The Reverend Sun Myung-moon was a self-proclaimed messiah who built a global business empire. He called both North Korean leaders and American presidents his friends, but spent time in prisons in both countries. His followers around the world cherished him, while his detractors accused him of brainwashing recruits and extracting money from worshippers.
These contradictions did nothing to stop the founder of the Unification Church from turning his religious vision into a worldwide movement and a multibillion-dollar corporation stretching from the Korean Peninsula to the United States.
Moon died on Monday at a church-owned hospital near his home in Gapyeong County, northeast of Seoul, two weeks after being hospitalised with pneumonia, Unification Church spokesman Ahn Ho-yeul said. Moon’s wife and children were at his side, Ahn said. He was 92.
The church will hold a 13-day mourning period beginning on Monday and start accepting mourners on Thursday at a multipurpose gym at its nearby religious centre, the church said in a statement. The funeral will be held September 15, and Moon will be buried at nearby Cheonseung Mountain, where his home is located, the statement said.
Moon founded his Bible-based religion in Seoul in 1954, a year after the Korean War ended, saying Jesus Christ personally called on him to complete his work.
The church gained fame – and notoriety – by marrying thousands of followers in mass ceremonies presided over by Moon himself. The couples often came from different countries and had never met, but were matched up by Moon in a bid to build a multicultural religious world.