Preserve the FFWPU Bridge to North Korea

North Korea expert and special US envoy urges South Korea to preserve the bridge to North Korea built by the Family Federation and its founders

Tokyo, 7^th September 2026 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.

Op-Ed

Family Federation Built Special Ties with North Korea

South Korean Government Should Cooperate Toward Inter-Korean Reconciliation

by the editorial department of Sekai Nippo

Joseph DeTrani, former U.S. special envoy for negotiations with North Korea

In 2005, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, established the NGO Universal Peace Federation (UPF). UPF has maintained close relations with North Korea.

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Since Rev. Moon‘s death in 2012, Hak Ja Han has led the Family Federation. Her recent sentencing to two years in prison on bribery charges must surely have caused some consternation among the North Korean leadership.

In 1991, the couple visited North Korea and developed a close relationship with its then-leader, Kim Il-sung (1912-1994). When Rev. Moon died, Kim Il-sung’s grandson, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, expressed his condolences to the bereaved family and sent a wreath. He also posthumously awarded Rev. Moon the Fatherland Reunification Prize.

At the UPF World Summit held in 2022, marking the 10th anniversary of Rev. Moon‘s death, Kim Jong-un again sent a wreath to Hak Ja Han and conveyed his condolences. His message stated: “Rev. Moon devoted himself to world peace. […] His achievements and legacy will be remembered forever.”

One of UPF‘s principal objectives is the peaceful reunification of North and South Korea. This was demonstrated by Rev. and Mrs. Moon‘s meeting with Kim Il-sung in 1991 and was reaffirmed when Kim Jong-un conveyed his condolences in 2022.

The following year, however, North Korea formally adopted its policy of regarding the two Koreas as “two hostile states”. In 2026, it enshrined this principle in its Constitution. This means that North Korea has officially abandoned the goal of reunification and has since defined inter-Korean relations as relations between two separate and hostile entities.

Attempts by the South Korean government under President Lee Jae-myung to resume dialogue with North Korea have failed.

The Family Federation has believers in more than 140 countries. Its members look to Hak Ja Han as their leader and support UPF‘s mission of promoting world peace and the peaceful reunification of North and South Korea.

Hak Ja Han‘s prison sentence has also raised another question: What will be the future status of the Family Federation and UPF?

Indeed, if the South Korean government were to consider dissolving these organizations, it would be perceived as an obvious attack on freedom of religion.

Regardless of whether one is religious or not, the democratic societies in which we live guarantee the right to practice one’s faith freely.

Given that UPF has built good relations with North Korea, the South Korean government should cooperate with the Family Federation and UPF in order to rebuild relations with North Korea.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are extremely high. North Korea is currently cooperating militarily with Russia. North Korean combat troops have been deployed to Russia to support President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. North Korea is also supplying Russia with artillery shells and ballistic missiles, while it is believed to be receiving military-technology assistance from Russia in return.

This situation is by no means favorable to peace on the Korean Peninsula or stability in Northeast Asia.

UPF and Hak Ja Han have established unique relationships with North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un. The South Korean government should make use of these relationships and seek to resume dialogue with North Korea. Ultimately, it should aim for the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

See also Embracing Role of Peacemaker When Persecuted

See also Mother Han: Guilty Without Proof?

See also International Outcry Over Hak Ja Han (83) Verdict

See also Hak Ja Han: A Nobel Case for Courage and Peace

See also Mother Han’s Legal War: 2 Years of Uncertainty

See also Mother Han Seeking Bail and Release Extension

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Featured image above: Official portrait of Ambassador Joseph R. DeTrani, former Associate Director of National Intelligence and former member of the Senior Intelligence Service of the CIA. He served as special envoy for the Six-Party Talks with North Korea from 2003 to 2006. Photo (2006): United States Department of State. Public domain image. Cropped

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