Updated May 28, 2021
June 18, 2019 Deposition of Hyung Jin Sean Moon in his case against the FFWPU of his mother, Hak Ja Han.
Here are the links to Hyung Jin Sean Moon’s deposition in the Hyung Jin Sean Moon [of Sanctuary Church] vs. Hak Ja Han of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and HSA-UWC case in the Middle District of Pennsylvania:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7UlD01b-dg
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms5tRN5S3A8
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ_BjjRtQfI
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq_ay63cURQ
Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEh95CPOgAc
Part 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xge505PhPBY
Link to the legal document:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=44039814485285035870
Article published in Sunday Journal February 28, 2019
Link to the Sunday Journal news article in Korean.
문선명 7남 문형진 어머니 상대로 골육상쟁 소송 ‘전말’
‘엄마는 후계자 자격 없고, 내가 지도자다’
This edited summary translation with comments has not been verified. The author is unknown.
Feb 28, 2019
Moon Sun Myung’s 7th son, Moon Hyung Jin, and his mother wrangle as opponents in a flesh and blood dispute. Details revealed in lawsuit.
“Mother has no qualification to be the successor, I am the leader”
Hyung Jin Sean Moon claims he was named by his father, the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, as the heir of the Unification Church. Sean filed a lawsuit against his mother Hak Ja Han, who claims to lead the Church. Sean says his “Mother is not qualified to be the leader,” and that his mother and those close to her wrongfully took his position away. After Han filed a lawsuit against Sean for trademark infringement last July, he fired back with a countersuit. Despite strong resistance from Han’s side Sean was able to secure Han’s deposition in January. Han will have to go to the United States and face a difficult deposition. Appallingly, the leaders closest to Han approached Sean telling him that if he only keeps quiet until Han dies, they will secure a position for him. But Sean declined their offer. The battle to control the Unification Church is intensifying.
I am the successor, my dismissal is invalid
On February 22, Sean Moon filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Hak Ja Han, HSA-UWC, FFWPU, and 8 others. Sean is the only plaintiff in the case. His Sanctuary Church is not included in it. Sean put his mother’s name at the very top of the defendant’s list, continuing the battle for the succession of the Unification Church. Sean sees the FFWPU and HSA-UWC as two essential organizations of the Unification Church, where Han and other defendants are board members.
In his complaint Sean states, “Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the one and only leader of the Unification Church, named me his successor in 2009 and confirmed my appointment in a written document in 2010. I was successor, but in September of 2012, after my father passed away, my mother and a few leaders took over the organizations and removed me from the position of successor. I am the only leader of the Unification Church and she has no qualification.” Sean requested the courts to acknowledge that he is the only leader and successor in the Unification Church.
Sean states that in 2009 Han and the Family Federation designated him as managing agent of the Family Federation, which Sun Myung Moon acknowledged on June of 2010. He states that it is invalid for Hak Ja Han to remove him because she has no authority. In his complaint, Sean accused Han and 8 close leaders of hers who hold positions in the Family Federation of severe corrupt acts through which they enriched themselves and received benefits. He claims that they caused great harm to the Unification Church and that they engaged in organized crime (RICO). He accuses them of fraud in money transfers, money laundering, and other such acts.
But essentially, through this complaint Sean is trying to assert that he’s the “true leader” of the Unification Church, further muddying the waters in an already very muddied pool of contenders for that title including Hyun Jin Moon and Hak Ja Han.
Getting a judge to confirm he’s the successor
In his lawsuit Sean says, “I was forcefully removed from my position as board member of HSA-UWC on July 10, 2013.” On February 26, 2015 he was removed as board member of the Family Federation. He believes he was harmed by his mother Hak Ja Han.
Sean states that when he began revealing the corruption of leaders close to Han, they tried to placate him. Leaders close to Han came to him and made a proposal: “Keep quiet until Hak Ja Han passes away. We will restore your authority after she dies.” But Sean did not accept their proposal.
On February 22, Sean submitted a 34-page long complaint to the New York court accusing Han and others of 10 charges. Most importantly to her, Sean is asking the court to recognize that “Sean Moon is the only successor of the Unification Church”. He is also asking for the Cheon Il Guk constitution to be nullified “because the Cheon Il Guk constitution was not approved by me as the only legitimate leader of the Unification Church.”
With both sides holding vastly different and diametrically opposed theological views, this is most definitely a fight to define the nascent Unification Church movement. Undoubtedly, this is a lawsuit in which both sides are fighting for their legitimacy. Expect a long drawn out battle with very high fees.
Han attacked first but backfired
Sean was sued by the Family Federation first for copyright infringement over use of the twelve-gates symbol, but this is the first time that someone’s filed a lawsuit directly against Han. Sean has gone from the defensive to the offensive. In response to the copyright lawsuit, Sean filed a countersuit last September 26 against the Family Federation. In that situation, the court ordered discovery to take place. Discovery is the process where parties in a lawsuit investigate the other party to prove their case.
What the Family Federation fears the most in the copyright lawsuit is having Hak Ja Han deposed. A deposition is when lawyers from either side are given a chance to ask questions to persons of the opposing party. The tables were turned against the Family Federation when Sean requested the deposition of Han. The court accepted Sean’s request.
Attempt to block Han’s deposition
The Family Federation claims that Han is neither a manager, director, or officer in the organization. And that because she is only a spiritual leader she should not be deposed.
Sean requested Han’s deposition stating that she is the managing agent of the Family. And on January 17, 2019, the court ordered the deposition of Hak Ja Han which will take place in the offices of the plaintiff’s lawyers. The order states both parties should figure out the schedule of the deposition. It would be an understatement to say that this is a blow for Han’s side. Despite the court’s order, the Family Federation has not cooperated and tried to use every possible way to delay her deposition. There is no date set for her deposition yet, but with only 2 months left of discovery, the court will be making a decision soon.
Crisis for Hak Ja Han after taking over the Family Federation
If Han wants to avoid the deposition the Family Federation will have to drop the copyright infringement lawsuit against Sean. They will either have to admit defeat in that lawsuit or have to settle with Sean. But it is increasingly looking like Sean will not settle. The copyright infringement lawsuit may not seem like a big deal, but if she loses to the self-proclaimed successor of the Unification Church, then her own authority and legitimacy is at risk. Sean filed the new lawsuit in New York at a quick pace, so that if the Family Federation tries to settle in the copyright infringement lawsuit they will also have to ask to settle in the new lawsuit as well. Sean has nothing to lose and the Family Federation has everything to lose.
If the Family Federation wants to avoid settling with a son that flashes guns and semi-automatic rifles around, Han will have to be deposed. The schism in the Unification Church has gone full circle, but realistically speaking Sean will never be accepted back into the fold or as leader of the Family Federation, much less leader of the overall Unification Church movement; not with his different religious view, after all the insults he hurled, and all the bridges he burned. In the end, it is clear that the ones who will prevail in this situation are the leaders and bureaucratic clerics of the Family Federation who are only waiting for Hak Ja Han to die. They also have a different perspective and different theology from Han and Sean. It’s a cold and calculated move, but after dragging Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s family in a nasty fight and making a spectacle out of it, they stand to benefit the most and emerge victorious.
Ending remarks
There is something to be said about the accusations of corruption and self-enrichment that Sean makes against the Family Federation’s leadership. They ring an alarming bell and are a reminder of Jonathan Park’s serious allegations of breach of duty by HSA’s board members in 2017 for misusing charitable assets. Park’s attempt to reveal and clean these corrupt practices were dismissed and swept under the rug by the Family Federation. Jonathan Park was silenced after he blew the whistle. Now, Sean is suing leaders close to Hak Ja Han for similar corrupt acts.
United States Supreme Court issued a decision denying the Petition for Certiorari submitted by Hyung Jin (Sean) Moon
“ … On June 14, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision denying the Petition for Certiorari submitted by Hyung Jin (Sean) Moon. In this petition, Sean Moon argued once again that he had been appointed by the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon as the leader of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International. Monday’s order by the U.S. Supreme Court brings finality to the dismissal of Sean Moon’s claims to take leadership of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification through the U.S. court system.
On February 22, 2019, Hyung Jin (Sean) Moon filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (aka Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA), and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International (both commonly referred to as the Unification Church), and additional individual defendants. This claim was dismissed in its entirety by Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the United States District Court on December 19, 2019. The dismissal was then unanimously affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on November 5, 2020.”
https://www.cultnews101.com/2021/06/united-states-supreme-court-issued.html
VIDEO: Hyung Jin Moon admits his father had sex with Six Marys
26:00 “I really feel that this issue about the Six Marys is at the core. It’s interesting because we were already preparing a lecture on the Six Marys. When was this in 2010 I believe or ‘11? We had already given lectures on the Six Marys and we have tried to get the information on the Six Marys. And it’s disappeared. Oh whoops I don’t have on our computer anymore. Whoops we don’t have it on the computer. So we had to get it from somebody who was in those lectures who took notes on the Six Marys lecture. Because guess what folks? Even though it is more comfortable to hide it under the rug and be fraudulent about the whole situation and try to just convince people of their own current times, it’s easier to do that. It’s easier to do that what the church, what mother is doing. Hide it! Don’t talk about it! Don’t bring it up! It’s gonna cause problems. So easy to do that. That’s the temptation. But guess what? Just like the Mormons 200 years later. 200 years later are dealing with the issue around their founder. They’re still dealing with. You understand folks. It never goes away. It will never go away!”
35:00 “For him to come and take all the women of this world and be their spouse and to have children from every single one of those people. And kill off Satan’s blood lineage. I don’t care if that makes you feel uncomfortable. I don’t care if that makes you feel unnerved. That’s the quickest way to do it.”
43:10 “He says in public, he says, this only contains 80% of my autobiography. Right? Some of the Japanese sisters maybe have heard that. And then he goes on to call up the four great saints’ wives. You know Mrs. Jesus and Mrs. Buddha and Mrs. Who is it? Muhammad no and Mrs. Confucius so he says this only has 80% of my life story and then he calls up those ladies. See what you don’t realize about who those ladies are. They’re part of the Six Marys.”
48:30 “You see if you don’t understand the bride of Christ, the brides of Christ and you don’t understand the three day ceremony, you have no way to explain why father had to walk that course of having those relationships. What is your explanation? What is it? The only way you can explain this is to say that well I guess father was weak in the flesh. But then if you say that you’re saying that God is weak in the flesh.”
49:40 “What is it? How do you explain the Six Marys? How do you explain those relationships beyond the Six Marys? How do you do it? And still believe in Father? You can’t. You cannot.”
1:04:35 “I remember one time in Washington, DC, they were having an argument. And mother brought this issue out and she condemned father for it. If you, If I didn’t save you from that you would have had children from many, many different bellies is what she said to him.”
VICE
VIDEO: Guns For God: The Church of the AR-15
The Washington Post May 21, 2018
Locked and Loaded for the Lord
After the Rev. Moon died in 2012, his church split apart. Two of his sons established a new congregation. Their followers are eagerly awaiting the end times. And they are armed.
Sanctuary Church — whose proper name is World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, but which also goes by the more muscular-sounding Rod of Iron Ministries — stands inconspicuously on a country road that winds through the village of Newfoundland, Pa., 25 miles southeast of Scranton. The one-story, low-slung building used to be St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. …
On a Sunday morning in late February, 38-year-old Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, entered stage right wearing a white hoodie and cargo pants. …
Story by Tom Dunkel Photos by Bryan Anselm
The News & Observer Raleigh October 22, 2020
North Carolina Lt. Gov. candidate appeared with religious leader who plans to become king of the US
By Colin Campbell
The Republican candidate for lieutenant governor voiced agreement with a religious leader who says that the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” are the Rothschild family of “international bankers that rule every single … central bank,” the CIA, China and Islam.
The conversation is part of an interview that Mark Robinson did in 2019 with Pastor Sean Moon, whose father Sun Myung Moon founded the Unification Church, which some have called a cult.
Sean Moon’s Pennsylvania-based church believes that the American government will collapse and that he will ultimately become king of the United States, according to a 2018 Washington Post profile.
… Moon explains his theory about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, including the comments about the Rothschild family, which is a longstanding anti-Semitic trope about the influence of wealthy Jewish bankers.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article246619363.html
The Trace October 22, 2020
Far-Right Gun Festival Boosts Election Conspiracy Theories
A Pennsylvania event organized by the sons of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon featured speakers like Steve Bannon, who repeated unfounded claims about voter fraud.
… Event organizer Kook-Jin “Justin” Moon, who founded Kahr Arms, spoke of a “1776 Take Two” if a President Joe Biden came for the public’s guns. His brother Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, who helms the Rod of Iron Ministries, alleged a global conspiracy to “[lower] the sexual age consent limit to 10 years old” and subject Americans to “Satanic communist” rule. …
Justin Moon remained in step with his brother and founded the Kahr Firearms Group, which includes the gunmakers Kahr Arms, Auto-Ordnance, and Magnum Research. …
Videos from the event show crowded festival grounds, few masks, and no social distancing. …
_____
By Champe Barton who started at The Trace as a fellow, and is now a reporter covering community violence and the gun industry.
https://www.thetrace.org/2020/10/kahr-arms-justin-sean-moon-gun-rights-greeley-pa-bannon/
VICE News May 27, 2021
Gun Church That Worships With AR-15s Bought a 40-Acre Compound in Texas for Its ‘Patriots’
Sun Myung Moon had a girlfriend in 1941
The Choi family’s entanglements with Moon
Sun Myung Moon’s second wife – Kim Chong-hwa in Pyongyang
Kim Myung-hee, the third wife of Sun Myung Moon
The lie that Kim Myung-hee was raped in Japan
Sun Myung Moon’s fourth wife, Won-pok Choi
Hong Soon-ae, the mother of Hak Ja Han
Sun Myung Moon’s secret love child – Mother Jones
The Fall of the House of Moon – New Republic
Dong-sook, listed as a ‘True Child’, AND Sung-jin Moon were married