Moon gives control of church to sons

SEOUL, South Korea - The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, now approaching 90 and still one of the world's most controversial religious figures, is handing over day-to-day control of his Unification Church to three U.S.-educated sons.

There are some changes afoot in fund-raising and boosting membership, the sons say. But Moon - who will preside over another series of his trademark mass weddings tomorrow - remains in charge as the church's self-proclaimed "Messiah."

Still, the sons are quietly assuming more responsibility in managing a church that has steadily expanded its business and charitable activities while trying to avoid the criticism that dogged it during the 1970s and '80s.

The youngest, the Rev. Moon Hyung-jin, 30, was tapped last year to take over as the church's religious leader. Moon Kook-jin, 39, is in charge of business ventures in South Korea, while Moon Hyun-jin, 40, oversees international operations. The church said all three had Harvard degrees.

Since founding the church in Seoul in 1954, the elder Moon has built a business empire with hundreds of ventures in more than a half-dozen countries, from hospitals and universities to newspapers and even a professional soccer team and ballet troupe.

Among the most controversial of Moon's legacies are the mass weddings he calls "blessing ceremonies" - arranged marriages often pairing followers from different countries that he says are aimed at building a multicultural religious world.

Critics maintain the weddings, involving people who usually don't meet until shortly before the ceremony, are evidence the Unification Church brainwashes its followers.

Tomorrow, Moon will wed or reaffirm the marriages of more than 40,000 people: 20,000 in South Korea and the rest in countries around the world, including the United States, where church officials say ceremonies are planned in nearly every state.

Moon Hyung-jin, the elder Moon's handpicked successor as religious director, was just 17 when he took a bride chosen by his father; the couple now have five children. In addition, three of the elder Moon's grandchildren were set up with followers from Japan, the colonial ruler of Korea.

Baby-faced and soft-spoken, Moon Hyung-jin was born and raised in New York, where he was known as Sean.

"When my father asked me to take on this role, I told him this responsibility was a bit much for me," he said. "He told me not to worry, that many people would help me."

Since then, the younger Moon says he has carved out some areas of change, including making the church's fund-raising activities more transparent. The church has been accused of duping followers into handing over their life savings.

Membership is also a key concern. Though the church claims millions of members worldwide, experts say the figure is far lower - no more than 100,000.

The younger Moon's anointment came despite a lapse of faith during his Harvard years, when he said he turned to Buddhism after a brother, Young-jin, died in Reno, Nev., in 1999, in what authorities called a suicide.

A Seoul businessman and owner of the New York-based gun manufacturer Kahr Arms, Moon Kook-jin has headed the church's South Korean business operations since 2005. He says he sees no contradiction in owning a weapons factory. "To build a peaceful country, we need the police and an army," he said.