Moon's church preparing to launch a political party

JoongAng Daily/March 6, 2003

Reverend Moon Sun-myung, founder of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, better known as the Unification Church , is preparing to establish a political party in Korea.

Kim Bong-tae, chairman of the Youth Federation for World Peace, a Unification Church subsidiary, will be the representative of the new party, to be called the Family Party, a National Election Commission official said yesterday.

Final preparations are underway for 23 district offices around the country. Reverend Moon is scheduled to participate in the founding ceremony at the Little Angels Hall in Seoul on March 10.

The Family Party plans to champion chastity education, policies to create a sound family unit, and the teaching of nationalistic ideology and peace in preparation for divinely-inspired Korean unification, a party official said. Reverend Moon is the founder but will not hold any official position, another party official said. The party is open to everyone. Individuals can participate without having to subscribe to any particular religious ideology.