Korean Professors World Tour and Seminar

Betty Lancaster
March 1988

A presentation at the World Mission Center.

Betty Lancaster assisted in coordinating and hosting the tours.

January and February 1988 brought three more Korean professors' conferences to America. The Korean Professors World Tour and Seminar Nos. 3, 4, and 5, sponsored by the International Cultural Foundation (ICF) and hosted throughout by the Korean Evangelical Association (KEA), totaled 438 scholars, who came from various universities throughout South Korea. These tours were held during the universities' winter break, making it a perfect time for professors to participate. Dr. Se Won Yoon, president of Sung Hwa University and Seminary in Korea, was convenor of all three conferences.

Each tour's schedule varied slightly from last summer's two conferences.

Those began in Alaska, where the participants had a chance to go fishing with Father and receive guidance from him. This season, sunny California was chosen as the place to begin the tour. Los Angeles provided a good setting for the scholars to recover from jet lag, and it offer-4 them a relaxed opportunity for sightseeing.

At the Washington Times building, a presentation is made by Ambassador Sang Kook Han. To his left sits Dr. Morton Kaplan.

In Los Angeles, they were welcomed at a dinner hosted by Dr. Do Wan Kim, president of Korean CAUSA in America. A morning guided tour of the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) brought an enthusiastic response from each group. And of course the tour included a few hours at Disneyland, where they could get a taste of early America as well as modern and even future America. And just for a little while, perhaps, they could relax and put aside their responsibilities -- that of teaching and leading young students to become mature and et-located in a country that must quickly be stabilized and unified if the rest of the world is to know peace and unity.

After a day and a half in Los Angeles, the groups continued on by plane to Washington DC. Rev. Ho Yul Lee, national director of Korean CAUSA, along with four regional Korean CAUSA leaders, escorted the professors throughout their travels. Also supporting the tour was President David S.C. Kim of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS).

President David S.C. Kim, Dr. Do Wan Kim, and Dr. Se Won Yoon cut a cake given in honor of the professors' arrival in New York.

Educational Sessions

In Washington, the groups began more intense educational programs, which included presentations by leaders of several organizations. Speakers included Dr. Richard Rubenstein, president of the Washington Institute for Values and Public Policy, Neil Albert Salonen, president of the International Cultural Foundation, Thomas Ward, executive vice president of CAUSA International, and William Lay, vice president of CAUSA International. Through these seminars and dinner meetings, the Korean professors were enlightened about the history of communism, the moral decay of America and the world, and how we can effectively serve to resolve these problems from God's viewpoint.

The second day in Washington was spent touring the impressive premises of The Washington Times. Here they were hosted by Ambassador Sang Kook Han, senior vice president of News World Communications, along with the Times' editor-in-chief, Arnaud de Borchgrave, and its senior vice president, Dr. Ronald Godwin. Dr. Morton Kaplan, editor and publisher of The World and I, also spoke during this tour.

The professors were then transported by bus to the nearby facilities of The World and I magazine, where they were welcomed by Mr. Dong Moon Too, the associate publisher, who explained all aspects of producing this major publication every month. Mr. Joo gave the history of the magazine's founding and explained why Father sees the need for such a publication of high quality, one that encompasses every area of life, including education, current events, science, art, religion, politics, and culture. Many of the professors are not unfamiliar with

Mr. Joo. He was formerly secretary- general of the Professors World Peace Academy in Korea before coming to America. Some of the conference professors belong to PWPA, some to the International Christian Professors Association (ICPA), and others to the International Federation for Victory Over Communism (IFVOC). Most importantly, they either are or will be involved with the Citizens Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland (CFUF) in Korea.

At Atlantic Video Studios, the participants viewed several shows being filmed and as well as some commercials that Atlantic Video has produced. Mr. Jonathan Pak, the director, explained to them why this company was formed and the activities Father envisions for the near future through this medium.

A guided tour of the Library of Congress.

In addition to these main activities, there were also sightseeing tours to Capitol Hill, the White House, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institute, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Washington Monument, where Father held our famous rally on September 18, 1976.

Before departing from Washington by bus to New York City, the professors stopped to pay a short visit to the Unification Church there, where they were warmly greeted by Revs. Dennis and Doris Orme.

The professors experience Disneyland.

A Turning Point

In New York, their first evening at the World Mission Center opened with dinner, entertainment, and the presentation of a beautiful cake. Dr. Mose Durst, president of the Unification Church in America, welcomed the scholars, and Dr. Eun Woo Kim, president of the Sae Gae Times, shared with them his own testimony, interjected with a great deal of humor.

He sang for them as well.

At UTS in Barrytown, President David S.C. Kim, along with some of the faculty, staff, and students, received the groups. To some of the professors, this was indeed a turning point in their impression of our movement. According to the testimonies of many of the professors, it was here at the Seminary that they began to actually see for themselves just how ecumenical the Unification movement really is and how it embraces all religions and all cultures to work toward a more God-centered society for all mankind.

After lunch at UTS, the groups traveled down the scenic route to Tarrytown, crossing the famous Tappan Zee Bridge and viewing Belvedere from across the Hudson River. At Belvedere Mr. Peter Kim explained the history and purpose of the properties in Tarrytown. The professors walked up the lawn to see the Holy Rock before departing by bus for Manhattan.

Dr. Young Oon Kim shares her testimony with the professors.

Back in New York, Dr. Thomas Walsh gave a report of the many and varied activities generating from ICF and the International Religious Foundation. Dr. Young Oon Kim shared a moving testimony of her life of faith and her theological findings. Col. Sang Kil Han spoke to them of the importance and necessity of uniting North and South Korea from a historical point of view.

A trip to the Statue of Liberty, a visit to the United Nations, a walk through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a tour up Broadway, and a Farewell Banquet concluded the seminar.

Will their lives be the same again? Not likely. Seeing is believing, and when these invited scholars see in action the many activities and accomplishments of Father and the Unification movement in America and understand what Father, envisions for world restoration, they definitely are impressed and amazed, perhaps transformed. Many were heard to comment that Rev. Moon was a mighty man, even a superman!

They all went back to Korea with new realizations and new determination. Undoubtedly, they will work in their various districts, as the previous participants have, where they can speak out on behalf of truth and the necessity for uniting the Fatherland.

In the absence of Father and Mother, everyone on the staff made a special effort to serve and embrace the professors with True Parents' love. It is Father's desire that a total of 3,000 Korean professors come to America to participate in these tours. We shall be looking forward to summertime and their next break.