The Unification Church

This paper explores the story Sun-Myung Moon, the founder and leader of the Unification Church. First, it considers how Moon’s background gave rise to his strong anti-communist and South Korean nationalist agenda in the early years of the Cold War. Next, it outlines how the Unification Church grew as a political actor in South Korea, especially as it forged ties with the Park Chung Hee regime. It then describes how Moon grew his church internationally by using it as a tool to garner support for South Korea in the United States. Finally, it examines how Moon and his heirs struggled to maintain the relevance of the church as the Cold War waned. It concludes that the church’s success was only possible in the context of the ideological warfare of the Cold War and without a deeper connection to the lives of its members and the interests of governments, it inevitably began to decay.