Moonies/UN: UPDATE

WMR's "Special Alert" on possible links between the favored next UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, a strong Bush family political and financial supporter, has brought indignant replies from certain members of Ban Ki-moon's support network. They are claiming that Ban Ki-moon was carefully vetted before being nominated by the Korean government.

However, given the close ties between the Korean government and Sun Myung Moon's organization, that is little consolation. Attention is drawn to a report of the Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives of October 31, 1978 (Investigation of Korean-American Relations). This is what the report stated about the Unification Church:

"In pursuit of this and other goals, the Moon Organization has attempted, with varying degrees of success, to gain control over or establish business and other secular institutions in the United States and elsewhere, and has engaged in political activities in the United States. Some of these activities were undertaken to benefit the ROK Government or otherwise to influence U.S. foreign policy . . . While pursuing its own goals, the Moon Organization promoted the interests of the ROK Government, and at times did so in cooperation with, or at the direction of, ROK agencies and officials. The Moon Organization maintained mutually beneficial ties with a number of Korean officials . . . The subcommittee found that the Moon Organization has had a number of influential allies in the Korean Government, including Kim Jong Pil, Pak Chon Kyu, and others. Although investigations and publicity in the 1976-78 period appear to have had an effect on the degree of influence Moon’s supporters had with the Korean Government, there were continuing indications that the Moon Organization retained significant support.

"Moon, like Tongsun Park, showed a keen understanding of the use of imagery in building political influence. Just as Tongsun Park used his close relationship with a few Congressmen to attract others, Moon used the names and pictures of prominent Americans, Japanese, Koreans, and others to create an image of power and respectability for himself and his movement. The multifaceted Moon Organization thereby obtained the help and cooperation of numerous Americans who had no idea they were contributing to Moon’s plan for world theocracy.

"Of particular concern is the Moon Organization’s involvement in the production and sale of M-16 rifles and other weapons provided to Korea under U.S. aid programs and subject to the Arms Export Control Act. In late 1977, Moon Organization representatives tried to renegotiate a coproduction agreement between Colt Industries and the ROK Government. The circumstances suggested they were secret envoys of the Korean Government which, under the coproduction agreement, has exclusive control over M-16 production. Although the ROK Government said it wanted to produce 300,000 extra M-16’s because of the need to equip its own forces, Moon Organization tried to get Colt’s agreement to export guns to third countries."

Questions about "Moonie" ties still plague Bush favorite to become next UN Secretary General

The Austrian government reportedly vetted Kurt Waldheim before his election as UN Secretary General in 1972. It was later discovered that Waldheim served in Greece as a German SA-Reiterscorp (Stormtrooper-Cavalry Corps) and was complicit in war crimes. Waldheim's vetting in 1972 was carried out by the Austrian government, then headed by the Jewish Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. Not only did Kreisky endorse Waldheim but the Soviet Union bought off on his candidacy. The Waldheim experience shows that the Secretary General selection process involves a great deal of nationalistic pride on the part of the sponsoring nation on behalf of their candidate. The skeletons in closets rarely emerge.

It is being reported that some Asian nations, particularly Japan, Indonesia, India, and Thailand, are now having serious second thoughts about Ban Ki-moon's candidacy.