Bo Hi Pak
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- This is a Korean name; the family name is Pak.
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Bo Hi Pak (born August 18, 1930) is one of the most well-known members of the Unification Church, serving as founder Sun Myung Moon's main English interpreter and special assistant during the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a leader of key church projects, such as the Washington Times and other newspapers, and of Moon's main political organization in Latin America during that period, the anti-communist CAUSA. He was appointed as president of the Unification Church International from 1977 until 1991.
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[edit] Military career and early church membership
In 1950, Pak entered the Korean Military Academy as a cadet, and participated in combat when the Korean War broke out twenty-five days later.
He joined the nascent Unification Church in the 1950s, and on March 1, 1961, was married as one of only 3 couples who were central representatives of the original 36 Couples "Blessed" in the first joint wedding ceremony officiated by Moon. The ceremony for these 3 couples was on the same day as Moon's own wedding to Hak Ja Han (the "marriage of the lamb", later becoming "The True Parents"), and was actually held before Moon's ceremony, as a "foundation" for it.
While a Unification Church member, Pak advanced in his military career, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and serving as Special Assistant to Vice Minister of Defense in Seoul, Korea (1960-1961) and Assistant Military Attaché at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1961-1964).
[edit] Missionary to Washington D.C. and major leader
In 1965, Moon appointed Pak as the fourth missionary to the United States. That year he founded the Unification Church of Washington, D.C. That same year he was appointed founding president of the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation, Inc., Washington, D.C., principal sponsors of Radio of Free Asia, The Little Angels, and the Children's Relief Fund.
In 1969 he became chairman and president of the Korean Cultural Foundation, Inc., which produces the Little Angels and the Universal Ballet Company in Seoul, Korea. He was principal and later chairman of the Little Angels Arts School, renamed Sun-Hwa Arts School.
He was the central figure in Moon's publishing businesses, including founding President and Publisher, the News World (later renamed New York City Tribune); founding President and Chairman of the Board, the Washington Times Corporation; and President, World Media Association.[1]
Pak's assistant, James Gavin, wrote:
- "Politics in a paper with several hundred employees was always interesting, to say the least; however, Dr. Pak was respected by the business side as well as the editorial side of the paper and ran a pretty smooth ship. The editorial people liked the fact that Dr. Pak just let them do their job and didn't meddle in the content of the paper." [2]
[edit] Fraser committee
In 1977/1978 Bo Hi Pak testified before the Fraser Committee in its investigation of the Unification Church. In response to the adversarial investigation, Pak wrote Truth is My Sword. Alexander Haig commented in the introduction: "From the battlefield of the Korean peninsula to the halls of the U.S. Congress, Dr. Pak's speeches mirror the convictions of an individual whose ardent sense of justice has always been the cornerstone of his advocacy of personal freedom and democracy."[3]
[edit] North Korea
In 1994, Pak visited North Korea to attend the funeral of Kim Il Sung, risking legal trouble by the South Korean government in doing so. In 1998 he visited again, leading a trade delegation representing Unification Church interests with the blessing of the South Korean government.[4]
[edit] Severe beating by representative of True Family
In 1998 at a church gathering, a Zimbabwean Unification Church member known as the Black Heung Jin Nim, who was thought by Moon to be the continuous "channel" on earth for his deceased son Heung Jin Moon, "beat Bo Hi Pak - a man in his sixties - so badly that he was hospitalized for a week in Georgetown Hospital."[5] Washington Post staff writer Michael Isikoff reported that "Later, Pak underwent surgery in South Korea to repair a blood vessel in his skull, according to Times executives."[6]
[edit] Messiah (book)
In 2002, Pak published his book Messiah: My Testimony to the Reverend Sun Myung Moon,[7] which described Pak's forty year association with Rev. Moon, the Unification Church and his tenure at the Washington Times. Writing for the Unification Church, reviewer Paul Gottfried describes Pak's role as co-founder of the Washington Times:
- "Pak and the Reverend Moon had been eying Reagan as an American national leader from the mid-seventies on. What appealed to them about this figure was his unwavering anti-Communism; and in 1980, the Reverend Moon prodded News World into announcing Reagan's electoral victory on its front cover before the returns were in."
[edit] Financial and legal trouble
On July 20, 2004 the Eastern Seoul District Prosecutor imprisoned Dr. Pak and charged him with financial fraud because he was unable to repay his debts to the Korean businessmen[8] who had loaned him large sums of money to fund his floundering philanthropic projects. Pak said that he was defrauded by Korean and African investors.
He was given a 5-year sentence (reduced from 12 years), but could be released if he repaid the money. On August 17, 2005, Dr. Pak's daughter-in-law (Rev. Moon's second daughter), InJin Moon, wrote an open letter to members of the Unification Church to raise money to get him released. In the letter she wrote:
- "Dr. Pak made a terrible mistake entrusting his faith in certain church members who introduced him to the fraudulent deal."
- "Dr. Pak knows that he has made a terrible mistake in following bad investment advice from people with criminal motives and he takes full responsibility for his mistakes."
- "As a daughter of Rev. Moon, moreover, I cannot sit quietly and watch the world belittle my father as a callous and an uncaring person. Ever since the first news break on Dr. Pak's situation, I have been bombarded with questions and looks of disbelief from numerous friends and associates who see my father as a man without principles for letting a loyal follower, a friend, and a member of the Reverend's family through marriage, sit and rot away in prison. They ask why my father cannot find it in himself to forgive and help his in-law. They ask why my father allows certain individuals to advise his every move to the detriment of the very religion he has founded. They say that my father is an insecure man destroying the very visible disciple who helped him, along with other faithful followers, build the church. They ask why Dr. Pak is denied the hope of forgiveness and deliverance. They ask why millions are raised and spent on the promise of buying one's salvation with no regard for thinking beyond one's immediate family and lineage. They ridicule our church's feeding frenzy in wanting to liberate ancestors when one of our Elders is trapped in prison in need of immediate and desperate liberation." [1]
In 2006, Pak was released on probation after serving 2 years and 3 ½ months. On November 6, 2006, he sent a letter to be distributed by Unification Church publications worldwide to give an account of his experiences in prison. In the letter he wrote: [9]
- "Being able to live to the age of 76 was already a great blessing, but in my physical condition, I could not conceive how I would be able to serve time in prison until I became 81. I thought of John the Baptist 2000 years ago. He came with the mission to bear witness about Jesus but ended up dying in prison. I, Bo Hi, have lived with the conviction that I was born with the mission of John the Baptist for the time of the Second Advent. If it was my mission and destiny to die in prison in order to indemnify the failure of the first John the Baptist, then I was resolutely determined to solemnly receive my fate."
[edit] Notes
- ^ Appendix B: Brief Chronology of the Life of Dr. Bo Hi Pak, in Messiah: My Testimony to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Vol I by Bo Hi Pak (2000), Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
- 1973 Principal, the Little Angels Arts School, Seoul, Korea.
- 1974 Principal evangelist and director general of the Sun Myung Moon Christian Crusade.
- 1976-1988 Chairman, Sun-Hwa Educational Foundation, Seoul, Korea.
- 1976-1990 President and publisher, the News World daily newspaper in New York City (later renamed New York City Tribune).
- 1977-1991 President, Unification Church International.
- 1977-Present Member of the Board, Unification Church International.
- 1978-1995 President, World Media Association.
- 1980-1992 President and Publisher. Noticias Del Muudo, New York Spanish-language daily newspaper.
- 1981-Present President, CAUSA International.
- 1982-1992 President, the Washington Times Corporation. (The Washington Times daily newspaper and Insight weekly magazine, and World & I monthly academic journal
- 1982-1997 Chairman of the Board, the Washington Times Corporation.
- 1983-1997 Chairman, Association for the Unity of Latin America.
- 1986-Present President, Universal Ballet Foundation, corporate sponsors of the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C.
- 1987-1997 President, Summit Council for World Peace.
- 1990-Present Chairman of the hoard and chief executive officer, Panda Motors Corporation in the United States, Hong Kong, and China.
- 1991-1994 President and publisher, Seyge Ilbo daily newspaper, Seoul, Korea.
- ^ Truth is My Sword, Volume II by Bo Hi Pak
- ^ Introduction, Truth Is My Sword Volume I: Collected Speeches in the Public Arena by Bo Hi Pak
- ^ Reverend Moon's Group Wants to Talk Investment: Seoul Nods At Church's Foray North Kirk, Don International Herald Tribune 1999-06-02]
- ^ Hong, Nansook. (1998). In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family. Little, Brown. (ISBN 0-316-34816-3)
- ^ Theological Uproar in Unification Church; Rev. Moon Recognizes Zimbabwean as His Reincarnated Son by Michael Isikoff, Washington Post staff writer. Accessed Saturday, August 19, 2006.
- ^ Review by Paul Gottfried, Messiah, Volumes I and II (2002) by Bo Hi Pak; University Press of America.
- ^ case background
- ^ "Letter from Prison"
[edit] External Links
- Book by James Gavin
- Messiah, a book about Sun Myung Moon by Bo Hi Pak
- Open letter to members of the Unification Church by InJin Moon
- Letter to Unification Church publications by Bo Hi Pak
