religions Taking Reality Seriously
Also related to judging a religious legacy: Religion Between Engagement and Withdrawal
Also related to judging a religious legacy: State Failure and Non-State Peace Projects
And also related to judging a religious legacy: Unificationism Emerging as a World Religion
More, related to judging a religious legacy: Decline of Family Values Creates Social Crisis
Also related to judging a religious legacy: Essence of God
More, related to judging a religious legacy: God and Human Beings
Also related to judging a religious legacy: The Kingdom of Heaven
And also related to judging a religious legacy: True Love
More, related to judging a religious legacy: The Value of the Family
And more, related to judging a religious legacy: God’s ideal
Still more, related to judging a religious legacy: God’s Sorrow
Yet more, related to judging a religious legacy: Suffering of God
And yet more, related to judging a religious legacy: Family values
Also related to judging a religious legacy: Meaningful Marriage
More, related to judging a religious legacy: Living for Others
More, related to judging a religious legacy: Family as School of Love
More, related to judging a religious legacy: Parents and Children
More, related to judging a religious legacy: Teachings Make Great Strides in New Version
And more, related to judging a religious legacy: In a Nutshell
Yet more, related to judging a religious legacy: Brief about the Teachings
Still more, related to judging a religious legacy: Relationships
Even more, related to judging a religious legacy: Gender-Balanced Understanding of God and Christ
And yet more, related to judging a religious legacy: God as Our Heavenly Parent (Father and Mother)
And still more, related to judging a religious legacy: History of God: From Yahweh to Father to Parent
And even more, related to judging a religious legacy: Religious Truth as Progressive Revelation
Also related to judging a religious legacy: Essential Motherly Part of Messianic Mission
Also related to judging a religious legacy: The 3 Blessings and the Process to Fulfil Them
Also related to judging a religious legacy: Unification Principles
