Bo Hi Pak

This is a Korean name; the family name is Pak.

Bo Hi Pak (born August 18, 1930, Korean: 박보희/朴普熙) is a prominent member of the Unification Church. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a major leader in the organization, running projects such as newspapers (notably the Washington Times), schools, performing arts projects, political projects such as the anti-communist organization CAUSA International, and was president of the Unification Church International 1977-1991.^[1] He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the South Korean military when he joined the church in the 1950s. Serving church founder Sun Myung Moon as his main English interpreter during speaking tours in the United States, he was referred to in the media as Moon's "right-hand man"^[2] (or similarly).^[3]

[edit] Publishing

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]

[edit] Fraser committee

In 1977/1978, 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."^[4]

[edit] Severe beating by church member

In 1987 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"^{[citation needed]} on earth for his deceased son Heung Jin Moon, "beat Bo Hi Pak so badly that he was hospitalized for a week in Georgetown Hospital."^[5] The Washington Post reported that "Later, Pak underwent surgery in South Korea to repair a blood vessel in his skull, according to Times executives."^[6]

[edit] North Korea

In 1994, Pak visited North Korea to attend the funeral of President 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.^[7]

[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 Korean businessmen.^[8]

On August 17, 2005, Dr. Pak's daughter-in-law (Rev. Moon's third daughter), In Jin Moon, wrote an open letter to members of the Unification Church to raise money to get him released. In the letter she wrote:^{[self-published source?]}

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^[9]

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:

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.^[10]

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bo Hi Pak

• 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