The Unification Church controls a large number of businesses around the world. In 1997 David Bromley, a sociologist at
Virginia Commonwealth University, said: "The corporate section is understood to be the engine that funds the mission of the church. The wealth base is fairly substantial. But if you were to compare it to the
LDS Church or the
Catholic Church or other churches that have massive landholdings, this doesn't look on a global scale like a massive operation." The lines between the Unification Church's charities, businesses, religious activities, and related organizations is blurred with money and goods flowing between them. Money is in general believed to flow from East Asia to the United States although these flows are opaque. In the 1990s One Up Enterprises Inc. was the Church's primary American holding company. Business are owned by the Church through arcane corporate structures with many ultimately controlled by the holding company Unification Church International Inc. • The International Association for Peace and Economic Development (IAED) was created and operates as one of the specialized UPF organizations.
Automotive Pyeonghwa Motors is an
automobile manufacturer based in
Seoul, South Korea, and owned by the Unification Church. It is involved in a
joint-venture with the North Korean
Ryonbong General Corp. The joint venture produces two small cars under license from
Fiat, and a
pick-up truck and an
SUV using
complete knock down kits from Chinese manufacturer
Dandong Shuguang. Pyeonghwa has the exclusive rights to car production, purchase, and sale of used cars in North Korea. However, most North Koreans are unable to afford a car. Because of the very small market for cars in the country, Pyeonghwa's output is reportedly very low. In 2003, only 314 cars were produced even though the factory had the facilities to produce up to 10,000 cars a year. Erik van Ingen Schenau, author of the book
Automobiles Made in North Korea, has estimated the company's total production in 2005 at not more than around 400 units.
Health care • Cheongshim Hospital, Korean hospital. • Ilhwa Company, South Korean based producer of
ginseng and related products. • Isshin Hospital, Unification Church sponsored hospital in Japan which practices both modern and traditional Asian medicine.
Manufacturing In South Korea the
Tongil Group was founded in 1963 by Sun Myung Moon as a
nonprofit organization which would provide revenue for the Unification Church. Its core focus was manufacturing but in the 1970s and 1980s it expanded by founding or acquiring businesses in pharmaceuticals, tourism, and publishing. In the 1990s Tongil Group suffered as a result of the
1997 Asian financial crisis. By 2004 it was losing money and was $3.6 billion in debt. In 2005 Sun Myung Moon's son,
Kook-jin Moon was appointed chairman of Tongil Group.
Shipbuilding The Church owns Master Marine, a shipbuilding and fishing company in
Alabama; International Seafood of
Kodiak, Alaska; In 2011 Master Marine opened a factory in
Las Vegas,
Nevada, to manufacture a 27-foot pleasure boat designed by Moon.
Seafood The Unification Church owns
True World Foods, which controls a major portion of the
sushi trade in the US. True World Foods parent company is the corporate conglomerate
True World Group which operates restaurants and markets. It was founded in
New York City, in 1976, by Sun Myung Moon. Its first two newspapers,
The News World (later renamed the
New York City Tribune) and the Spanish-language
Noticias del Mundo, were published in New York from 1976 until the early 1990s. In 1982
The New York Times described
News World as "the newspaper unit of the Unification Church." Moon's son
Hyun Jin Moon is its chairman of the board. News World Communications owns
United Press International,
The World and I,
Tiempos del Mundo (Latin America),
The Segye Ilbo (South Korea),
The Sekai Nippo (Japan), the
Zambezi Times (South Africa),
The Middle East Times (Egypt). Until 2008 it published the Washington, D.C.-based newsmagazine
Insight on the News. •
AmericanLife TV cable television network formerly owned by the Unification Church. • The International Media Association for Peace was founded and operates as one of the peace associations of the UPF.
Real estate In the 1970s the
Unification Church of the United States began making major
real estate investments. Church buildings were purchased around the nation. In
New York State the Belvedere Estate, the
Unification Theological Seminary, and the
New Yorker Hotel were purchased. The international headquarters of the church was established in
New York City. In
Washington, D.C., the church purchased a church building from
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in
Seattle the historic
Rolland Denny mansion for $175,000 in 1977. In 1991
Donald Trump criticized Unification Church real estate investments as possibly disruptive to communities. As of December 1994, Unification Church had invested $150 million in Uruguay. Members own the country's largest hotel, one of its leading banks, the second-largest newspaper and two of the largest printing plants. In 2008 church related real estate investment partnership USP Rockets LLC was active in
Richmond, Virginia. In 2011 the church related National Hospitality Corporation sold the Sheraton National Hotel. U.S. Property Development Corporation, real estate investment
Yongpyong Resort, which hosted the alpine skiing events for the
2018 Winter Olympics and
Paralympics. == United Nations-related non-governmental organizations ==