Rally for “Mother of Peace” amid snowstorm in NYC
On February 22nd, Manhattan Family Church organized a small demonstration in New York City’s Times Square to support Dr. Hak Ja Han amid her ongoing detention in South Korea. Dr. Hak Ja Han is currently on trial for bribery in South Korea, and despite being 83 years old and having ongoing medical issues, she remains in stark conditions, held in isolation in a tiny cell.
Hak Ja Han and her late husband, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, despite having a deeply anti-communist religious perspective, have been recognized by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as key international friends. The Unification Church invested millions of dollars into North Korea during the 1990s, setting up a state-run car manufacturing corporation and constructing hotels. Rev. and Mrs. Moon were also outspoken in their advocacy of building a tunnel connecting the United States to Russia via the Bering Sea.
Rev. Dasse Diari, born in Mali, emphasized Mrs. Moon’s work promoting agriculture and food production. Speakers of South American, Filipino, Japanese, and Korean descent also emphasized what Mrs. Moon’s life and work mean to them and why they are pained by her ongoing persecution.
At the rally on February 22nd, Center for Political Innovation founder and director Caleb Maupin spoke. He said:
“My name is Caleb Maupin. I’m with the Center for Political Innovation. I just want to reflect for a moment about the tragedy that Dr. Hak Ja Han is locked away right now, facing these false charges, because this is a time when the world needs her the most.
Yes, they need her in the Middle East right now, and they need her message of peace and reconciliation. Yes, they need her. They need her in Eastern Europe right now, and they need her message of peace and reconciliation. They need her in Asia right now and in the Pacific, and they need her message of peace and reconciliation. The world is crying out for the work that she has done — to bring people together, to bring nations together, to bring forgiveness and reconciliation.
And I think about what she was able to help happen on the Korean Peninsula when President Donald Trump, in his first term, was able to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. And I think about how, if she were not in a prison cell right now facing these charges, she could be helping us work toward the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
Because North Korea and Russia are very close, that process is deeply tied in with peace in Ukraine — getting a resolution to the conflict that can end the killing there. All over the world, people are crying out for her message. And that is why she must be released.”