Where in Washington, D.C. is Reverend Moon?: What made 700 Moonists smash up a newsroom?

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8/23/2006

What made 700 Moonists smash up a newsroom?

Above: Cult rioters smashed their way into a South Korean news office

The last time I visited the Washington Times building, the people upstairs handed me a pamphlet for a mysterious Rev. Moon event to be held at the paper's ballroom. Headlined "Needed: A New Paradigm For News," it suggested a new world in which journalists should de-emphasize "facts" and become "guide dogs, not watch dogs." (Rory O'Connor promptly got on the case.)

Well, unhappy with the watchdogs at the Seoul newspaper Dong-A Ilbo, proponents of a new paradigm for news descended on the Ilbo newsroom yesterday, according to reports from Korea that say the Peace King's Moonie media critics stormed the building, broke windows, roughed up a CBS reporter and Ilbo photographer, smashed newsroom PCs and underscored, in 200 text messages to reporter Cho Seong-sik, that they intended to "kill" him.

The paper reports:

The incident where 700 worshippers of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) broke into the office building of this newspaper company in Chungjeong-ro the day before yesterday and damaged the property is a serious threat to the freedom of press and the right of the nation to know. It is very difficult to understand that the eight hours of violence and the production disturbance by the worshippers of FFWPU, who were discontent with the report in the September issue of Shindonga, a monthly publication of this company, with the title “Grand Dissection of FFWP Kingdom,” was a conduct by the worshippers of a religion which stress peace in the world.

The FFWPU worshippers destroyed the computers and office fixtures of the Shindonga journalists and stole the coverage documents of journalist Cho Seong-sik, the one who wrote the report concerned. They threatened to “throw sand on the rotary press of Dong-A Ilbo” and even sent more than 200 text messages to Cho’s cell phone, saying, “We’ll kill you.” Also, a photojournalist of this newspaper company Gang Byeong-gi and a CBS reporter Kim Jae-pyeong were attacked with violence and threats by the worshippers.

[...] It is almost impossible to understand that the FFWPU, which manages a number of press organizations both at home and abroad [i.e. the Washington Times and UPI -- ed.], should attempt to oppress a press report by resorting to violence.

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"John Gorenfeld: The first man on the Moon"
-- Ana Marie Cox ("Wonkette," Time.com Washington editor)

"Thanks to the superb reporting of John Gorenfeld on Salon.com and his indispensable Web page, Moon's shenanigans are routinely scrutinized. Maybe some of Gorenfeld's discernment will rub off on preachers and politicians."
-- Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist

"The scene summoned the moment in Robert Graves's "I, Claudius" when Emperor Caligula declares himself a god in the Roman Senate; a fawning solon instantly offers a prayer."
-- New York Times editorial on the Crown of Peace scandal

"I am happy that our work is being challenged and improved in consistency, openness and coordination, by the accountability your spotlight demands. I am not talking about simply removing stuff from websites..."
-- Moon spokesman the Rev. Phil Schanker

"Instead of welcoming Reverend Moon, this government put me into prison. History will reveal the truth in the future and the American government and people will realize what an evil thing they did. What will they do then? They will bow down. Again, that is the way of natural subjugation." -- Moon in 1987

"A political movement basing its appeal on old fashioned patriotism and family values simply cannot justify an alliance with a cult that preys on the disintegration of the American family and advocates allegiance to an international social order operating with cell-like secrecy."
-- Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA)