Unification Church - Related Organizations

Related Organizations

The church and its members own, operate and subsidize organizations and projects involved in political, cultural, commercial, media, educational and other activities. In South Korea, Unification Church manages some 4,600 hectares of land and more than 300 residential and commercial rental properties. Many of the companies and enterprises are profitable and help realize church doctrine. The Unification Church in 2001 persuaded the North Korean government to relax its restrictions and permit Pyeonghwa Motors, a South Korean automaker with ties to the Church, to assemble cars in the DPRK and advertise them to North Koreans. The Unification Church sought to promote private business enterprises that would shift the North Korean economy away from a planned economy to a market economy.

The church-owned conglomerate Tongil Group has four subsidiaries listed on the Korea Exchange. Unification Movement is the largest supplier of U.S. sushi restaurants, supplying most of the 9,000 units in the country. It is the second largest exporter of Korean goods. In some U.S. areas it is the largest employer. For a while the Unification Church was the largest foreign investor in China. It manages the top Asian ballet company, the largest Asian helicopter plant, as well as the only automobile-manufacturing plant in North Korea, Pyeonghwa Motors. Three of its NGOs, namely Universal Peace Federation, Women's Federation for World Peace and Service for Peace, are in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. The church owns Manhattan Center during Africa Day event, which was cosponsored by an affiliated organization. Unification Church-owned Yeongpyeong Resort, The Ocean Resort and Pineridge Resort hosted Expo 2012 in May 2012, and will sponsor the 2018 Winter Olympics and Formula One. It also owns the Peace Cup, whose president, Chung Hwan Kwak, is a long-time church member and he holds the positions of Asian Football Confederation Social Responsibility Committee Chairman, President of K-League, President of Korea Football Association, which is part of FIFA. Most notable Peace Cup football clubs are Aston Villa, Juventus, Lyon, Inter Milan, etc.

Economic interests of the Unification Movement include the petrochemical industry, construction of golf courses, non-ferrous metallurgy, automobile industry, avia carriers, yacht building, energy drinks, banking, Hollywood, etc. The church owns a mansion in a former Gothic Catholic Church. The church ranks third in the tourism market in Korea. It provides tours to North Korea for separated families and built a golf course for tourists in Pyongyang. Japanese members of the Unification Church are the largest share of the air travel market in Korea. The movement owns hotels, an airport, and all the necessary tourism infrastructure units. The movement operates medical tourism; thus, CheongShim Hospital is the largest hospital in Korea in terms of internationalization level. In 1984 Unification Church started a book publishing company in One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in Manhattan, whose editorial board included prominent scholars associated with some of the nation's leading universities. The company is called Paragon House and has a $5 million budget.

Scientific interests include cancer research. The movement continues to work for the end of communism.

In 2011, Unification Church's Universal Ballet spent about $10 million on a tour of dozens of countries. In 2013 the ballet will tour with Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea in the U.S., Canada, Japan, G-20 countries and major cities of Russia. The tour is partially funded by the South Korean government.

In 2012, the church announced plans for a $33 million investment to build Isshin Hospital-Brazil and a spa and a $12 million convention center near McCarran International Airport.

The church holds rehabilitation programs for North Korean refugees, holds Middle East peace initiatives aimed to reconcile Jews, Christians and Muslims and other peace initiatives. It supports the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The movement holds events in the U.S., Korea, Guyana, Philippines, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Brazil, Georgia, Bangladesh and other countries at the governmental level. One of its youth affiliates, the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles, is active in Cornell University. A UPenn graduate and a member of the Unification Church said his church "helped me achieve stellar academic results".