Advertisement

Unification Church

Latest Stories

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and a lawmaker speak before dissolving the lower house, during an extraordinary Diet session at the lower house of parliament Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) ** FILE **

Crackdown on religious freedom in Japan, South Korea shocking, say spiritual and political figures

By Vaughn Cockayne - The Washington Times

Hak Ja Han, bottom center, the leader of South Korea's Unification Church, arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Unification Church leader arrested after questioning in bribery case in South Korea

By Kim Tong-Hyung - Associated Press

Hak Ja Han, center, the leader of South Korea's Unification Church, arrives at a special prosecutor's office in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) ** FILE **

Korean prosecutors seek arrest of octogenarian head of Family Federation

By Andrew Salmon - The Washington Times

Illustration on a war on religion by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

When belief becomes a crime: Religious freedom is under attack in Japan

By Rev. Demian Dunkley

Japanese court orders dissolution of Unification Church

By Andrew Salmon - The Washington Times

Japanese government and the Unification Church illustration by Linas Garsys / The Washington Times

Japanese Senator says government falsified evidence to dissolve Unification Church

By Patricia Duval

Tomihiro Tanaka, right, president of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, speaks during a press conference Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, in Tokyo. The church has criticized the Japanese government’s request for a court order to dissolve the group, saying it’s based on groundless accusations and is a serious threat to the religious freedom and human rights of its followers. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) ** FILE **

In central Tokyo: A church under siege tries to find a way forward

By Andrew Salmon - The Washington Times

Prominent political, business and spiritual figures attend the International Religious Freedom Summit 2025 in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2025.

‘Grave consequences’: Japan warned on campaign against church

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Japan’s dispute with church a test of liberty everywhere

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

Couples from around the world attend a mass wedding ceremony at the Cheong Shim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, South Korea, on Feb. 7, 2020. South Korean and foreign couples exchanged or reaffirmed marriage vows in the Unification Church's mass wedding arranged by Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church. The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has revealed long-suspected, little-talked-of links between him and the Unification Church. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Unification Church vows to fight ‘biased’ disbandment request

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Hong Kong's outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen, center, and other religious protesters hold placards with "Respects religious freedom" written on them during a demonstration outside the China Liaison Office in Hong Kong, Wednesday, July 11, 2012. Reports say a Roman Catholic cardinal and three others have been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger Chinese national security. U.K.-based human rights group Hong Kong Watch said Cardinal Joseph Zen, lawyer Margaret Ng, singer Denise Ho and scholar Hui Po-keung were detained Wednesday, May 11, 2022, by Hong Kong's National Security Police. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Religious freedom under threat; summit highlights actions by China, developments in Japan

By Mark A. Kellner and Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Tetsuya Yamagami, bottom, is detained near the site of gunshots in Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on July 8, 2022. Japanese prosecutors formally charged the suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with murder, Japan's NHK public television reported Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. (Katsuhiko Hirano/The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP, File)

Suspect charged with murder in assassination of Japan’s Abe

By Mari Yamaguchi - Associated Press

A portrait of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hangs on the stage during his state funeral, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, Tokyo. Abe was assassinated in July. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)

Chinese Communists, Japanese allies seek to exploit Abe’s assassination, former officials say

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

The portrait of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seen on the altar during his state funeral at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2022. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Abe’s assassination and the Japanese communist attack on freedom

By Newt Gingrich

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a plenary session in Tokyo Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. Kishida’s government was to approve on Friday a hefty economic package that will include government funding of about 29 trillion yen ($200 billion) to soften the burden of costs from rising utility rates and food prices. (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP)

Japan Cabinet OKs $200B spending plan to counter inflation

By Mari Yamaguchi - Associated Press

People protest outside Diet against the state paying for Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's funeral in Tokyo on Aug. 31, 2022. A rare state funeral Tuesday, Sept. 27 for the former prime minister who was assassinated in July, has split Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Why is Japan split over Abe’s state funeral?

By Mari Yamaguchi - Associated Press

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. Kishida has said his ruling party will cut ties with the Unification Church following a widening scandal trigged by former leader Shinzo Abe's assassination last month. A prominent European religious freedom group wants the top United Nations human rights body to examine what it claims has been a "campaign of intolerance, discrimination, and persecution of the Unification Church" in Japan following the July assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, Pool) **FILE**

Rights group questions backlash against Unification Church after Abe assassination

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Unification Church followers hold signs during a rally in downtown Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, protesting negative Japanese media coverage of their religion after the suspect in the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe blamed the church for his family’s troubles. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Unification Church followers decry ‘biased’ Japanese media

By Kim Tong-Hyung - Associated Press

Legal expert Hiroshi Yamaguchi, holding a book related to the Unification Church, speaks during a news conference on the church and its activities at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Friday, July 29, 2022. A group of lawyers said Friday that the alleged assassin of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was one of many victims of the Unification Church, which has long cultivated ties with high-level Japanese politicians. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Lawyers say church caused suffering for Abe’s alleged killer

By Mari Yamaguchi - Associated Press

Tomihiro Tanaka, head of the Japan branch of South Korea’s Unification Church, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Monday, July 11, 2022. The Japan branch of South Korea’s Unification Church acknowledged Monday as its member the mother of the suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but denied that it demanded large donations from anyone.(Yohei Fukai/Kyodo News via AP)

Unification Church distances itself from Abe’s assassination

By Yuri Kageyama - Associated Press