Mutual Prosperity: A World of Peace and Harmony

Victory over Communism(VOC) Movement

After the Second World War, with the appearance of the bipolar system centered on the United States and the Soviet Union, the world saw the dawn of the Cold War Era when the ideologies of democracy and communism came into serious conflict. The battle between mind and body, which began with the Fall of the human ancestors in the beginning of history, has manifested in the form of the conflict between the theistic realm and the atheistic realm. Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon proposed the head-wing ideology, which embraces both communism centered on materialism and democracy that advocates a spiritual view of human beings. Centering on the head-wing ideology, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han carried out the Victory over Communism Movement to defeat atheistic communism, which denies the existence of God.

In Korea, the Anti-Communism Enlightenment Group was launched in 1965 to carry out the Victory over Communism (VOC) Enlightenment Movement and to train Victory over Communism lecturers. In 1968, they founded the International Federation for Victory Over Communism (IFVOC), whose members numbered a total of 7 million by 1984. In 1970, the construction of the Central Training Center was completed, and since 1990, some 890,000 people have attended VOC workshops. VOC educational materials were published, and seminars, national security workshops, plus VOC activities centered on college campuses and VOC rallies were held nationwide.

Even the Japanese Chapter of IFVOC was organized to lead the fight against the atheistic communist movement. The VOC Movement was carried out most passionately from the late 1960s under the slogan, “Communism is wrong!” It declared a public ideological war against the Communist Party, alerted the general public to the true nature of communism and won the ideological battle. Furthermore, at the Kyoto provincial governor’s election, it launched a campaign for the defeat of the Communist Party candidate, and it also carried out an educational movement. Thus, it created a national foundation for supporting the VOC Movement, and in 1986 a total of 134 pro-VOC parliamentarians were elected at the general election. Afterwards, the movement further expanded from Japan to other parts of Asia, including Taiwan, through such events as the Asian Christian Anti-Communism rallies, World Anti-Communist League conventions and Asia Victory over Communism rallies. The Victory over Communism Movement later spread to North and South America.

Rev. Moon and Dr. Han endeavored to stop the expansion of communism by awakening Christianity and its central nation, the United States, which had been prepared by God to receive the Messiah. They founded the Freedom Leadership Foundation, carried out the movement to support Presidents Nixon and Reagan in their efforts to stop global communization, and educated the general public nationwide through the VOC Movement on college campuses and through speaking tours across the United States. In particular, they established media agencies such as The News World and The Washington Times to support America’s major anti-communist policies including the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).

In Latin America, the Victory over Communism Movement was led by the Confederation of the Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas (CAUSA), which aimed to bring about unity and cooperation in North and South America, and the Association for the Unity of Latin America (AULA), which convenes Central and South American leaders. To fight against the leftist direction of progressive groups, which at the time were spreading like wild fire, programs such as CAUSA seminars and Unification Thought workshops for leaders were held to thwart the spread of the communist ideology. In the communist nations of Eastern Europe, underground mission work was carried out in secrecy, with one special initiative taking the name Mission Butterfly. The VOC movement advocated reform of the social structure based on communism’s atheistic worldview. In 1987 in particular, 2,000 people marched and demonstrated for world peace and for the breakdown of the Berlin Wall, led by the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP). It was the largest international peace march since the building of the Berlin Wall.

At this time, when democracy and communism were locked in battle, the divided Korean Peninsula lay at the center of the global political situation. To save the fatherland of our faith, then in crisis, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han gathered the fortunes of our global VOC movement in Korea. Thus, the World Rally for Korean Freedom was held, in June of 1975. Yeouido Plaza was filled to capacity with 1,000 representatives from more than 60 nations of the world and 1.2 million others. It was a Victory over Communism Rally on the largest imaginable scale, unprecedented in history, which raised high the banners for VOC and the salvation of the nation centering on God’s Will.

On the foundation of the work of the international Victory over Communism movement, in August 1985, while Rev. Sun Myung Moon was imprisoned in Danbury Prison, he instructed that the end of communism be declared. At the time, the Second Professors World Peace Academy International Congress was to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, under the theme, “The Fall of the Soviet Union: Prospects for Transition to a Post-Soviet World.” In the presence of more than 300 professors and scholars, congress chairman Dr. Morton Kaplan of the University of Chicago publicly proclaimed the fall of the communist Soviet Empire. As a political scientist, Dr. Kaplan had recommended using the expression “possible fall” with regard to the end of the Soviet Union, but Rev. Moon strongly instructed him to declare it firmly.

This proclamation, which at the time was quite a shock to the world’s scholars and the media, was actualized through the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the declaration of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.

In April 1990, less than 5 years after the end of communism was declared in Geneva, Switzerland, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han had their historic meeting with President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, who stood in the position of the leader of the communist system. The meeting took place 14 years after the 1976 Washington Monument Rally, when Father had declared that a rally would be held in Moscow.

The Moscow conference, which was the predicted rally, lasted from April 9 to 13, and was attended by more than 600 journalists, politicians and scholars from 60-some nations, including 40 current and former heads of state. At the meeting with President Mikhail Gorbachev, held at the Kremlin Palace on April 11, issues such as friendly relations with Korea, the unification of the Korean Peninsula and freedom of religion in the Soviet Union were discussed. In particular, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han took the opportunity to advise President Gorbachev, “Since there is no future for atheistic materialism other than self-destruction, please give up this materialist ideology and attempt to resurrect spiritual values centered on religion.” In addition, they aimed to bring about a transformative effect in the Soviet Union by proposing overseas training in the United States and other places for college students and leaders. The following year (December 1991) saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the great communist nation that had been in existence since 1922. It was 74 years since the 1917 Russian Revolution.

The North and South Korea Unification Movement

The unification of the Korean Peninsula, divided into North and South, would be a shortcut to world peace. This is because (as well as being the homeland of the Unificationist faith) it is the final battleground between the two forces of democracy and communism in the providence of restoration. Rev. Moon and Dr. Han believed the work for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, which is in the position of an offering in God’s providence of restoration, to be their life’s work, and pursued related activities with all their heart and soul.

Beginning with the campaign to teach the South Korean people about communism in the 1960s, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han carried out the VOC Movement to overcome communism in all of its provinces. They founded the International Federation for Victory Over Communism to arm South Korea with the VOC Ideology internally, and externally they responded on a global scale to the power of communism that had been pushing out worldwide. From 1975, they began laying the foundation for the unification of North and South Korea centering on the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan and the Korean Residents Union in Japan [organizations of North Korean and South Korean residents respectively]. On the foundation of the 40-year wilderness course Rev. Moon and Dr. Han endured from August 15, 1945, when Korea gained its independence, to August 20 1985, when Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s suffering course in Danbury came to an end, the gates of God’s providence opened to the era of the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula. In 1987, not long before communism collapsed as a global power, they established the Citizens’ Federation for the Unification of North and South Korea. Its mandate was to arm the South Korean people with an understanding of communism in preparation for potential elections embracing a unified North and South Korea. When the foundation was laid upon which the world could go beyond the boundaries of democracy and communism and harmonize as one, with the 1988 Seoul Olympics as the turning point, they carried out an intense ideological citizens’ awareness training based on spiritual values in order to subdue North Korea’s impetus and ambition to reunite Korea through communism.

The teaching of Rev. Moon and Dr. Han, who for a very long time have featured prominently in the North and South Korea movement for unification, has always remained constant: “Let us achieve the unification of North and South Korea through true love.” The VOC Ideology is not one that kills communism, but rather one that saves it. In short, it is the ideology of human salvation. Rev. Moon and Dr. Han have continued carrying out their providence consistently, saying, “The way to unification will be opened when those of us who live in the South adopt a mindset to truly live together and become one with those who live in the North.” Their providence began to move consistently in the direction of North Korea.

In December 1950, as Rev. Sun Myung Moon crossed the 38^th parallel into South Korea, he offered a prayer expressing his resolve: “If I cannot return, I will teach my philosophy so that my descendants can go, and if they cannot go, I will make it so that my followers can go.” 40 years and 11 months later, in November 1991, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han visited North Korea for the first time. On the foundation of having carried out academic conferences worldwide, financial investment projects and media work, as well as having held a successful meeting with President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, they were able to personally converse with and win the cooperation of President Kim Il-sung of North Korea.

Rev. Moon and Dr. Han spent a week in North Korea, from November 30 to December 7, 1991. After arriving in Pyongyang on the 30^th, the ensuing six days included a welcoming banquet, a visit to Mansudae Assembly Hall, an initial meeting on financial cooperation, a second meeting on the practical aspects of financial cooperation, a visit to President Kim Il-Sung’s place of birth, a tour of downtown Pyongyang, a visit to Kumgang Mountain and a visit to the homestead where Rev. Sun Myung Moon was born.

During this period, Rev. and Mrs. Moon emphasized the following points to the North Korean leaders: “Juche ideology, which denies God, cannot bring about unification. The unification of our fatherland is only possible through a God-centered ideology.” Making such a statement could have put their visit, if not their freedom, in jeopardy. The disciples accompanying Rev. Moon and Dr. Han later testified that, at that moment, they feared for their lives.

They stayed awake until late at night to read the Scriptures and to pray. And when they visited Father’s hometown on December 5, even though they learned of the heartbreak Rev. Moon’s own parents had suffered, they nevertheless embraced North Korea with love.

Finally, on December 6, a historic meeting with President Kim Il-sung was held at the Majeon Presidential Residence in Hungnam in the northeast of North Korea. Rev. Moon and Dr. Han embraced President Kim Il-sung with love as a brother rather than as an enemy. By the end of the meeting, relations had become quite friendly, and he and Rev. Moon had decided to call each other “Elder brother” and “Younger brother.” In the history of North Korea, Rev. Moon was the only person whose hand President Kim Il-sung had ever held while taking official photographs. Through the meeting they held that day, they agreed that there should be meetings between separated families, that nuclear power should be used for peaceful purposes, and that the North should accept to receive international nuclear inspection. Some financial projects for North Korea were agreed on, and the idea for a North-South Korea summit meeting was discussed. Rev. Moon and Dr. Han thus prepared the way for the unification of North and South Korea. Even at the banquet held after their meeting with Kim Il-sung, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han emphasized that “true love is the driving force of unification, and it is thicker than blood,” and made the appeal, “Let us bring forward the day of the unification of our homeland through reconciliation, understanding, love and unity.”

After the meeting with President Kim Il-sung, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han began their exchange and cooperation projects for peaceful unification, based on the agreements reached. In 1993, they purchased the Botong River Hotel situated in the business district, and in 1997 the groundbreaking ceremony of the World Peace Center was held. They drew up a plan to develop Kumgang Mountain, and in 1998 they launched Pyeonghwa (Peace) Motors in North Korea as a joint investment venture between North and South Korea.

The Little Angels Performing Arts Troupe visited North Korea to give performances in 1998, and in return the Pyongyang Students Dance Troupe visited South Korea in May 2000.

A pilgrimage program to Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s hometown, Chungju, was begun in 1992, and for the first time since the division of Korea, it became possible for South Koreans to tour Pyongyang. More than 1,000 people took advantage of this opportunity in 2003, for example. On December 31, 1991, the North and South Korean governments signed the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and in 1992 they adopted the Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, and Exchanges and Cooperation between North and South Korea to lay the cornerstone for the unification of North and South Korea. Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon embarked on her first speaking tour across college campuses in 1993 and a second speaking tour in 1995 to open the way to a new unification movement centered on college students and young people. On this foundation, International University Students and Leaders Seminars were held from 1994 to 1999, through which college students and professors from North and South Korea came together to discuss Korea’s peaceful unification.

Humanitarian projects supporting North Korean citizens are continuing even after 2000, and among these projects is the support of North Korean defectors, while at the same time, helping them to settle well in their everyday lives and thus create harmony between North and South Korea.

Educational programs to raise awareness of the issue of unification—such as civic forums and seminars—are being held regularly, and diverse activities are being carried out centering on the younger generation in particular, that is, young people and college students, to lead the way toward a culture of unification. The Federation for Peace and Unification was founded to bring the Korean Residents Union in Japan and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan closer together. And, as a means of bringing about peace on the Korean Peninsula and Asia, some are advocating the building of a Fifth UN Secretariat and World Peace Park in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

World Peace Movement

Rev. Moon and Dr. Han have worked to resolve conflict and establish peace in the world. Hence, initiatives for religious harmony and good governance were necessary. From the time they began their providential work, Rev. Moon and Dr. Han have advocated diverse projects for interreligious harmony, supported by their interfaith principles of peace. They have developed their work for peace on the global level by founding many international peace organizations, focusing on various specific tasks, including promoting the renewal of the UN.