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Seoul, Korea - Dr. Hyung Jin Moon, the youngest son of Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, was installed as the International Chairman of the Universal Peace Federation on November 18, 2009. He succeeds Rev. Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, who served a four-year term following the inauguration of the Universal Peace Federation in New York City in 2005, and his elder brother Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, who served as co-chair from 2007.

Present at the event were the 12 UPF regional chairs as well as several of the UPF regional secretaries general or their representative, including Mwalagho Kililo (Africa), Konstantin Krylov (Russia), Amala McLackland (Asia), and Carolyn Handschin (Europe). Taj Hamad, Michael Balcomb, and Tomiko Duggan represented the UPF international staff, and Dr. Thomas Walsh, UPF Secretary General, served as MC.

“First of all, I want to warmly thank my predecessors, Rev. Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, and my brother, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, for their service to the Universal Peace Federation,” said Hyung Jin Moon in his inaugural address. “I will do my best to build upon that foundation, and today I want to invite all of you to join with me in the ongoing endeavor to build God’s peace kingdom. This is something we all must work on together.”

In his remarks, the incoming Chair focused on the challenges facing the UPF in its efforts to bring about peace among all the world’s religions and to create one family under God.

“There are many organizations working for peace,” he said, “so what is it that makes UPF different? How does our Founder say that peace will come about? It is only possible through a profound spiritual change for the entire human race.” He went on to remark that this spiritual change can take place only through the institution of the World Peace Blessing, which brings men and women of all races, creeds, and religions together in marriage that transcends all barriers.

Welcoming Dr. Moon’s call for spiritual change, Dr. Thomas Walsh said that this emphasis on the human condition was similar to the conclusions of the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld, who wrote 40 years ago, “I see no hope for permanent world peace. We have tried, and failed miserably. Unless the world has a spiritual rebirth, civilization is doomed.”

“Unfortunately, for many years, the United Nations found no place for God or spiritual resources in its deliberations,” Walsh said. “But in the last decade and in particular since the UPF Founder’s August 2000 call for an interreligious peace council at the UN, there has been a growing recognition of the need for religious resources to be brought to bear in the quest for peace.”

In his congratulatory remarks, Dr. Min Ha Kim, Chairman of the Ambassadors for Peace in Korea, expressed the hope that Dr. Moon would be able to lead the UPF to bring about the long-awaited goal of the reunification of Korea. “I have been active in this peace effort since 1991, when Rev. Sun Myung Moon met with Kim Il Sung in North Korea,” he said. “Let’s work together with our new chair to bring this effort to its conclusion."

Finally, Dr. Sun Jo Hwang, Chair of UPF-Korea, led the audience in traditional Korean cheers of “Mansei” for the ongoing success of the UPF.

Note: To read excerpts of the inaugural speech, click here. The chairman is head of UPF's Presiding Council; for information about the Presiding Council, click here.