Reverend Moon's business empire faces financial ruin

[February 4, 1999]

Throughout his life, 78-year-old Reverend Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church, is no stranger to setbacks, including a 1982 conviction for tax evasion in the United States and repeated allegations of brainwashing his followers, known as "Moonies." But rebuilding is likely to prove more difficult this time, as the Asian economic crisis in 1998 has precipitated the collapse of Moon's vast South Korean business empire.

Four of Moon's companies filed for court protection after failing to keep up with bank loan repayments. Analysts predict that with a combined debt of $1.2 billion, 19 times their equity value, and this new financial crisis, demise is inevitable for the four enterprises. The difficulties facing the companies escalated when one of its member firms went out of business.

In 1990, the Unification Church was rumored to have land holdings worth more than $1 billion, as well as factories and a chain of small stores, while assets overseas included shares in the Washington Times and car plants in China and Vietnam. Behind Moon's economic wealth was a vast pool of cheap labor, namely his followers, who reportedly worked 12-hour days for low wages, producing and packing items ranging from ginseng to stone pagodas.

But the markets and loans dried up when Asia plunged into financial chaos, and in recession-hit Japan, consumers have little money to spend on religious trinkets. Meanwhile, South Korean banks have also reduced available credit. Now struggling under a mountain of debt, the self-proclaimed messiah, who boasted the adoration of thousands of believers worldwide, may be hard-pressed to recover financially.

Source: The Guardian, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, December 6, 1998