'As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen'

the Autobiography Text

CHAPTER SIX

LOVE WILL BRING

UNIFICATION

The Power of Religion

to Turn People to Goodness

(Page 234)

On August 2, 1990,

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein

invaded Kuwait, igniting the possibility

of war on the Persian Gulf.

This area has long been a tinderbox,

and I could see the world was

about to be swept up into war.

I concluded that Christian and Muslim

leaders must meet to stop the conflict.

I acted quickly to do all I could to stop

a war in which innocent people were sure

to die.

On October 2, I convened on short notice

an emergency conference of the Council

for the World's Religions in Cairo, Egypt,

to deliver my urgent message of peace

to the highest spiritual authorities of

the Middle East and the Muslim world.

Many wondered why, I, a person with

no apparent ties to the Middle East,

would convene such a meeting, but to me

it is simple. I believe every religion

should contribute to world peace. A conflict

between Christianity and Islam would be far

worse than a conflict between democracy and

communism. There is nothing more fearful

than religious war.

(Page 235)

I sent a message imploring

President George H.W. Bush, who already was

trying to limit the conflict, to avoid war

in the Arab world and instead work to

bring about Saddam Hussein's retreat through

diplomatic means. President Bush may have

thought he was going to war against Iraq only,

but that is not how Muslims would think. For

Muslims, religion is in a higher position

than the nation-state. I was very concerned

that, if Iraq were attacked, the Arab world

would join in opposition to the United States

and the Christian world.

Our emergency conference in Cairo

involved top Muslim leaders and grand muftis

from nine countries, including

the grand muftis of Syria and Yemen. At the

core of the meeting was my desperate appeal

to the Arab and Muslim world not to support

Saddam Hussein's claim that this was a holy

war. Whether the United States won or Iraq

won, what good would it do? What value

would it have if it meant that bombs rained

down, destroying houses, schools and precious

innocent lives?

The Cairo conference was just one of many

peace activities. Every time a crisis arose

in the Middle East, our members worked

fearlessly, risking their lives at the scenes

of danger. For years, during the violence and

terror in Israel and Palestine, our members,

traveling at a moment's notice, collaborated

with major organizations to work for peace.

I am always uneasy sending our members

to places where their lives are at risk, but

it is unavoidable when working for the cause

of peace. I may be in Brazil, tilling soil

under the blazing sun, or speaking far away

in Africa, but my heart is constantly drawn

to those members who insist on working in the

dangerous environment of the Middle East. I

pray that peace will come to the world quickly,

so I no longer need to ask our members to go

to such places of death.

On September 11, 2001, we all felt utter horror

when the World Trade Center twin towers in

New York City were destroyed by terrorists.

Some people said this was the inevitable clash

of civilizations between Islam and Christianity.

But my view is different.

(Page 236)

In their purest form, Islam and Christianity

are not religions of conflict and confrontation.

They both place importance on peace. In my view,

it is bigoted to brand all Islam as radical,

just as it is bigoted to say that Islam and

Christianity are fundamentally different. The

essence of all religions is the same.

Immediately following the collapse of the towers,

I organized religious leaders from New York

to pray and minister to the victims and first

responders at Ground Zero. Then, in October, I

convened a major interfaith conference for peace

in New York City. Ours was the first inter-

national gathering in New York after the tragedy.

These dramatic contributions to peace in times

of war did not spring up from nothing. For

decades prior, I have invested in promoting

interreligious harmony. It is on the foundation

of this investment that we have the trust of

major faith leaders who would travel to Israel

during the Intifada or to New York in the wake

of the 9/11 attacks.

In 1984, I brought together forty religious

scholars, instructing them to compare the

teachings that appear in the texts of

Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and other major

world religions. The book that resulted from

their efforts was World Scripture: A Comparative

Anthology of Sacred Texts, published in 1991.

What they found was that the sacred texts of

religions convey the same or similar teachings

more than seventy percent of the time. The

remaining thirty percent are teachings that

represent unique points of each religion. This

means that most of the teachings of the major

world religions are the same at their core.

The same is true of religious practice. On

the surface, some believers wear turbans, some

wear prayer beads around their necks, others

wear a cross, but they all seek the fundamental

truths of the universe, and try to understand

the will of the Divine One.

(Page 237)

People often become friends even if all they

have in common is the same particular hobby.

When two strangers meet and discover they have

the same hometown,

they can immediately communicate as if they had

known each other for decades. So it is truly

tragic that religions, which share the same

teachings more than seventy percent of the time,

still struggle to understand each other and

communicate happily. They could talk about

the things they have in common and take each

other by the hand. Instead, they emphasize

their differences and criticize one another.

All religions in the world talk about peace

and love. Yet they fight each other over peace

and love. Israel and Palestine talk of peace

and justice, yet both practice violence until

children are bleeding and dying. Judaism,

the religion of Israel, is a religion of peace,

and the same is true of Islam.

Our experience when compiling World Scriptures

leads us to believe that it is not the religions

of the world that are in error but the ways

the faiths are taught. Bad teaching of faith

brings prejudice, and prejudice leads to conflict.

Muslims were branded terrorists

after the 9/11 attack. But the vast majority

of these simple, believing families are peace-

loving people, just like us.

The late Yasser Arafat led the Palestinians

for a long time. Like all political leaders, he

had hoped for peace, but he was also associated

with strife in the region. As Chairman of the

Palestinian Liberation Organization, Arafat

embodied the determination of the Gaza Strip

and the West Bank to become an Independent

Palestinian state. Many argue he shifted from

his past associations and began to deter the

activities of the extremist organizations after

he was elected President

of the Palestinian National Authority in 1996.

In the interest of seeking peace in the

Middle East, I communicated with Arafat on

twelve separate occasions. Of course, my words

to him never wavered. God's way is always the

way of harmony, seeking for peace.

(Page 238)

The road to Arafat's office was literally

a difficult one. Anyone

approaching his office had to pass between

heavily armed guards and submit to

at least three body searches along the way.

But when our members arrived, Arafat,

wearing his keffiyeh (traditional head gear),

would warmly welcome them.

These sorts of relationships cannot be built

in a day or two. They come from the years,

when we poured out our sincerity and

devotion for the sake of Middle East peace.

It was our arduous efforts and constant

willingness to risk our lives in terror-ridden

areas that prepared the way for us to be

welcomed into relationships with the religious

and political leaders at these levels. It took

large amounts of resources. Finally, we could

gain the trust of both Arafat and top Israeli

leaders, which allowed us to play a mediating role

during outbreaks of conflict in the Middle East.

I first set foot in Jerusalem in 1965. This was

before the Six-Day War, and Jerusalem was still

under Jordan's territorial control. I went

to the Mount of Olives, where Jesus shed tears

of blood in prayer just prior to being taken

to the court of Pontius Pilate. I put my hand

on a two-thousand-year-old olive tree that could

have witnessed Jesus' prayer that night.

I drove three nails in that tree, one for Judaism,

one for Christianity, and one for Islam. I prayed

for the day when these three families of faith

would become one. World peace cannot come unless

Judaism, Christianity and Islam become one.

These three nails are still there.

(Page 239)

Judaism, Islam and Christianity are sharply

divided against each other in today's world, but

they share a common root. The issue that keeps

them divided is their understanding of Jesus.

To address this problem, on May 13, 2003,

I asked that Christians de-emphasize the cross

in relations among the Abrahamic faiths. Thus,

we enacted a ceremony of taking down the cross.

We brought a cross from America,

a predominently Christian culture, and buried it

in the Field of Blood in Israel. This is

the field that was bought with the thirty

pieces of silver that Judas Iscariot received

for the betrayal of Jesus that resulted in

Jesus' crucifixion.

Later that year, on December 23, some

three thousand Ambassadors for Peace from all

religions, and from the world, joined with

seventeen thousand Israelis and Palestinians

in Jerusalem's Independence Park to

symbolically remove the crown of thorns

from the head of Jesus and replace it with

a crown of peace. They then marched for peace

through Jerusalem. Local authorities granted

permissions and protected our efforts, and

Palestinian and Israeli families supported our

march for peace

by placing a light in front of their homes.

Through that march, which was broadcast live

via the Internet to the entire world,

I proclaimed that Jesus had his authority as

King of Peace restored to him. After centuries

of misunderstanding and division, an opportunity

was created for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam

to reconcile with one another.

Al-Aqa Mosque, the third-holiest mosque in

Mecca and Medina, is located in Jerusalem.

It is the spot from which the Prophet Mohammed

is said to have ascended to heaven. Ours was

the only mixed religious group welcomed to all

parts of this house of worship. The mosque

leaders guided the Christian and Jewish leaders

who had participated in the peace march to the

sacred spaces of the mosque. We were able to

open a door that had been closed tightly, and

prepared the way for many Muslim leaders to

communicate at a new level with their

Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters.

(Page 240)

Human beings like peace, but they also enjoy

conflict. Human beings will take the most

gentle of animals and make them fight. They

will have roosters fight and peck each other

with their sharp beaks until

pieces of soft flesh begin to fall away.

Then these same people will turn around and

tell their own children

"Don't fight with your friends, Play nice."

The fundamental reason that wars occur is

not religion or race. It is connected to

what lies deep inside human beings.

People like to attribute the causes of

armed conflicts to such things as science

or the economy, but the actual fundamental

problem lies within human beings ourselves.

Religion's role is to turn human beings

toward goodness and eliminate their evil

nature that finds enjoyment in fighting.

Examine the major religions of the world.

They all hold a peaceful world as their ideal.

They all want to see a kingdom of heaven,

utopia, or paradise. Religions have different

names for this ideal, but they all seek such

a world. There are numerous religions in the

world, and virtually everyone is divided into

countless factions and denominations. But

the essential hope for all is the same: They

want the Kingdom of Heaven and a world of

peace. The human heart has been torn to

shreds by the violence and enmity at our core.

The kingdom of love will heal it.

(CHAPTER SIX)

The River Does Not Reject

the Waters That Flow into It

(Page 241)

Selfishness is rampant in the world.

Ironically, however, the individual is

destroyed by this, and not just the

individual, but those around him and the

nation as a whole.

The greatest obstacle to the world

of peace is avarice in people's hearts.

It starts in individuals and expands to

the nation, and hearts stained with

avarice cause division and conflict

at every level. Countless people

throughout history have shed their blood

and died in conflicts caused by avarice.

To eliminate such conflicts,

we need a great revolution to change the

erroneous values and thinking that are

widespread in the world today. The complex

problems our societies face today can be

resolved quickly if there is a revolution in

people's thinking. If each individual and

nation begins to look out for the other first,

working together with the other, the problems

of modern society will be resolved.

Througout my life, I have dedicated myself

to efforts for peace. Whenever peace is

discussed, I become emotional. Tears begin

to well up in my eyes, my voice chokes,

and I can hardly swallow. It moves me

deeply just to imagine the day when

the world becomes one and begins to enjoy

peace. That is the nature of peace. It

links people who think differently, are of

different races and speak different languages.

Our hearts yearn for this world and harbor

a hope that it will be realized.

(Page 242)

However,

peace comes through concrete action, not

just having a vague dream. But, building

a movement for peace has not always been

easy. There have been many difficulties,

and it has required large sums of money.

I have not done this for my own honor, or

to make money. All I did was invest my

full effort, so that we can have a world

where a strong and true peace takes root.

For as long as I have been doing this work,

I have never been lonely. This is because,

ultimately, peace is the hope of every

person in the world. It is strange though.

Everyone

wants peace but still it has not come.

It is easy to talk about peace, but to

bring peace is not easy. This is because

people push aside the most elemental truth

needed to bring about a world of peace.

They pretend not to know the truth is

there. Before we talk about peace among

individuals or among nations we must talk

about peace between ourselves and God.

Each religion thinks of itself as

the highest, rejecting and looking down

on other religions. It is not right

to build fences against other religions

and denominations.

A religion is like a wide river flowing

toward an ideal, peaceful world.

The river flows for long distances before

it comes to the wide expanse of peace.

On its way many streams flow into it.

The streams cease to be streams from

the point they meet the river. From that

point, they too, become part of the river.

In this way, they become one.

The river does not reject any of the streams

that flow into it. It accepts them all.

It embraces all the streams and forms a

single flow as it continues toward the ocean.

People in the world today do not understand

this simple truth. The streams that seek out

the river and flow into it are the numerous

religions and denomnations of today. Each

stream traces its origin to a different

spring, but they are all going to the same

destination. They are seeking the ideal

world overflowing with peace.

(Page 243)

Peace will never come to this earth unless

we first tear down the walls between

religions. For thousands of years,

religions have grown in alliance with

particular ethnic groups, and so they are

surrounded by high cultural walls.

Tearing these down is an extremely

difficult task. For thousands of years,

each religion has surrounded itself with

such high walls, insisting that it is the

only correct religion. In some cases,

religions have expanded their influence

and entered into conflicts and fights

with other religions, using God's name

in activities

that had nothing to do with His will.

The will of God lies in peace. A world

fragmented by differences in nationality,

race and religion, where people attack and

fight one another and shed one another's

blood, is not what God wants. When we

shed blood and fight each other in His

name, we only cause Him pain. A world

torn to shreds has been created out of

the desires of people to promote their own

wealth and glory. It does not represent

the will of God. God clearly told me so.

I am only His errand boy, receiving

His words and carrying them out on earth.

The path to bring about a world of peace,

in which religions and races become united,

has been exhausting.

Many times I was rejected by people, or

my own ability fell short, but I could

not put aside this mission. When members

and colleagues who worked with me would

cry out in anguish because of the

difficulty of the task, I would even feel

envious of them.

"If you decide this path isn't for you, you

have the option to stop and turn back,"

I told them. "Or if you try and try and

still can't accomplish it, you have the

option to die trying. But you should

pity me," I said. "I am a person with

no such options."

(Page 244)

There are close to

two hundred countries in the world. For

all these countries to enjoy peace, the

power of religion is absolutely necessary.

The power of religion is in the love that

overflows from it.

I am a religious person whose role is to

convey love, so it is natural that I would

work for world peace.

There is no difference between Islam and

Christianity in their commitment to bring

about a world of peace.

In America, I had a movement for peace,

bringing together thousands of clergy who

transcend denomination.

Through this movement we discuss ways

that people of all faiths ---

Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists,

etc.---can come together.

We devote our full efforts to change the

hardened hearts of people.

My purpose is the same today as it was

yesterday. It is to create one world

with God at the Center, a world brought

together like a single nation without

boundaries. All humanity will be citizens

of this world, sharing a culture of love.

In such a world, there will be no

possibility for division and conflict.

This will mark the beginning of a truly

peaceful world.

(CHAPTER SIX)

"Allow Freedom of Religion

in the Soviet Union"

(Page 245)

There are a number of materialism-based

theories that are popularly held but not

verified. One is Charles Darwin's theory

of evolution. Another such theory comes

from the writings of Karl Marx. The idea

that spirit originates from matter is wrong

down to its root. Human beings are created

by God, and all beings are unified bodies

having both material and spiritual aspects.

In short, the core theory and philosophy

underlying communism is wrong.

While studying in Japan, I worked together

with communists for the independence of Korea.

They were my good friends who were prepared

to give their lives, if necessary, for the

liberation of our homeland; but our way of

thinking was fundamentally different. So,

once independence was achieved, we had to go

our separate ways.

I am opposed to the historical materialism

of communism. I have carried out a movement

for victory over communism throughout the

world. I have advised successive U.S.

Presidents to protect the free world,

standing up to the communist strategy of

turning the world red. Communist countries

that are unhappy with my actions attempted

to remove me through acts of violence, but

I do not hate them. Nor do I consider them

my enemy. I oppose the philosophy and

ideology of communism, but I have never hated

its people. God wants all people, including

communists, to be brought into His Oneness.

In that sense, my visit

to Moscow in April, 1990 for a meeting with

Presdient Mikhail Gorbachev and my visit to

Pyongyang the next year for a meeting with

President Kim Il Sung, were not simply journeys;

they were taken at the risk of my life. It was

my destiny to go on these journeys to convey

Heaven's will to these men. I said only

half-jokingly at the time that Moscow,

pronounced in English, sounds similar to

"must go" and so I had to go.

I had a long conviction regarding communism.

I could foresee that the signs pointing to

the fall of communism would begin to appear

after about sixty years

from the Bolshevik Revolution, and that

the Soviet edifice would fall in 1987, the

seventieth anniversary of the revolution.

So I was excited in 1984 when I heard that

Dr. Morton Kaplan, a noted political scientist

at the university of Chicago, was proposing to

hold an international conference titled

"The Fall of the Soviet Empire." I asked him

to pay me a visit in Danbury prison so that

we could discuss the details. The first thing

that I said to him when we met was that

I wanted him to declare "the end of Soviet

communism" before August 15 of that year.

Dr. Kaplan responded. "Declare the end of

Soviet communism? How can I do such a risky

thing?" and indicated he was not inclined

to do this. In 1985 when the conference was

about to take place, the Soviet Union was

increasing its worldwide influence, and

there were no outward signs of its decline. But,

it's the final flame that burns the brightest.

So it was natural that Dr. Kaplan be reluctant.

If he made a declaration predicting such a

specific event and it turned out to be false,

his reputation as a scholar could be destroyed

overnight.

(Page 247)

"Reverend Moon," he said, "I believe you

when you say that Soviet communism will fall.

But I don't think it will happen just yet.

So instead of declaring

'the end of Soviet communism,' how about if

we say 'the decline of Soviet communism?"

I burned with anger when I saw that he was

proposing to soften the title to something

other than "The End of the Soviet Empire."

It was a compromise I could not accept.

I felt strongly that if a person has conviction,

he should be brave and put all his energy into

the fight, even if he feels afraid.

"Dr. Kaplan," I said, "What do you mean?

When I ask you to declare the end of communism,

I have a reason. The day you declare the end

of communism, that declaration itself will

take energy away from it and help bring about

its peaceful collapse. Why are you hesitating?"

In the end, Dr. Kaplan did indeed declare

"the end of Soviet communism" at a conference

of the Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA)

held in Geneva under the title, "The Fall of

the Soviet Empire: Prospects for Transition

to a Post-Soviet World." It was something

that no one had dared consider up until

that time.

Because Switzerland was a neutral country,

Geneva was a major staging area for the Soviet

Committee for State Security (KGB), and many KGB

agents worked from there to carry out espionage

and terror activities around the world. The

Intercontinental Hotel, where the PWPA conference

was held, faced the Soviet Embassy across the

street, so I can well imagine how nervous

Dr. Kaplan must have felt. A few years later,

however, he became well known as the scholar who

first predicted the end of Soviet communism.

(Page 248)

In April 1990, I convened

the World Media Conference held in Moscow.

Unexpectedly, the Soviet government gave me

head-of-state-level protocol, beginning at the

airport. We were transported to the center

of Moscow in a police-escorted motorcade.

The car that carried me traveled on the

yellow section of the road, which was used

only by the President and state guests. This

happened before the collapse of the Soviet

Union. The Soviet government afforded this

exceptional treatment to me, an anticommunist.

At the conference, I gave an address

praising the move toward perestroika. I said

this revolution must be bloodless and that

it must be a revolution of the mind and spirit.

The purpose of my visit was to attend the

World Media Conference, but my mind was focused

on meeting President Gorbachev.

At the time, President Gorbachev was popular

within the Soviet Union, following the

successes of his perestroika policies. Over

the years, I have been able to meet with many

U.S. presidents, but meeting President

Gorbachev was much more difficult. I was

concerned that even one meeting might be

difficult to achieve. I had a message

to give him, and it was important that

I do this in person. He was reforming the

Soviet Union, giving rise to the winds of

freedom there, but as time passed, the swords

of reform were being increasingly pointed

at his back. If the situation were left

unchecked, he would fall into great danger.

I explained, "If he does not meet me, he

has no way to catch the wave of

heavenly fortune, and if he cannot do that,

he will not last long.

Perhaps President Gorbachev heard this

expression of my concern. The next day, he

invited me to the Kremlin. I rode in

a limousine provided by the Soviet

government and entered deep into the Kremlin.

On entering the presidential office, my wife

and I took our seats, and Cabinet ministers

of the Soviet Union took seats next to us.

President Gorbachev smiled a big smile

and gave us an energetic explanation of

the successes of his perestroika policies.

Then he showed me into an anteroom, where

we met one on one. I used this opportunity

to give him the following message:

"Mr. President, you have already achieved

much success through perestroika, but

that alone will not be sufficient

for reform. You need immediately to allow

freedom of religion in the Soviet Union.

If you try to reform

only the material world, without the

involvement of God, perestroika will be

doomed to fail. Communism is about to end.

The only way to save this nation is to

allow the freedom of religion. The time

is now for you to act with the courage

that you have shown in reforming the Soviet

Union and become a president who works

to bring about world peace."

President Gorbachev's face hardened at

the mention of religious freedom, as though

he had not been expecting this. As one

would expect from the man who had

allowed the reunification of Germany a few

months earlier, however, he quickly

relaxed his expression and soberly accepted

my words to him. I continued, saying, "South

Korea and the Soviet Union should now open

diplomatic relations. In that context, please

invite South Korean President Roh Tae Woo

to visit." I also explained a list of

reasons why it would be good for the two

countries to have diplomatic relations.

After I had finished all I wanted to say,

President Gorbachev made a promise to me

with a tone of certitude that I had not

heard him express prior to that point.

"I am confident," he said, "that relations

between South Korea and the Soviet Union

will develop smoothly.

I, too, believe that political stability

and the relaxation of tensions on the

Korean peninsula are necessary. Opening

diplomatic relations with South Korea

is only a matter of time; there are no

obstacles. As you suggested, I will meet

President Roh Tae Woo."

(Page 250)

As I was about to leave President Gorbachev

that day, I took off my watch and put it on

his wrist. He seemed a little bewildered

that I might treat him as I would an old

friend. So I told him firmly, "Each time

your reforms face difficulty, please look

at this watch and remember your promise

to me. If you do that,

Heaven will surely open a path for you."

As he promised me, President Gorbachev

met President Roh in San Francisco in June

that year for a bilateral summit. Then,

on September 30, 1990, South Korea and the

Soviet Union signed a historic agreement to

open diplomatic relations for the first time

in eighty years.

Of course, politics is the job

of politicians, and diplomacy is the job of

diplomats. Sometimes, though, when a door

has been closed for a long time,

a religious person who has no self-serving

interests at stake can be more effective.

Four years later, President and Mrs.

Gorbachev visited Seoul, and my wife and I

hosted them at our residence in Hannam-Dong.

He had already been removed from power by

a coup d'etat. Following the coup by anti-

reformist forces opposed to perestroika,

he had resigned his position as general

secretary of the Communist Party

and dissolved the party. As a Communist

he had eliminated the Communist Party.

The former president and first lady used

chopsticks to eat the bulgogi

(a deliciously seasoned, grilled beef) and

jabchae (made from noodles and vegetables)

we had carefully prepared.

When he was served sujeonggwa, (a sweet,

refreshing, cold persimmon drink) as desert,

Mr. Gorbachev repeated several times,

"Korea has excellent traditional foods."

(Page 251)

He and the first lady appeared relaxed and

quite different from the tense days when

he was in office. Mrs. Gorbachev, who had

previously been a thorough-going Marxist-

Leninist lecturing at Moscow State University

wore a necklace with a crucifix.

"Mr. President, you did a great thing."

I told him. "You gave up your post as

general secretary of the Soviet Communist

Party, but now you have become the

president of peace. Because of your wisdom

and courage, we now have the possibility

to bring world peace. You did the most

important, eternal, and beautiful thing

for the world. You are a hero of peace who

did God's work. The name that will be

remembered and honored forever in the

history of Russia will not be 'Marx', 'Lenin,'

or 'Stalin.' It will be 'Mikail Gorbachev'."

I gave such high praise to the decision by

Mr. Gorbachev to bring about the breakup

of the Soviet Union, the mother country of

communism, without shedding blood.

In response, Mr. Gorbachev said,

"Reverend Moon, I have been greatly

comforted by your words. Hearing your words

gives me energy. I will devote the

remainder of my life to projects that are

for the sake of world peace." And he firmly

took my hand in his.

(CHAPTER SIX)

Korea's Unification Will

Bring World Unification

(Page 252)

As I was coming out of the Kremlin

after meeting Mr. Gorbachev, I turned to

Bo Hi Pak, who had accompanied me, and

gave him a special instruction.

"I need to meet President Kim Il Sung

before the end of 1991," I told him.

"There's no time. The Soviet Union is

going to end in the next year or two.

Our country is now the problem.

Somehow, I need to meet President Kim

and prevent war from occurring on the

Korean peninsula."

I knew that

when the Soviet Union collapsed, most

other communist regimes in the world

would also fall. North Korea would

find itself forced into a corner, and

there was no telling what provocation

it might commit. North Korea's obsession

with nuclear weapons

made the situation even more worrisome.

To prevent a war with North Korea,

we needed a channel to talk to its

leadership, but we had no such channel

at that point. Somehow, I needed to meet

President Kim and receive his commitment

not to strike first against South Korea.

(Page 253)

The Korean peninsula

is a microcosm of the world. If blood were

shed on the Korean peninsula, it would be shed

in the world. If reconciliation occurred on

the peninsula, there would be reconciliation

in the world. If the peninsula were unified,

this would bring about unification in the

world. Beginning in the late 1980's,

however, North Korea had been working hard to

become a country processing nuclear weapons.

Western countries were saying that they would

stage a first strike against North Korea, if

necessary. If the situation continued to the

extreme, there was no telling what desperate

move North Korea might attempt. I knew

I somehow needed to open

a channel of communication with North Korea.

It was not an easy task. Bo Hi Pak

communicated with North Korean Vice Premier

Kim Dal Hyun, but North Korea's response

was firmly negative.

"The people of North Korea know President Moon

only a the ring-leader of the international

movement for victory over communism,"

the vice premier said, "Why would we welcome

the leader of a conservative, anticommunist

group? A visit to NOrth Korea by Cairman Moon

absolutely cannot be permitted."

Bo Hi Pak did not give up. "President Nixon

of the United States

was a strong anticommunist," he reminded the

North Korean official. "But he visited China,

met Chairman Mao Zedong, and opened diplomatic

relations between the United States and China.

It was China that profited from this. Until

then, China had been branded an aggressor

nation, but it is now rising as the central

country of the world stage. For North Korea

to have international credibility, it should

establish friendship with a worldwide

anticommunist such as Chairman Moon."

Finally, President Kim Il Sung invited

my wife and me on November 30, 1991.

We were in Hawaii at the time, so we quickly

flew to Beijing. While we were waiting

in the VIP lounge of Beijing Capital

International Airport, which the government

of China had arranged for us to use, a

representative of the North Korean government

came and handed us the official invitation.

The official stamp of the Pyongyang government

was clearly visible on the document.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea

extends an invitation to Chairman

Moon Sun Myung

of the Federation for World Peace, his

wife and entourage to enter the Republic.

Their safety is guaranteed during the period

of their stay in the North."

It was signed "Kyun Dal Hyun, Vice Premier,

Cabinet of the Democratic People's

Republic of Korea. November 30, 1991."

Our group boarded a special flight,

Air Koryo 215, arranged for us by President

Kim. A special flight from President Kim

had never been arranged for any foreign

head of state, so this was

very exceptional and special treatment.

The aircraft flew over the Yellow Sea,

up to Sineuiju, over my hometown of Jeongju,

and on to Pyongyang. I was informed that

the special route had been chartered to

let me see my hometown. My heart began

to pound as I looked down at my hometown,

dyed red by the light of the setting sun,

and I felt numb deep in my being.

I wondered, "Can this really

be my hometown?" I wanted to jump out

right away and start running around the

hills and valleys.

At Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport,

family members whom I had not seen for

forty-eight years were there to greet me.

My younger sisters, who used to be as

beautiful as flowers, had become

grandmothers entering their senior years.

They grasped my hands, creased

their eyebrows, and began to cry wildly.

My older sister, now more than seventy,

grabbed me by the shoulder and cried. I,

however, did not cry.

"Please," I said, "don't do this. It's

important for me to meet my family, but

I came to do God's work. Please

don't do this. Get hold of yourselves."

(Page 255)

Inside my heart I was shedding tears like

a waterfall. I was seeing my sisters for the

first time in more than forty years, but

I could not embrace them and cry with them.

I maintained control of my heart,

and made my way to our place of lodging.

The next morning, as has been my custom

throughout my life, I awoke early

in the morning and began to pray. If there

were any surveillance apparatus

in the guesthouse, my tearful prayer for

the unification of the Korean peninsula

would have been recorded in its entirety.

That day, we toured the city of Pyongyang.

The city was well fortified with the red

slogans of Kim Il Sung's Juche ideology.

On the third day of our visit, we boarded

an aircraft to tour Mount Kumgang. Though

it was the winter season, the Kuryong Falls

had not frozen and still spouted a strong

flow of water. After touring all the

different areas of Mount Kumgang, we boarded

a helicopter on our sixth day to be

transported to my hometown.

In my dreams, I had felt such a strong

yearning for my childhood home

that I felt as though I could run to it

in one bound. And now, there it was,

appearing before me. I could hardly

believe my eyes. Was this real,

or was I dreaming? For what seemed like

the longest time, I could only stand there

like a statue, in front of my home.

After several minutes, I stepped inside.

It used to be in the shape of a hollow

square, with the main wing, guest wing,

storehouse, and barn built around

a central courtyard. Now, only the main

wing remained. I went into the main room,

where I had been born, and sat on the floor

with my legs crossed. Memories of what it had

been like in my childhood came back to me

clearly as if it were only yesterday.

(Page 256)

I opened the small door that led from the

main room to the kitchen and looked out

at the backyard. The chestnut tree

I used to climb had been cut down and

was gone. It seemed as though I could hear

my mother calling to me sweetly. "Is my

little tiny eyes hungry?" The cotton cloth

of her traditional dress passed quickly

before my eyes.

I visited my parents' grave site

and offered a bouquet of flowers. The last

time I saw my mother was when she came

to visit me in prison in Heungnam and cried

out loud. Her grave was thinly covered

by the snow that had fallen the night before.

I brushed it away with the palm of my hand

and gently caressed the grass that had grown

over her grave. The rough touch of the grass

reminded me of the roughness of my mother's

skin on the back of her hand.

(CHAPTER SIX)

My Meeting with

President Kim Il Sung

I had not gone to North Korea because

I wanted to see my hometown nor because

I wanted to tour Mount Kumgang. I wanted

to meet President Kim Il Sung and have

a serious discussion on the future of our

homeland. Yet, six days into my visit,

there was no word on whether a meeting with

President Kim could be arranged. When we

arrived back at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport by

helicopter after visiting my hometown, however,

I found that Vice Premier Kim Dal Hyun

had unexpectedly come to meet me.

"The Great Leader Kim Il Sung

will receive you tomorrow," he told me.

"The place will be the Majeon Presidential

Residence in Heungnam, so you will need to

board a special flight immediately

and go to Heungnam?"

I thought to myself, "They say he has

many presidential residences. Why, of all

places, Heungnam?"

On my way, I noticed a large sign for

the Heungnam Nitrogen Fertilizer Factory,

where I had been forced to labor. It

reminded me of my time in prion and gave me

an odd feeling. I spent the night in

a guesthouse and went the next day

to meet the president.

(Page 258)

As I approached the official residence,

I found President Kim at the entrance,

waiting to greet me. The two of us

simultaneously embraced each other.

I was an anticommunist and he was

the leader of a communist party, but

ideology and philosophies were not

important in the context of our meeting.

We were like brothers who were meeting

for the first time after a long separation.

This was the power of belonging to

the same people and sharing the same blood.

Right at the onset, I said to him,

"Mr. President, because of you warm

consideration, I have been able to meet

my family. There are, however,

ten million Koreans who are members of

families separated between North and South,

and they are unable even to know whether

their relatives on the other side are alive

or dead. I would like to ask you to grant

them the opportunity to meet each other."

I spent a little more time telling him

about my visit to my hometown and appealed

to his love for the Korean people. He and I

spoke the same dialect, so we were at ease

with one another.

President Kim responded, "I feel

the same way. From next year, let's begin

a movement that allows separated compatriots

of North and South to meet one another."

His acceptance of my proposal was

as natural as the snow melting in spring.

After speaking of my visit to Jeongju,

I moved on to my views on nuclear weapons.

I respectfully proposed that North Korea

agree to a declaration

on the de-nuclearization of the Korean

peninsula and sign a safeguards agreement

with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He responded with candor,

"Think for a moment. Who am I going to kill by

making nuclear weapons? Kill my own people?

Do I look like that kind of person?

I agree that nuclear weapons should be used

only for peaceful purposes. I have listened

attentively to what you have to say, and

I expect it will be all right."

(Page 259)

At that time, North-South relations

were at a difficult point over the issue

of nuclear inspections in North Korea, and

so I had made my proposal with some

reluctance. Everyone present, however,

was surprised that President Kim responded

in such a pleasant tone. At this point,

we adjourned our meeting to a dining room,

where we took an early lunch.

"Are you familiar

with frozen potato noodles?" he asked.

"It's a dish I ate quite often when I was

active as a partisan on Mount Baekdu.

Please try some."

Well, of course I know it," I said,

responding to his words with delight.

We used to enjoy this dish in my hometown."

"Well, I'm sure in your hometown you ate it

as a delicacy," he continued "But we ate it

to survive. The Japanese police used to

search for us all the way to the top

of Mount Baekdu. We didn't have a chance

to sit down to a decent meal. What else

is there at the top of Mount Baekdu other

than potatoes?"

"We would start to boil some potatoes,

and the Japanese police came after us,

we would bury the potatoes in the ground

and run away. It would be so cold that,

by the time we got back, the potatoes

would be frozen solid in the ground.

The only thing we could do was

dig up the potatoes, thaw them, and then

turn them into powder, so we could

make noodles out of them."

"Mr. President," I said, "you are

an expert on frozen potato noodles."

That's right. They taste good mixed

in bean soup, and they also taste very good

if you eat them in sesame soup. It's a dish

that is easy on the digestion, and

because potatoes have a tendency

to stick together, it is very filling.

(Page 260)

"Also, Chairman Moon," he continued,

"it tastes really good if you do

like they do in Heungnam Province and

take some mustard leaf kimchi, like this,

and put it over the noodles.

You should try it."

I did as he suggested and ate

my frozen potato noodles with some

mustard leaf kimchi over them.

The tasty flavor of the noodles

matched well the spicy kimchi and

left my stomach feeling light.

"There are many delicacies in the world,

President Kim said. "I'm not interested

in any of those. There's nothing better

than the potato cakes, corn and

sweet potatoes that I used to eat

in my hometown."

"You and I even share similar tastes

in food," I said. "it's good that

people who share the same homeland can

meet like this."

"How was it when you visited your hometown,"

he asked me. "I was filled with many emotions,"

I said. "The home where I lived was still

there, and I sat in the main room to think

about the past. I almost expected to hear

the voice of my late mother,

calling me. It was a emotional feeling."

"I see," he said. "It shows that our country

needs to be unified immediately. I hear

that when you were young, you were quite

mischievous. Did you have a chance to

run around while you were there this time?"

Everyone at the table

laughed at the president's comment.

"I wanted to climb a tree and go fishing,"

I said, "but I heard that you were waiting

for me, so I quickly came here. I hope

you will invite me to come again sometime."

"Well, of course, of course I will.

Chairman Moon, do you like to hunt?

I like hunting very much. I think

if you go bear hunting on Mount Baekdu,