Sun Myung Moon,
The Early Years, 1920-53

By Michael Breen

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the help of several people. In particular, I would like to thank Mark Setton, a scholar of Confucianism and Korean philosophy who lifted the original Concept out of the realm of debate and encouraged me to make it real. Without his conviction, the project would have never started. Likewise, Daniel Davies, a theologian and expert in Korean Christian history, whose enthusiastic interest in the research never wavered. Without his encouragement, the interviews would never have been written up and the book never printed.

Among the hundreds of sources, several were especially generous with many hours of their time and put up with nit-picking questioning and telephone calls at odd hours. In particular, I should thank Moon Seung yong, Park Chong hwa and Im Nam sook.

Most interviews were conducted in Korean. I am forever indebted to the following people who compensated for my inadequate language and joined in the adventure of unearthing sources and relaying their stories: Lee Han woo, Lee Jung hee, Mallory I.eece, Pak Kyong do, Mark Setton and Herbert Wolf. For additional interpretation and translation thanks are due to Tim Elder; Im Myeong shin, Kim Hye sun, Pak Hyo hyun, Karl Heinz Schultz, and Shin Sang soo.

Eileen Barker, William Chasseaud, Andrew Davies, Daniel Davie, Dan Fefferman, Rupert Pollard, George Robertson and Paul Rogers read part or all of the last drafts. The text is the better for their valuable comments and suggestions.

I would also like to thank my secretaries Im Mi-hi and Lee Juhg hee, for their assistance in tracking down sources and arranging interviews, and Lee Sun jin, who translated the final text into Korean In Britain, I would like to thank William Chasseaud and George Robertsos for additional advice and help.