Hyo Jin Moon

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Hyo Jin Moon (born December 3, 1962) is a musician and multimedia executive producer. He is the eldest son of 14 children of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Hakja Han Moon. For many years he was head of Manhattan Center Studios, a state-of-the-art recording facility in New York City for musicians and televised events.

Hyo Jin Moon was given a significant leadership position in the Unification movement, being made head of World CARP and given responsibility for educating the church's "Second Generation" (children of "Blessed" members).

There was a big celebration and special ceremony when he had his first son, with talk from his father about the "providential" significance of the completion of three generations. According to Korean tradition, the first son is significant, normally inheriting the position and estate of the parents. So in spite of the fact that Sun Myung Moon and Hakja Han Moon's other sons and daughters already had male and female children (and Hyo Jin already had two daughters), it was the first son of the first son that counted in establishing the three generations. Early on, there was widespread expectation among the members of the Unification Church that as long as Hyo Jin fulfilled his responsibility and reached individual perfection like his father and mother, he would inherit the mantle as the next-generation leader of the restoration of humanity.

Hyo Jin, however, had long-term problems with substance abuse, violent behavior, and extra-marital sex. Even pre-marital sex is strictly prohibited by Rev. Moon's teachings, normally requiring a purification period of several years. At age 19 he was married to a 15-year-old bride, Nansook Hong, picked for him by Sun Myung Moon, who bore him 5 children. Throughout their 14 years of marriage there was a continuous problem with the issues mentioned above, including cocaine addiction and physical abuse, according to Hong.^[1] Hyo Jin was torn between his being the "son of the messiah" and his love for hedonism. According to Hyo Jin's former assistant Madelene Pretorious, his predicament was made worse when:

He learned, apparently from a family member in 1992, that the long-denied accounts of Rev. Moon's sexual rites with early female initiates were true. "When Hyo Jin found out about his father's 'purification' rituals, that took a lot out of wind out of his sails," she said. In late 1994, during conversations in Hyo Jin's suite at the New Yorker Hotel, "he confided a lot of things to me," Pretorious continued. Hyo Jin had discovered, too, that Rev. Moon had fathered a child out of wedlock in the early 1970s. Moon arranged for the child to be raised by his longtime lieutenant Bo Hi Pak, Pretorious said. The boy - now a young man - had confronted Hyo Jin, seeking recognition as Hyo Jin's half-brother. Pretorious said she later corroborated the story with other church members.^[2]

Fearing for her safety and that of her children, Hong fled the multi-million dollar Moon compound in 1995 with her children, and filed for divorce. In 1998 Hong wrote a book, In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family (ISBN 0-316-34816-3), documenting not only her husband's excesses, but the enabling of his addiction, lack of closeness, neglect, and other aspects of poor parenting on the part of his parents (who are primarily referred to as "The True Parents" within the Unification Church).

Judge Edward M. Ginsburg ruled that Hyo Jin pay $8,500 alimony and child support as well as $65,000 for Nansook's legal fees. When Hyo Jin failed to pay the legal fees, he was held in contempt of court and jailed. Later his legal team produced evidence that 3 weeks after his jailing he was cut off from the $84,000 a year he had been receiving from the Swiss-based "True Family Trust," and that he had lost his $60,000 job running the Manhattan Center for health reasons. Hyo Jin claimed he had run out of money and declared bankruptcy, though in the bankruptcy deposition on November 15, 1996, he confirmed that he had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash at the Manhattan Center (that was not reported as taxable income).

Hong describes many times when Hyo Jin Moon's parents would give him large amounts of cash. In her affidavit:

"On one occasion, I saw Hyo Jin bring home a box about 24 inches wide, 12 inches tall and six inches deep. He stated that he had received it from his father. He opened it. It was filled with $100 bills stacked in bunches of $10,000 each for a total of $1 million in cash! He took this money and gave $600,000 to the Manhattan Center, a church recording studio that he ostensibly runs. He kept the remaining $400,000 for himself. ... Within six months he had spent it all on himself, buying cocaine and alcohol, entertaining his friends every night, and giving expensive gifts to other women.”

According to a Boston Globe article dated December 20, 1997: "Nansook Hong will retain sole legal and physical custody of their five children, three girls and two little boys who have not seen their father for almost two years because of his failure to meet the court's sole requirement for visitation: a clean drug test."

According to the teachings of Unificationism, a lasting marriage blessed by the messiah Sun Myung Moon is eternal. In Nansook Hong's case, however, after it became clear that she was not coming back, and five months after she published her "tell all" book in 1998, Hyo Jin remarried.

At age 36, Hyo Jin Moon married Yun Ah Choi, in a marriage ceremony arranged by Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon. Together, Hyo Jin and his wife are raising four young children of their own.

Now Hyo Jin Moon dedicates his efforts to supporting projects which contribute to creating a positive influence on the culture, especially for young people and families. He still plays electric guitar and performs in live concerts.

In July of 2006, Hyo Jin Moon travelled to Africa together with his mother, Hakja Han Moon, where he delivered public addresses in several nations, as part of a 180-city world peace tour. As a prodigal son, his parents and brothers and sisters still regard Hyo Jin as being a member of the "True Family."