Home > National > Social Affairs

Unification Church to defy order in Japan to dissolve with mass wedding

Published: 08 Apr. 2025, 21:40 Updated: 08 Apr. 2025, 21:59

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

A Family Federation for World Peace and Unification joint wedding ceremony held for 7,200 couples on Oct. 10, 2010 [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The Unification Church will stand strong against the "religious oppression" of the Japanese judiciary and marry off 5,000 couples this weekend, the Korean church's leader said Tuesday.

The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, colloquially known as the Unification Church, was ordered last month to dissolve in Japan by the Tokyo District Court due to its "extensive and continuous" problems, according to an AP report.

The order was put forward by the Education Ministry of Japan in 2023 over its "manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families," according to the report.

A dissolved religious organization can continue its activities, just without tax benefits.

The Japanese branch of the church appealed the decision, according to an NHK report on Monday.

Hwangbo Guk, leader of the Seoul branch of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, colloquially known as the Unification Church [FAMILY FEDERATION FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNIFCATION]

The Seoul branch held a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, calling the decision "the result of political and national intentions."

"There is no interpretation of a nation's push to dissolve a religious organization other than as religious oppression," the church's Seoul leader, Hwangbo Guk, said in a statement.

"The dissolution of a religious organization leads to an infringement on people's constitutional rights. We seriously doubt whether the Tokyo District Court has properly considered the right to religion, which is clearly stated in the Constitutional Law of Japan."

The church said it will hold an opening ceremony for its Cheonwon Palace museum on Sunday and hold a joint wedding for 5,000 couples the day prior as a celebration.

A Family Federation for World Peace and Unification joint wedding ceremony held for 7,200 couples on Oct. 10, 2010 [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The couples have gathered from 90 countries, according to the Unification Church. The church has been holding joint wedding ceremonies since 1961.

"We believe that our marriage movement will be a major solution to the low birthrate," Hwangbo said.

In 2022, the assassin of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that he did so because his "family fell apart after [his] mother gave large sums of donations to the Unification Church."

The church's fundraising and recruitment tactics came to light in Japan, leading to the lawsuit.

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]