A Historic Meeting in Pyongyang
Rev. and Dr. Moon met President Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang in 1991.
“Seeking the shortest path to a world of peace, I devoted myself to inspiring change in the political process and to changing people’s ways of thinking,” wrote True Father in his autobiography, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen (2009). “I met then-President Kim Il Sung of North Korea for a serious discussion on how to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.”
This week marks the 30th anniversary of True Parents’ historic trip to Pyongyang to meet North Korea leader Kim Il Sung. Among many great accomplishments, True Parents achieved the impossible with the epoch-making trip north of the 38th parallel which lasted a week — from November 30 to December 6, 1991.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union imminent, most other communist regimes in the world would also fall, True Father noted. To prevent any provocation or war, especially with North Korea’s fixation on nuclear weapons, True Father’s visit was imperative.
“The Korean Peninsula is a scaled-down version of the world,” True Father wrote. “If blood were shed on the Korean Peninsula, it would be shed in the world. If reconciliation occurred on the peninsula, there would be reconciliation in the world.”
The late Rev. Bo Hi Pak arranged the meeting in Pyongyang despite the dangers of venturing there.
“I have been unjustly imprisoned six times in my life [including] Kim Il Sung’s North Korea,” recalled True Father. “I was beaten so hard that the flesh was torn from my body. Today, though, not even the slightest wound remains in my heart. Wounds easily disappear in the presence of true love. Even enemies melt away without a trace in the presence of true love.”
And so, departing from Hawaii, True Parents arrived in their homeland with nothing but love in their hearts — ready to embrace their family members, whom they were separated from for many years, as well as Kim Il Sung.
True Father recounts the trip in his autobiography with vivid detail, touring the city of Pyongyang; visiting his hometown and childhood home; placing flowers at the gravesites of his parents; and boarding an aircraft tour of Mount Kumgang. But his meeting with Kim Il Sung on the last day — a triumphant moment etched in history — solidified peace-building efforts between the North and South before Kim Il Sung’s passing in 1994.
“The two of us simultaneously embraced each other,” wrote True Father. “I was an anti-communist and he was the leader of a communist party, but ideology and philosophies were not important in the context of our meeting. We were like brothers who were meeting for the first time after a long separation. This was the power of belonging to the same people and sharing the same blood.”
This landmark meeting opened the door to reuniting millions of Korean families separated between the North and South. The two discussed denuclearization and international safeguards as well. With more conversation over lunch about their mutual hobbies, they also bonded over a shared dialect and love for the Korean people which united them like family.
“‘Let’s refer to each other as older brother and younger brother,’ [said President Kim], and he grasped my hand tightly,” recalled True Father. “President Kim and I held each other’s hand as we walked down the hallway and took commemorative photographs. Then I left the residence. After I had gone, I was told that President Kim told his son, Kim Jong Il, ‘If there are things to discuss pertaining to North-South relations, you must always seek the advice of President Moon.’”
After True Parents’ visit, Prime Minister Hyung Muk Yeon led a North Korean delegation to Seoul. He signed an agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, and on January 30, 1992, North Korea signed a nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency — thus fulfilling the commitments that Kim Il Sung had made to True Parents.
Decades later, the implications of that momentous trip have materialized with various peace-building initiatives now led by True Mother. In May, she launched Think Tank 2022 to reunify the Korean Peninsula during the virtual 6th Rally of Hope — an international rally and subsequent forum series joining together global figures to bring about lasting peace on the peninsula. Featured leaders have included former Republic of Korea Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen; and former U.S. President Donald Trump, who met North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone in 2019.
“This network will make a difference for peace on the Korean Peninsula through international unity,” said Ban Ki-Moon, former United Nations Secretary-General and chairman of the new initiative. “I applaud Dr. Moon, the Universal Peace Federation, and the leaders of Think Tank 2022.”
You can learn more about True Father in his autobiography available here, and True Mother’s memoir here.