Moon Guilty in 1955; Started Two Year Jail Sentence - The Tragedy of the Six MarysThe Tragedy of the Six Marys

Updated February 5, 2026

Moon was Found Guilty and Started a Two Year Jail Sentence in Seoul in September 1955. Money and Influence Bought Him an Acquittal.

▲ The defendants in front of the judge at the trial. ‘X’ marks the leader, Moon. Eu Hyo-min is in the center. The others are Eu Hyo-won, Eu Hyo-yeong and Kim Won-pil.

September 21, 1955 Dong-A Ilbo (East Asia Daily News) 동아일보

어제첫公判統一教會事件

어제첫공판통일교회사건

Yesterday the first trial was held in the Unification Church case

The first hearing at the Seoul District Court in the case concerning Sun Myung Moon (文鮮明), leader of the Unification Church (real name: Moon Yong-myung [文龍明], age 36), was held yesterday (the 20th) at 10:30 a.m.in Courtroom No. 4 of the Seoul District Court. The session was presided over by Judge Yoon Hak-ro (尹學老), with Prosecutor Kang Seo-yong (姜瑞龍) participating. On this day, the courtroom was packed with a large number of women believed to be followers of the Unification Church.

Moon, the defendant, who had previously been the subject of much public attention due to reports of numerous adultery allegations, appeared in court only as a defendant charged with violation of the Military Service Act. The adultery-related matters were not brought before the court because no formal complaints had been filed by the parties concerned with respect to the adultery allegations.

Along with Moon, the following individuals affiliated with the same church also appeared before the bench:

• Kim Won-pil (金元弼), age 28 — Violation of the Military Service Act (age increased by six years)
• Eu Hyo-won (劉孝元), age 42 — Failure to report for military registration
• Eu Hyo-min (劉孝敏), age 36 — Same charge as above
• Eu Hyo-yeong (劉孝永), age 35 — Same charge as above

The hearing proceeded with the prosecution’s reading of the indictment, followed by examination of the facts.

On that day, Moon admitted to having increased his stated age. However, with regard to the legal question of whether increasing one’s age constitutes a violation of the Military Service Act even when the individual has already exceeded the draft-eligible age (32–33 years and above), it was noted that there exist two differing legal interpretations within legal circles.

In the indictment, Prosecutor Kang pointed out that Moon had increased his age and evaded military service based on his Christian belief that one should not shed blood or take life.

September 21, 1955 Seoul Shinmun Seoul Daily News 서울新聞

兵役위반是認統一敎會事件公判
女信徒들法廷서祈禱
병역위반시인 통일교회 사건공판
여신도들 법정서 기도

Admission of Military Service Law Violation [by Sun Myung Moon] in the Unification Church Trial.

Female followers pray in the courtroom

September 22, 1955 Dong-A Ilbo 동아일보

文敎主에二年統一敎會事件求刑

문교주에 이년 통일교회사건구형

Two-Year Sentence Sought for Leader Moon in Unification Church Case

As previously reported, following the examination of facts at the first hearing of the Unification Church Case, which was held on the 21st, Prosecutor Kang Seo-yong (姜瑞龍) requested the following sentences for the defendants:

• Sun Myung Moon (文鮮明) (leader) — Two years’ imprisonment
• Eu Hyo-won (劉孝元) — Two years’ imprisonment

One year and six months’ imprisonment for each:
• Kim Won-pil (金元弼), Eu Hyo-min (劉孝敏), Eu Hyo-yeong (劉孝永)

Robert W. Roland
He testified to the US Fraser Committee investigation of Sun Myung Moon and his organization in 1978. He commented on the Ewha scandal:
“Moon was eventually charged and jailed but was ultimately released when the young girls, in their misplaced shame, refused to testify publicly. …”

Apparently a large number of young women claimed their right to remain silent in court.

▲ Moon relaxing with some adoring young women – restoring them was tiring.

▲ Moon with some of the girls he probably womb cleansed through pikareum sex.

A US FBI report on Sun Myung Moon contained a letter from the Church of the Nazarene in Seoul. It gives an interesting summary of the official and the unofficial theology of the Unification Church. Here is the unofficial part of Moon’s theology:

“The letter additionally states that the group also secretly observes such other beliefs and practices as the following:

1) Founder Moon is the Second Advent Jesus.

2) A believer receives a spiritual body by participating in a ceremony known as blood cleansing [pikareum = blood exchange, pi = blood] which is for women to have sexual intercourse with Moon and for men to have intercourse with such a woman. This idea of blood cleansing comes from the teaching that Eve committed immorality with the Serpent and she passes on to all of us serpent blood.

3) Secretly observed doctrines are Holy covenant and are of more value than the Bible.

4) Members who have experienced blood cleansing can produce sinless generation [children].

5) Founder Moon is sinless.”

LINK to the FBI Report

Other US diplomatic cables from Seoul reported, “the church interprets the Bible in sexual terms and maintains that religious experience is interrelated with sex. MUN Son-myong (sic), leader of the church, was once arrested because of the sexual practices of the organization.” (Chicago Tribune, Monday, March 27, 1978)

Moon was arrested in Seoul on July 4, 1955, following an investigation by the 文教部 Ministry of Culture and Education.

MEDIA REPORTS:
Kyonghyang-shinmun, July 5, 1955
“Ministry of Culture and Education has recognized the Unification Church as a sagyo wicked religion (heresy) while the Unification Church denies this designation.”

Seoul-shinmun, July 6, 1955
Moon “Misleading women into fornication through eloquence”.

Dong-A Ilbo, July 6, 1955

Is the Unification Church a heretical religion? This question is ‘no touch’
— Leader Moon of the Christian Unification Church arrested on charges of illegal confinement [of a Yonsei University female student].

“… He allegedly failed to complete military service registration procedures, and is reported to have increased his stated age from the mid-thirties to forty-three. It is further alleged that he illegally confined a female believer, Moon Young-il (pseudonym), aged 22 who was a [Yonsei] university student, for three days or more, during which time he [starved her and] attempted to coerce her into adopting the faith.

However, according to officials of the Public Security Bureau, the arrest and interrogation of Moon are being handled strictly as violations of the general criminal code, and with regard to matters of doctrine or theology, they stated that they would absolutely take a “no touch” approach.”

Seoul-shinmun, July 7, 1955
“Four married women were violated” by Sun Myung Moon or members of the Unification Church

Dong-A Ilbo, July 14, 1955

Six individuals arrested and sent to the prosecutor — Leader Moon and other members of the ‘Unification Church’.

As previously reported, the so-called “Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity Case” (世界基督敎神靈統一協會事件), which has been under investigation by the National Police Bureau, has now reached an initial conclusion. On the 13th, six related individuals were sent under arrest to the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office, together with one set of case documents.

At present, those involved in this case are being interrogated on charges including violation of the Military Service Act, forgery of documents, and violation of the National Security Act. However, according to one investigative official, in addition to these charges, seven cases of adultery between the leader Moon and female followers have been confirmed. It is therefore anticipated that a new investigation into adultery offenses will be launched.

As of now, however, no formal complaints have been filed by the husbands of the women involved. Since adultery is a crime prosecuted only upon complaint by the injured party (a “crime subject to private prosecution”), the investigation cannot presently proceed on those grounds.

Furthermore, whether these alleged adultery cases are legally established is expected to provide a criterion for determining whether the group constitutes a “heretical religion.” Accordingly, close attention is being paid to the future direction of the prosecution’s investigation.

List of Related Persons
(Sent to the prosecutor under arrest)

• Sun Myung Moon (文鮮明) — (Leader)  Charges: Illegal confinement [of a female student], violation of the Military Service Act
• Kim Won-pil (金元弼)  Charges: Violation of the National Security Act, violation of the Military Service Act
• Eu Hyo-min (劉孝敏)  Charge: Violation of the Military Service Act
• Eu Hyo-yeong (劉孝永)  Charge: Violation of the Military Service Act
• Eu Hyo-won (劉孝元)  Charge: Forgery of documents
• Choi Soon-shil (崔淳實) (female)  Charge: Mediation of sexual misconduct

(This article was also quoted by Robert Boettcher in “Gifts of Deceit” on page 353.)

Segae newspaper, March 18, 1957, May 13, 1957 and May 20, 1957
Articles alleged Moon to have had ‘orgies’ with 70 female students.

▲ This is the church headquarters in 1955, just before a service. Known as the ‘House of Three Doors’ it was in Bukhak-dong, Seoul. Moon had a private room in the house next door. That is where Eu Shin-hee and many other women were ‘restored’ by Moon. Eu Hyo-won is seen standing with a cane.

Here is a testimony from one professor who was familiar with Moon’s personal room.

Choi Syn-deok 崔信德 (1921-2016) joined in 1954. Later she was Professor of Sociology at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. She wrote an article about the UC in Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch No. 43 (1967) The introduction stated: “She was once an active member of the Tong-il Church [ = Unification Church ] and was closely associated with Mun Son-myong.”

“KOREA’S TONG-IL MOVEMENT”
“I present here a brief picture of the Tong-il Church from the sociological point of view. … Many reports have been made about these two religious bodies. [The other was Elder Park Tae-seon’s “Olive-Tree” Church.] There is, however, no one who really knows about their leaders, organizations, beliefs and practices. We have seen many families which have been destroyed, leaving unhappy husbands, sorrowful parents and miserable children because of these new religious movements. The purpose of this research is to help in the solution of these problems of disorganization of homes, and to make a scientific study about these groups, without emotional or biased opinions.
… “Before Moon’s marriage [in 1960], believers, male as well as female, who longed to meet him and talk with him could easily arrange to be with him in the living room of a home attached to the church, staying until very late. They used to talk, sing and laugh without realizing how fast the night went, until after one or two o’clock in the morning. They called this their period of direct association with the master. Its purpose was to educate and train the believers, that is, to “restore” them.” … “In July, 1955, several senior members and four leaders as well as Mr. Moon were imprisoned under an accusation of injuring public morals. (This matter was reported in papers and journals.)”

LINK to a PDF of Transactions No. 43

Robert B. Boettcher and Gordon L. Freedman, “Gifts of Deceit”
“Rumors reached the American Embassy that Moon was a ritual womanizer. Reportedly, young girls underwent sexual initiation into his cult; he would thus purge them of the Satanic spirits that inhabited Eve and lead them to the Divine Principle. He was jailed for three months in 1955 by South Korean authorities on charges reported by newspapers and government agencies as draft evasion, forgery, “pseudo-religion,” and false imprisonment of a university coed compelled to adopt his religion.”

Philadelphia Bulletin
“A third jailing in 1955 reportedly was for ‘causing social disorder’ and having bad morals stemming from ritual sex with women in his church.” (published 1975 or earlier)

Newsweek June 14, 1976
“In 1948, Moon was arrested in North Korea for what his followers say were his religious and anti-Communist activities; his opponents maintain he was jailed for practicing ritual sex. … Seven years later, after he had fled south during the Korean War and founded his Uniﬁcation Church, Moon once again ran afoul of the authorities. According to the Rev. John E.W. Kim, a Presbyterian pastor whose church was near Moon’s church in Busan at the time, ‘Part of Moon’s theology was that women converts could only be purified by sleeping with him.’”

Professor James Huntley Grayson, PhD, “Korea: A Religious History” (New York: Routledge Curzon, 1989, revised 2002)
“In July 1955, Mun was imprisoned for gross immorality, but was subsequently released.” (page 210) “As one of the most important functions of the Lord of the Second Advent is the physical restoration of mankind, Mun selects suitable marital partners for the faithful and conducts sacred ceremonies of marriage in large groups. It should be noted with regard to the purging of physical sin that Mun has been accused of acts of gross immorality which are denied by church authorities.” (page 211)

▲ “Misleading women into fornication through eloquence.” Left to right: Kim Won-pil, Eu Hyo-yeong, Eu Hyo-min and Sun Myung Moon on trail for adultery, July 29, 1955.

Pak Chung-hwa: “The female member [Choi Soon-shil] was imprisoned on [July] 18th.” … “Because [Choi Soon-shil] was still young, she was caught out by the investigating officer on a leading question about the group sex relationships. She was detained, but was released one week later without being prosecuted.” see The Tragedy of the Six Marys.

[Her wealthy father, Choi Seong-mo 崔聖模, arranged for her release.]

On July 29, 1955 four Unification Church leaders were indicted for evasion of military service and Eu Hyo-won was indicted for forgery…

The purpose of the investigation had been to prove that group sex activities had been going on in the Unification Church. However, the women who had been involved in the group sex did not have the courage to confess to it, and their husbands felt ashamed to admit it. So in the end Moon was released, but it was true that they had sex with Moon….”

Choi Soon-shil was known as the “future mother.” (see page 152) At the last moment, in October 1959, she refused to marry Moon and left the Unification Church. Moon was beyond furious.

Pak Chung-hwa also wrote: “Because of [Moon] disturbing the social order with women in Pyongyang, he was sent to Heungnam [prison in 1948]. Thanks to the members in Seoul, who out of desperation committed perjury and frantically moved or destroyed evidence, Moon was said to be acquitted. But the facts had roots. He would otherwise have had a long prison sentence.”

Even today in South Korea money can get you released from rape charges.

Rape: in Korea “you are allowed to bribe the accuser not to press charges”

Did followers use money from prostitution to get Moon out of jail after he had started his 2 year sentence?

Oh Yeong-choon, 呉永春, (below) was one of the most important and loyal early disciples. She joined in Busan in early 1952. Her testimonies were published in English in February, March and May 2013 by the UC / FFWPU; she had written them in 1978 after moving to the US. In the early years Moon trusted her with important money matters. During the 1955 Ewha Woman’s University sex scandal she raised a lot of money and paid it to contacts in the police and judiciary to try to stop Moon being investigated or then arrested. According to her words, when finally she had paid enough, Moon was released.

Oh Yeong-choon started a business near Yongsan Station that catered to U.S. soldiers. The soldiers would show up until 2 AM and by 4 AM they started swarming in.

▲ Belvedere in about 1972. Oh Yeong-choon is front left. She moved to the US and could then escape those she still owed money to. Later she left the Unification Church and contributed to Pak Chung-hwa’s book, ‘The Tragedy of the Six Marys’.

Oh Yeong-choon’s testimony:
“… To backtrack a bit, in the beginning of June 1955, Father called me. He told me that Ewha [Womans] University was trying to cause problems and to go borrow some money. Though there were many members, most of the members were new and did not have money. Father had no one he could trust and talk to about it.

That was a time when we were not so well off financially. However, I had to get the money even if it put me into debt. I have never disobeyed Father. My heart became restless and beat hard. Luckily, I had credit with someone I knew. The interest rate was 10 percent. Nothing scared me in those days. I borrowed 100,000 Won, another 100,000 Won and then 300,000. Dong-Seok presented it to Father. Father would not even touch or look at it. Mr. No Dong-Hwi would take it. A month later, I thought we had closed all the loopholes, but then another loophole opened. Investigators took Father in on July 4, but he did not come back. We were completely shocked.

A few days later, the four leaders were also taken in. [Eu Hyo-won, Eu Hyo-yeong, Eu Hyo-min, and Kim Won-pil. And on July 18th Choi Soon-shil, who was the sister of Sam Park’s mother, was also arrested.] There were not any members with whom I could discuss details about the problem, so I had no choice but to start a gye. I thought that our first priority was to free Father. I heard that there was a person named Jo Dong-Seok, among our members, who had some experience with the police. Trusting him, I started giving him money to carry out the task of freeing Father. Lump sums of about 200,000 Won, 300,000 Won and 500,000 Won had to be invested. We would meet a prosecutor one day, and then meet a lawyer the next day. Whenever I met these people, the only thing that was discussed was money as though I owned a bank. If I could not meet a person, I would go around looking for the person. I had to find money haphazardly.

Creditors constantly kept asking for their money. I was in a completely tight position. Four months passed in this manner. I was so heavily in debt, but I never regretted it nor blamed it on anyone. I did not feel any pang of conscience because I did it for the God’s will and voluntarily. At times, I even got loans with a 30 percent interest rate. My heart was at ease no matter what other people said. The only painful part was not being able to pay back the money.

To make money, I decided to start a business, a thing I had never done in my life. I opened a shop in Yongsan Station that depended on business from the nearby army base. I ran it with Lee In-shik. Mr. Lee was in charge of the labor and I invested a million won. However, I did not have much time to myself. I did not even have time to eat or sleep because I had to visit Father and find money. I left the business in the hands of two single women, Park Seung-Kyu and Park Gye-Wol, and only came back at night. My goal was Father’s acquittal and discharge. I could not think of myself, and I had to look for money. I was ready to go to prison if I could not pay the creditors back. The only priority in my mind was how to free Father and the leaders who had been taken in.

Soldiers continued coming to Yongsan Station until 2 AM and by 4 AM they started swarming in. I could only sleep for two hours. … I was so exhausted that I slept in the trolley and always missed my stop. I would have to get off and go back in the opposite direction. Sometimes I even dreamt while walking. Those who have never directly experienced this will not be able to understand what it actually felt like. At times, I put a bundle of money on my lap and dozed off. No matter how long I slept, no one stole the bundle of money. I felt heaven was certainly protecting it.”

▲ Moon was released after dark, at 9:40pm on October 4, 1955. There had been a brief hearing earlier that day where, according to the diary of Eu Hyo-won, “Chief Judge Yoon Hak-no proclaimed that Teacher was innocent” in spite of the fact that Moon had admitted his guilt in court on September 20. Oh Yeong-choon’s testimony sheds light on what happened. And deals were made with the administration.

Eu Hyo-won describes his midnight release from jail

Eu Hyo-won’s diary: “September 28, 1955. In the morning, the bamboo pen broke. Yoo Kyung-gyu came to visit us. He told us, “With Teacher you are all going to be released today.” But we were still in a very uncertain mood. In the evening, Kim Won-pil, looking out through his window cried out, “This evening?” “Yes,” I answered with a loud voice, but I wasn’t sure. Thirty minutes later, there was still no news, and we went to bed. After we fell asleep, we finally heard the rattling noise of a door being opened and somebody shouting, “380, come out with your belongings.”

Lee Chang-whan was helping us pack. I gave him underwear, shirts and socks. More than ten came out, but I couldn’t see Teacher. When I went to his room 29, he was already looking in my direction. I said, “Why only me?” Teacher said, “Go as quickly as possible; that’s the way it is.” But I couldn’t turn away. I shed tears. I wanted to go back in. When I came out of jail, I saw Soo-Yung. When Wol-Sun greeted me, Tong-Suk held my hands very tightly. We returned to the church by jeep. There were [Kang] Hyun-Sil, Chung-Sook, Ok-Bong, Hwang Un-Ja, Tong-Chol’s mother, Kim Young-Oon, Kwang Yul [Yoo Kwang-Yol] and Kim Bang-Ul.”

Who made the fake “Certificate of Innocence” for Sun Myung Moon?

This certificate has no court symbol or printed address at the top, which seems inappropriate for a document from the Seoul Superior Court. The form is very generic.

Moon was released on October 4, 1955, six weeks BEFORE the date of sentencing given on the certificate: November 21, 1955. Secondly, that date does not match multiple newspaper reports from the time. The Dong-A Ilbo was just one of the respected papers that carried the story. They all state that Moon was sentenced on September 21, 1955.

On that day, Moon was indicted and began a two year jail sentence. Other church leaders were also indicted at the same time.

How could Sun Myung Moon be innocent if he had admitted his guilt in court to prosecutor Kang Seo-yong, 姜瑞龍 ? Moon had lied about his age. That was not disputed in court. If Moon was innocent, why was he indicted and locked up, as the papers of the time reported.

The certificate of “innocence” does not have the name of any official. It does not list all the other charges brought against Moon in July 1955. He was “charged with the false imprisonment” for three days of a 22 year-old female Yonsei University student “who he forced to adopt his new religion”.

The certificate does not look like the usual official Korean documents which famously have multiple stamps on them. The one stamp it does have is so degraded that it is conveniently illegible. The certificate was apparently created on July 1, 1974, shortly before Moon’s Madison Square Garden speech in the New York. Perhaps Moon wanted to forestall negative newspaper reports in the US in the run up to his big public event. The certificate is the same one that Bo Hi Pak presented to Donald Fraser during that Congressional investigation. Pak insisted that Moon was innocent, but the historical record proves otherwise.

“The adulterous escapades of the leader of the Unification Church.”

▲ A cartoon published during the 1955 Ewha University sex scandal.

Text at the top of the cartoon:
「愚婦X文教主 = 所謂陰陽심판」
“Foolish women X Leader Moon, the so-called Yin-Yang judgement”

lower right corner text:
社会戯評 = Satirical Social Commentary

(Yin-Yang is a reference to male-female relationships)

ChoongAng Ilbo – Central Daily newspaper, August 3, 1955.

Eu Hyo-min (36 couple) was interviewed in September 1993 by Mr. Hagiwara Ryo:
“Let me give an explanation of ‘pikareum’. Eve, the ancestor of human race, had sex with the serpent in the Garden of Eden and was corrupted. It was the fall of man. So, to restore this fall, it is also necessary to perform sexual intercourse. This is the ‘the Principle of Restoration’ according to the Unification Church. In the church this act is called ‘sex yakuji 性役事 ’. [This means ‘an obligatory or necessary sexual ceremony.’] This is the definition of ‘pikareum.’

“Furthermore, as for the matter of Mr. Moon being found innocent, it was because there were no complaints from these women or their husbands. Therefore the prosecution could only prosecute him for violation of the draft laws because he lied about his age to avoid military service. However, in reality it was entirely a problem with women.”
Sun Myung Moon’s “Gigantic lie”

Eu Hyo-min (36 couple) was interviewed in October 1993 by Mr. Takeshi Oobayashi:

Sun Myung Moon was arrested [in July 1955], but after a while he was acquitted. I asked Mr Eu Hyo-min, “He reportedly had some kind of deal with the administration. Is that true?” I asked him for confirmation. Mr Eu did not deny it.

This is the story he told me. When Mr. Eu was arrested during the Ewha Womans University incident, he was delivered food every day. The man [Choi Seong-mo] who did this was the father of a certain daughter [Choi Soon-shil], who also was in the jail.

▲ Mr. Choi Seong-mo

“The father of this daughter came at around 10 or 11 at night, and brought me many things, such as beer. He also took us outside the prison. I remember – it was a relief during the very hot and humid month of July.”

Now the father has become a big shot in a conglomerate which has a famous building that every Korean knows about. [The 63 Building].

▲ The 63 Building on Yoido Island in Seoul at dawn.