Business Interests
The Unification Church's business holdings include the UPI, The Washington Times, and the Tongil Group, one of the largest South Korean business groups or chaebol with business interests world-wide. The church is the largest owner of U.S. sushi restaurants and in the Kodiak region of Alaska, it is the area's largest employer. The church owns the only automobile manufacturing plant in North Korea, Pyeonghwa Motors, and is the second largest exporter of Korean goods.
In 1989, Moon became the largest foreign investor in China In 1989, Moon founded Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, the most successful soccer club in Korean football, having won a record 7 league titles, 2 FA Cups, 3 League Cups, and 2 AFC Champions League titles.
In the 1990s, Moon's ownership of major business enterprises, including The Washington Times, the United Press International, and Pyeonghwa Motors was noted in the media. A small sampling of Moon's possessions included computers and religious icons in Japan, seafood in Alaska and ginseng in Korea, huge tracts of land in South America, a recording studio and travel agency in Manhattan, a horse farm in Texas, and a golf course in California.
In 2004, Moon held an opening ceremony of the largest helicopter manufacturer in Asia, with 500 VIPs participating, namely Washington Times Aviation; the company produces Sikorsky helicopters on sub-contract basis. Moon traveled worldwide in his private jet which cost $50 million, The same year, Moon launched $ 1.5-billion construction project of 70-story twin skyscrapers in Seoul; a year later he bought an area of 46,000 m² in Seoul for the construction of skyscrapers. Currently the project is under construction and scheduled to be completed by 2013.
In 2011, construction of $18 million Yeosu Expo Hotel was completed; the hotel located at Moon-owned The Ocean Resort in Yeosu, the venue of the Expo 2012. The opening ceremony was attended by the governor of the relevant province. Another one, The Ocean Hotel, was completed in February 2012. Moon-owned Yeongpyeong Resort, The Ocean Resort and Pineridge Resort are scheduled to host the Expo 2012, 2018 Winter Olympics and Formula 1. Moon also managed the FIFA-accredited Peace Cup. FIFA itself has funded more than $2m for Peace Cup since 2003.
Read more about this topic: Sun Myung Moon
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