Editing Unification Church (section)

==Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) Involvement==
A 1977 report by the U.S. House Subcommittee on International Organizations, chaired by Rep. Donald M. Fraser, alleged that the Unification Church was founded in 1961 by Kim Chong Pil, the first director of the KCIA, as a political tool to advance South Korean interests. A 1963 CIA report, cited by the subcommittee, stated that Kim organized the church to influence U.S. policy and counter communist infiltration among Korean communities abroad. The church reportedly had 27,000 members by 1963 and paid influential villagers to join, operating with significant financial resources.

The Fraser report detailed the KCIA’s use of the church and its affiliate, the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation (founded 1964, with former U.S. Presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower as honorary presidents), to lobby U.S. officials. This included placing church members as volunteers in congressional offices and organizing pro-South Korea propaganda, such as demonstrations at the United Nations. The report also suggested KCIA involvement in Moon’s 1974 campaign to support President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

Testimony from church official Dan Fefferman in 1977 confirmed social ties with South Korean embassy officials but denied direct KCIA control. The subcommittee recommended a contempt citation against Fefferman for refusing to answer specific questions about KCIA ties to Moon’s National Prayer and Fast Committee. Bo Hi Pak, Moon’s aide, was identified as a key link to South Korean intelligence, though church leaders consistently denied government connections.

The 1978 Fraser report noted “active cooperation” between the KCIA and Moon’s organizations during the Koreagate scandal, where the KCIA allegedly bribed U.S. officials to reverse Nixon’s troop withdrawal from South Korea. The report suggested the church’s political activities were a front for South Korean geopolitical goals, though Moon claimed his actions were divinely inspired.