Moonies: How a Self-Proclaimed Messiah Became a Political Powerhouse

A true crime investigation into the vast economic and political reach of the “Moonies,” the cult known as the Unification Church.

The idea that one man could be a common thread between the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, cocaine trafficking, murderous Latin American regimes, six of the last seven US presidents, and even the popularity of sushi in the West might sound like a far-fetched conspiracy theory.

Yet these all have a unifying factor: the late Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church—otherwise known as the Moonies. The eccentric leader might have spoken in celestial tones, but his real aim was nothing short of taking over the world in the here and now. Along the way, he not only became a kingmaker in South Korea and Japan, but helped transform the global order with direct influence over leaders in the United States and South America.

The Moonies is no ordinary tale of money and power, Moon and his transnational web of organizations have been linked to brutal dictators, intelligence agencies, mafia dons, and drug runners who were tied together by a hatred of communism. In addition to nefarious activities that saw his thumb firmly on the scale of the American century, Moon also established a legitimate cultural empire that included powerful media networks, a food conglomerate and weapons manufacturers.

Since his death in 2012, control of Moon’s business fiefdom has sparked a bitter succession feud within his immediate family of sixteen that is worthy of its own television series. All the while, the extraordinary reach of Moon and the Unification Church has continued to recede in the public imagination, while the network of money and influence he acquired lives on, now becoming immersed in the MAGA movement. The Moonies chronicles one man’s immense power over sectors of our lives we didn’t know had control over us.