Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi could be a key ally for the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification in its ongoing legal battle against the Japanese government and could help the organization score a major victory for global religious freedom, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in a speech this week.
Mr. Gingrich and other international religious and political leaders told the annual International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington that recent legal attacks on the federation, formerly known as the Unification Church, in Japan and South Korea are setbacks for free spiritual expression and could mark the beginning of a dangerous crackdown on religious freedom around the globe.
“This is a terrible problem because it goes to the very heart of our system. We believe that rights come from God, not from bureaucrats, not from lawyers, not from politicians, from God,” Mr. Gingrich said in a prerecorded video address to the conference. “And if a politician thinks that they have the power to come between God and the people, then you’ve just undermined the entire process.”
The former Republican congressman praised Ms. Takaichi for what he described as “taking a new look at the way in which the church has been mishandled in Japan.” He said he hopes Ms. Takaichi continues “to show that courage and to continue to raise that issue.”
Ms. Takaichi, who was elected prime minister in October, was a close political ally of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had ties to the Unification Church. Abe was assassinated in 2022 by a lone gunman who blamed the church for his family’s financial woes.
Since her election, Ms. Takaichi, who leads Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, has faced intense pressure from critics who characterize the church’s previous support of the LDP as unethical. The Unification Church has held staunchly anti-communist positions since its founding more than 70 years ago.
In March, a Japanese court issued a dissolution order against the Unification Church, citing allegations of illegal and deceptive donation solicitation practices. The order strips the church of its classification as a religious corporation and of its tax-exempt status in Japan.
In 2022, Japanese law restricted religious organizations from soliciting donations from political figures and groups.
The law, which Unification Church attorneys have said was designed specifically to target the organization, has also drawn condemnation from international religious freedom watchdogs who say it would severely limit free expression.
Unification Church leaders have appealed the dissolution order to the High Court of Japan, arguing that the move flagrantly violates religious freedom.
Other leading religious freedom advocates say the Japanese government’s approach is dangerous.
“The right answer is not what we are seeing unfold now so cruelly in Japan and South Korea,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, president of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. She served as co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, along with former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.
“It is a blanket violation under their own terms. And it is just shocking, but again, you find this lack of outrage because of the propaganda efforts to target, characterize, marginalize and otherize the community,” Ms. Swett said during remarks at the event.
An expanding crackdown
The targeting of the Family Federation and other religious institutions has spread beyond Japan.
South Korea last year arrested 82-year-old Family Federation leader Hak Ja Han Moon and prominent Presbyterian pastor Son Hyun-bo. Both arrests represented blows to religious freedom, Mr. Gingrich said, and the developments in South Korea are potentially even more dire than those in Japan.
“I’m even more concerned about what I see happening in South Korea. This is such a violent abuse of power to do this to somebody who has spent their entire life fighting communism, encouraging religion and working worldwide,” Mr. Gingrich said. “I would encourage the government of South Korea to take a serious look at releasing her and recognizing that putting an 83-year-old woman in those kinds of circumstances is very inhumane and goes against everything those of us who believe in religious liberty stand for.”
Mrs. Han turns 83 on Tuesday.
South Korean authorities arrested Mrs. Han in September over fears she would destroy evidence connected to a bribery case involving the religious leader and the country’s former first lady, Kim Keon Hee.
Mrs. Han and the Unification Church in South Korea have been accused of illegally using funds to gain influence during the tenure of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who resigned last year. Specifically, Mrs. Han and her former chief secretary were indicted on charges of bribery, violating political funding laws, embezzling church funds and instructing the destruction of evidence.
They have strongly denied the allegations. Mrs. Han’s trial is continuing in Seoul Central District Court. She appeared in a wheelchair at a hearing in early December.
Mrs. Han is the widow of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church. She has led the movement since Rev. Moon’s death in 2012.
Since its founding in 1954, the Unification Church has expanded dramatically around the world and has fostered a successful commercial empire that includes The Washington Times.
Several prominent officials and Mrs. Han’s family say the religious leader is not in excellent health and that her detention by South Korean authorities may be making her condition worse.
“It’s very painful to me to imagine that you could have a government of South Korea that would have an 83-year-old woman, Dr. Hak Ja Han, 83 years old, going blind, with real difficult problems with her life. So she’s literally crawling, sleeping on the floor,” Mr. Gingrich said.
Prominent Christian pastor released
Mr. Son, the prominent Presbyterian minister in South Korea, frequently used his pulpit to criticize the actions of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s government. Mr. Son’s arrest in September on charges of violating South Korea’s Public Official Election Act alarmed those already concerned about the country’s legal actions against the Unification Church.
Mr. Son was sentenced to six months in prison Friday after a detention of almost five months. The sentence was suspended for one year, allowing his release.
His arrest caught the attention of Vice President J.D. Vance, who expressed concern over Mr. Son’s well-being during a White House meeting late last month with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, according to South Korean media.
After his release, Mr. Son thanked the vice president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for drawing attention to his case. He also thanked the “10,000 American pastors who helped secure my release,” according to The Chosun Daily.
Pastor Paula White, senior adviser to the White House Faith Office, praised the efforts of U.S. officials in raising awareness of Mr. Son’s case.
“I was so proud of the team and Vice President Vance, who made very clear lines that religious liberties must be enforced, and we saw the release of pastor Son,” Ms. White said during remarks at the religious freedom conference. “This persistence reminds us that when people of God and people of conscience stand together, chains can break and freedom will prevail.”
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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