On March
22, Dr. Sang Hun Lee passed away in Seoul, Korea at the age of 84. As the President of the
Unification Thought Institute of Korea, he was attending a Unification Thought Symposium
at Sun Moon University when he became ill. He was admitted to the Joong Ang Hospital in
Seoul and passed away at about 3 a.m. on March 22. Dr. Lee’s Seung Hwa Ceremony,
under the auspices of HSA-UWC, was held on March 27.Born in 1914, Dr. Lee became a medical doctor after attending Severance Medical School in Seoul. While practicing medicine, he continued to search for truth and had many questions when he met Reverend Moon in 1956. He and his wife were among the 36 couples who were blessed in 1961.
In 1973, Dr. Lee systematized the thought of Reverend Moon into a philosophically-oriented book titled Unification Thought. This was followed in later years by Explaining Unification Thought (1981), Fundamentals of Unification Thought (1991), and Essentials of Unification Thought (1992). He was also the author of the Victory over Communism books and of The End of Communism. He also served as the honorary chairman of several ICUS committees on Unification Thought.
In his last public presentation, Dr. Lee delivered the keynote address at the International Symposium on Unification Thought at Sun Moon University under the theme “The Creation of a New Culture in the Age of the Global Village.” President Theodore Shimmyo and Dr. David Carlson, representing UTS, were privileged to hear what would be Dr. Lee’s final presentation to world scholars. Dr. Carlson reported that “Dr. Lee had not been in good health for some time leading up to the symposium and, during the delivery of his keynote address, it was apparent to the audience that he was experiencing some difficulty. Although he stoically endured the symposium proceedings on that first day, his health failed rapidly, exacerbated by a fall which resulted in his being taken to hospital. During the ensuing hours, Dr. Lee lapsed into a coma from which he did not awaken. His dedication to True Parents always consistent, Dr. Lee will be greatly missed,” wrote Dr. Carlson.
President David Kim, as Vice President of the Unification Thought Institute of America and a member of the same blessing trinity, knew Dr. Lee for more than 35 years. “When Dr. Lee’s wife passed away a few years ago,” writes President Kim, “I was surprised at the moral courage and strength of Dr. Lee. He continued his work with the same kind of dedication he had shown all along. Besides, he began to receive direct inspiration from his wife in the spirit world, which gave him even more strength and determination. And now the two of them are joined together again. And we are happy to have had such a wonderful man as Dr. Sang Hun Lee with us on this earth. We wish him all the best as he goes on to this new stage of his life. We will keep fond memories of his kind heart and sincere dedication to God and True Parents.”