Chung Hwan Kwak (born January 22, 1936) is a South Korean religious leader. He was in leadership in the Unification Church until 2009. He was appointed to many lead positions in organizations related to the Unification Church by its founder Sun Myung Moon. Since 2002, he was the chairman and president of News World Communications, which owns United Press International, and other publications, including the Middle East Times, and Tiempos del Mundo, a Spanish-language newspaper published in 16 countries throughout the Americas.Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, American City Business Journals, Accessed August 26, 2008Leadership Team United Press International He was also the president of the Family Party for the Universal Peace and Unity, a South Korean political party founded by Unification Church members, one of whose main goals is the reunification of Korea. He was also the chairman of the Social Responsibility Committee for the Asian Football Confederation.
Kwak advocated The Washington Times to support international organizations such as the United Nations and to promote for world peace and interfaith understanding. This created difficulties for editor Wesley Pruden and some of the Times columnists. Issues of contention included the Unification movement's reconciliatory attitude towards North Korea, which at the time included joint business ventures, and Kwak's advocacy for greater understanding between the United States and the Islamic world. David Ignatius, reporting for The Washington Post, predicted that conservatives in Congress and the George W. Bush administration would support Pruden's position over Kwak's.
Kwak's daughter, Jun Sook Kwak, is married to Moon's son, Hyun Jin Moon.From the Unification Church to the Unification Movement, 1994-1999: Five Years of Dramatic Changes Center for Studies on New Religions "Hyun Jin Moon's blessing to Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak's (the Reverend Moon's assistant and former president of the FFWPUI) daughter, Jun Sook Kwak, was also a significant point of continuity."Tension of the Times The Washington Post June 18, 2004, "Sources say that the dominant church official overseeing the publications is now the Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, a close adviser to the church's founder, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon." Kwak left the Unification Church in 2009 after internal strife and is now the Honorary President of the Global Peace Foundation.
After the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by the son of a Unification Church member, Kwak held a press conference in which he apologized and blamed other Unification Church leaders.
Speeches and writings collected speeches and writings See also List of Unification movement people Dong Moon Joo Bo Hi Pak Unification Church of the United States
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