After various news stories about the Unification Church's Nepal connection were made public last week, public interest in the matter has increased. What is the Unification Church? How did it become connected to Nepal, and how has this fact become public now? We have attempted to explain these and similar facts in five questions and answers.

What is the Unification Church? How did it become famous?
The Unification Church was founded by South Korean citizen Myung Moon in 1954. It has various organizations. After Moon's death in 2012, his wife Hak Ja Han took over as its leader. The 82-year-old Han identifies herself as the only daughter of God. Han gained fame through her work of organizing mass marriages for various couples.

Han, who is establishing branches of the Unification Church around the world with the slogan of preserving religion, world peace and family, has not been limited to religious activities. Her network has also spread to politics, real estate, media, education and the luxury goods business. The Washington Times newspaper in the US is owned by the church. It owns the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, the Yongpyong Ski Resort in Pyeongchang (where the 2018 Winter Olympics were held), and the International Academy in Cheongju. In February 2020, she held a conference to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of her husband and unification movement founder Sun Myung Moon, inviting people to Ilsan City in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. The conference, which was attended by distinguished guests from more than 171 countries, including former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was held despite the coronavirus pandemic. Former heads of state, legislators, religious leaders, and business leaders from more than 100 countries attended. The number of participants was more than 7,000. Han's 77th birthday and 60th wedding anniversary were also celebrated at the same event.

Han has been tasked with building infrastructure in various places in the name of the church. In particular, there is a luxurious church complex in Gapyeong (at the foot of Jangrak Mountain) in Gyeonggi Province. In front of the complex is a 4.3-foot-tall statue of Han. Similarly, the magnificent Cheonan Palace has been built near Seoul. According to local media, at least 611.2 million US dollars were spent on its construction.

Why did Han get into controversy? Han, who has spread investment and influence around the world under the guise of religion, is now caught in legal trouble. She is being sued in South Korea on charges of bribery and lobbying. Similarly, a Japanese court has revoked the recognition of her campaign as a ‘religious institution.’ This means that her organization will no longer receive tax benefits and other benefits.

Just a few days ago, Kim Keon-hee, the wife of former South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol, was found guilty of
accepting bribes from the Unification Church. She was sentenced to 20 months in prison by the Seoul Central District Court. She is accused of accepting gifts worth about $56,000 from the church. She received a Graff diamond necklace and several Chanel handbags as gifts. She is accused of recruiting church members to her husband's conservative People Power Party and even giving them government jobs. The charges are yet to be heard. All these developments have put Han in an awkward position.

What is the Unification Church's Nepal connection? Based on confidential documents obtained by the Korean Center for Investigative Journalism (NewsTapa), Duniya.org has exposed the Unification Church's relationship with Nepal's leaders. The latest report has been named the 'True Mothers Report'. Duniya.org, OnlineKhabar.com, Himal Khabar and Nepali Times published investigative reports on this last week.

The report implicates Nepal Parivar Dal Chairman Eknath Dhakal and three former Prime Ministers of Nepal (UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, NCP Co-Coordinator Madhav Kumar Nepal and Pralopa Patron Dr. Baburam Bhattarai). Dhakal has already agreed to cooperate with UML for the upcoming elections. According to the agreement, Parivar Dal will support UML candidates and UML will help Nepal Parivar Dal to be represented in the federal parliament and provincial assemblies when necessary. He also collaborated with the UML in the 2074 and 2079 House of Representatives elections. After the promulgation of the constitution, he was the Minister of Peace and Reconstruction in the KP Oli-led government formed in 2072. In an interview with NewsTapa, Dhakal responded that attempts were being made to spread rumors by linking his collaboration with the UML with the Unification Church.
However, he had sent news of the 2017 elections to Yun Yong-ho and Han. The letter he sent states that the UML's election campaign was 'very successful and a landslide victory was certain.' Dhakal was placed at number five on the UML's proportional list in this election. 'Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Oli discussed my possibilities and assured that my number (from number 5) could be adjusted to number 1 or 2 if necessary,' he wrote. According to NewsTapa, the Unification Church's involvement in Nepali politics was not limited to securing seats. Instead, its goal was to draft a constitution centered on Cheon Il Guk by ‘educating’ all lawmakers by 2020. Cheon Il Guk means ‘a heavenly land’ envisioned by Moon. A site called T-Parents.org, which regularly promotes church-related activities, published a news story on May 21, 2012 under the title ‘Unification Church’s Nepal-based leader Dhakal appointed as minister.’

It also mentions that upon Dhakal’s appointment as minister on May 16, Dhakal came to the Unification Peace Embassy in Naxal with his wife and prayed with other Nepali members. Similarly, in an interview with the Nepali Times in 2017, Dhakal claimed that he was connected to the unification movement.

How did the Unification Church become associated with the major parties in Nepal?

In 2018, the Asia-Pacific Summit was held in Nepal under the leadership of Nepal Parivar Dal President Eknath Dhakal. At this time, the UML and the Maoists had united to form the Nepal Communist Party. Oli was the Prime Minister. The conference was attended by 1,500 delegates, including Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. During the conference, the participants were served ‘Holy Wine’. Similarly, there was a program to seek blessings from Han collectively. But after widespread criticism, Prime Minister Oli did not attend the program to seek blessings. Due to this incident, some in Nepal also use the word ‘Holy Wine’ as a metaphor to describe the increasing foreign influence in the parties.

Quoting the True Mothers Report, Sulki Lee and Sant Gaha Magar have written for the world – These days, Holy Wine has become a slang word in Nepali politics. This word is used to ridicule politicians like KP Oli, Madhav Nepal and Eknath Dhakal. What is the Unification Church's response to the public accusations? The Unification Church has claimed that the leaked documents are not factual. Yun Yong-ho, the former director general of the church's international headquarters, has claimed that he himself created such confusion to demonstrate his own arrogance. In a statement issued this week, the Japanese branch of the Unification Church said, "While studying the documents, it was found that factual errors were added or the content was revised."

Unification Church activities in Nepal
The Universal Peace Federation (UPF), which has direct ties to the Unification Church, was founded by Moon and Han in 2005. It works to include those who believe in interfaith. In a sense, the UPF is also the church's diplomatic organization.

The UPF is also affiliated with the United Nations as a non-governmental organization. It has been working to promote global peace initiatives and the concept of familyism. For a long time, Eknath Dhakal was the head of its Nepal chapter. It has been organizing various programs in Nepal. In 2006, Han came to Nepal during the World Peace Tour at the invitation of the then Speaker Subash Nembang. She conducted a peace tour at 12 different places. Programs were organized at various places in Pokhara, Chitwan, Kavre and Kathmandu.

After the 2072 earthquake, Han contributed Rs 100 million for reconstruction, rescue and relief in Nepal. Out of this, Rs 50 million was sent to the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund. The remaining Rs 50 million was spent through various organizations affiliated with UPF.
The Asia Pacific Conference organized by UPF at the Hyatt Hotel in Kathmandu in November 2017 was controversial. There were about 4,000 participants from different countries in this conference. The participants of the conference were served Holy Wine. The Unification Church claimed that this wine purifies the blood. In Nepal, everyone from Prime Minister Oli to local level chiefs were invited to come with their partners to drink Holy Wine. But after the controversy, the Prime Minister, ministers and most local government heads did not attend the wine-drinking event. According to the Unification Church, couples who drink holy wine are included in the lineage of the Moon couple. Married or marriageable couples are included in this event. This church does not recognize anyone as a marriage without drinking holy wine. Prime Minister Oli attended the closing ceremony. Han presented him with the Good Governance Award along with a $100,000 prize. Oli announced that the prize would be transferred to the government fund to be spent on Nepali youth and children. 

How did Newstapa obtain the file?
Newstapa has uncovered an archive report prepared by Yun Yong-ho, former director general of the Unification Church's international headquarters, and it has been named 'True Mother's Special Report'. The report is said to be 3,212 pages long. However, it is not mentioned how this report was obtained. The sources, methods used in it, and the identity of the leaker are kept secret. 

The Unification Church has stated that the contents of this file are not factual. The church claims that Yong has tampered with various information to present his argument. It discusses the political lobbying carried out by the church in Japan, the US, South Korea and various countries around the world.