#sang chul

[saszor]

face equality week 2023

[Image description: Drawing made for facial equality week. There is text reading 15-19 may on the side. In the upper row of characters, there’s a Black trans woman smiling; she has CNIV palsy and many birthmarks. Next is a white girl looking nervous, she has an orbital cleft scar. To her right is a boy with colorful hair, no arms and a bilateral cleft lip. In the center of the image is a little person with a downturned mouth and a back brace. On the right is a masculine woman with a burn scar on her face. Behind her is a person grinning with a scar going across their face. They have no eyes. In the bottom row there is a couple; a guy with a craniofacial condition smiling while holding hands with a tattooed woman with DS. Next to them is a man with parts of his skull missing and facial palsy. Half of his face is smiling. On the right is a couple walking; a Black person with NF1 using a white cane, excitedly talking to an Asian person with birthmarks using a rollator. Below, a Black girl with a skin condition is holding hands with a guy without an eye. Background is yellow. End description.]

sorry for not posting i haven't been using tumblr at all the past [long time] and face equality week is technically over but still on in my heart. I posted a thread on twitter recently about my thoughts regarding face difference rep in media as someone who was born with a cranial nerve defect.

for the few people interested in face equality (topic very important to me. i think you can tell by looking at the people in my art) i recommend this by face equality international it discusses tropes stereotypes and damage of ableist portrayals in media. especially read if you write/draw/make media yourself.

[stuff-diary]

Mr. Plankton

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2024

Mr. Plankton (2024, South Korea)

Director: Hong Jong Chan

Writer: Jo Yong

Mini-review:

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mr. Plankton was my most anticipated k-drama of the year. And, while I liked quite a few things about it, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed. For starters, both the plot and the tone are kind of all over the place. There was a lot of potential in this story, but I think the writer didn't know where to put the main focus. Also, the male lead is rather unlikeable, to the point that not even Woo Do Hwan's immense charisma can fully save him; he's definitely an interesting character, but sometimes it gets hard to root for him, especially during the first half. Still, the entire cast delivers powerful performances and the show's sense of humor is pretty funny, so the whole thing ends up being a highly entertaining experience. It wasn't the life-changing drama I expected it to be, but I enjoyed going on this crazy trip with these characters.

P.S. I used this random poster cause the official one is ugly AF.

[whenlovetriestoleave]

kiss of life by back sang chul for the star magazine jan '24

[kakashi-fangirl-ita-blog]

Bonjour guys, look at this beautiful family tree I made💅

The fact that Sang-Chul and Kousuke look almost identical except for the hair color has ALWAYS bothered me- like- WHY ARE THEIR EYES SO SIMILAR??? AND THEIR SKIN TONE?? AND ALSO THEIR EYEBROWS EXCEPT FOR THE COLOR?? The way their jaw is so morbid(??) compared to Nol and Rand's???

I can't think of Kousuke being the son of that🤢 man🤮 like- he's the son of both Yui and Young-Chul?? DUDE, HOW UNLUCKY CAN YOU BE.

Caption on the left: "I don't think that Sang-chul is Yui's son though"

Caption on the right: "The problem is that... It would make so muh sense"

[bluespiritshonour]

Taxi Driver kdrama does the vigilante shit better than Batman comics ever did.

[inpursuitofnunchi]

Jo Han Chul is truly the best kdrama dad, isn't he?

[thenoonachronicles]

Duty After School squad.

Did you like the ending?

[binging-asian-dramas]

Alchemy of Souls. Season 1-2 7/8

Story: 7

Acting: 10

Chemistry: 6-10

Comparable to: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (kdrama); Ever Night (cdrama)

Oof this is such a hard one to judge. In some aspects I totally love this and other aspects I wanted to throw my remote at my screen. I was more of a season one was ten times better then then season two type of person. For one thing different female leads. Who in their right minds decides to write out Jung So Min and cast someone different! Don’t get me wrong, Go Young Jung is an okay actress, but when you have already shot 20 episodes of a drama with a character and an actress who had an amazing chemistry with the main lead it’s hard to replace it with someone new. Nevertheless that was strike one for me, strike two was the change of pace of everything, it felt draggy and repetitive, the tired old cliche memory loss trope didn’t help either. I did watch season 2 just with the fast forward button, since season one was amazing and I wanted to see how everything would be wrapped up. Was I disappointed slightly, yeah slightly, but overall it was still not bad, season one left a pretty darn good impression.

[passionforfiction]

Alchemy of Souls (Part 1 & 2)

This is definite another favorite of mine; right next to Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Alchemy of Souls & Alchemy of Soul: Light and Shadow tell the story a young group of mage who have to fight against the greed of soul shifters and the sorcerous that conjure the spell. The story has a perfect balance of humor, action, romance, and suspense in a beautifully threaded plot.

The story begins with Naksu, a powerful female assassin, who wants to avenge the murder of her father as she follows her master's orders. And Jang Ok trying to unlock the power within him in his quest to becoming the mage everyone is trying to prevent him to become because of the truth of his birth. These two meet when Jang Ok has left his last master and she has shifted to the body of a blind girl in order to escape death. But she is no longer the powerful mage she had been, now that she is trapped in this body and in order to regain her power, she accepts becoming Jang Ok's master disguised as servant.

These two lives are entwined in a tangle of intrigue, misunderstanding and friendships that are strengthened and forged as Naksu as Mu Deok and Jang Ok walk the challenging terrain to make Jang Ok reach the highest level of a mage.

I fell in love with the characters, their personalities, their struggles and feelings. The end of the first part broke my heart.

The second part starts 3 years after Mu Deok's death and Jang Ok's returning from the afterlife with the ice stone. Jang Ok who is surrounded by shadows, and the pain of losing the love of his life, has become the most powerful mage and carries the responsibility of destroying soul shifters. Meanwhile, the two souls that had co-existed in Mu Deok's body are now enclosed in Naksu's body. But this time, both souls have lost their memories and powers and are imprisoned in the Jinyowon household. It is through Jin Bu Yeon's interaction with Jang Ok and the others that she slowly regains her powers and memories. In this last part, the youth come together to defeat the greed and selfishness of the king, queen, and everyone who sought to gain power through the alchemy of souls and the ice stone.

This series was definitely worth the wait! I recommend it to everyone. I will be thinking about this story for a long time. I know I will be watching this one multiple times.

[faraige]

ok so my two cents on what I'd like to see/my theories for Além do Guarda-Roupa (My Magic Closet/A Través del Espejo) season 2 in case it happens:

First of all, Carol explains the whole Fever Kiss Mistake asap and Kyung believes her (after the ending I don't think it would make sense for him not to). She wanted to fix that mess before they closed the portal and with her progress after they did I don't think she'd chicken out this time around.

Chul and Dieguinho’s relationship!! Dieguinho’s father grumpily learning to accept his son and Chul being a part of it as his boyfriend!! His father being hard on Chul at first until he sees how strong, fit and agile he is and ending up bonding over sports and how much they care about Dieguinho!!

Mok and Nayara being the absolutely amazing team they have proven to be before and just being the absolute MVPs in their job of helping the rest of the team in whatever the hell they do.

Onto more Plot Heavy things: Everyone gets an Emergency Meeting so Luisa doesn't sell tickets to Carol's room to pay for her mother's treatment. This could lead to an ultimatum to get her the money or else she's doing whatever it takes to save her mother. Here they could do parallel plans:

seeing how the guys can't simply send the money to Carol or Luisa directly without getting A LOT of eyes on them, maybe Mok and Chul work with Nayara to rally the fans somehow (make the cafeteria an event point for something without the band having to break the k-pop history of not going to Brazil? Idk enough about k-pop to know what could be believable, tbh).

Carol goes find her father to ask for the famed money. The way they wrapped up that storyline in the ending felt complete to me, seeing how she could let go of the guilt about what happened to her mother after her own father wrote to her that it wasn't her fault, nor the accident nor him leaving, and it could be closure enough for her. Still, they left the door open for her to go find him if she wanted or needed to, which could be a great way for her to reconnect with her South Korean heritage, visit Seoul and spending time with Kyung as her guide. Seeing that journey could also open the wound Kyung carries from his childhood about his mother abandoning him and start to heal it, although I don't feel that's necessary, even if it could be interesting. Plus, both Carol and Kyung being lovey-dovey around Seoul could stir some drama the same way sightings of ACT in Brazil did in S1.

Carol uses the money she wins on the competition, which should be for her to be able to dance without a worry in the world, but we know that’s not how this kind of stories usually go. She could get in a lot of trouble if she gave that money to Luisa, so either she gives her the money and has to make it back before the wrong people notice, but at least her aunt gets more time, or it’s a last resort plan that they save in case of it being necessary. Not very sure how this could thing could go because I don’t know anything about ballet or its world aside from it looking pretty, but I feel Carol’s dream when it comes to ballet mixing with the harsh reality paralleling the idols' carrer struggles could be very interesting. (Maybe the group “hires” her as a collaboration with the ballet institution that did the competition and ImpACTades? Idk!).

The Whole Dae Ho Thing. There's a lot to unpack there, because if the show had a villain at all (aside from the company that created ACT and their manager), Aunt Rebeca was it for most of the time, seeing how she was the Evil Stepmother in this Cinderella story, even if at times it felt like Dae Ho could toe the line if he wanted to, but firmly staying a "white swan". Still, by the end of the last episode one could argue that he did end up crossing that line, stealing Kyung's credit and following every single agency order, even if apparently he felt bad about it.

The same way Carol's arc in S1 followed themes of letting go and accepting and embracing herself fully through her friends, Dae Ho doesn't have that through the season at all. It's almost the contrary, almost accepting himself as a tool to others and losing himself in the process, so S2 could explore how broken and barely holding on he is and how he needs to break down the pieces to rebuild himself better and more loyal to himself and those he loves in a harsh, injust world.

Honestly, there's A LOT that could be said about Dae Ho and his development through the season and what it could mean for him going forward, but because the group has to stay together and working successfully in order for them not to get evicted and losing the portal, they have to resolve it internally and quietly (their manager is probably gonna make things incredibly more difficult). Therefore, I expect and lot of Mok and Chul hijinks to cover up whatever's going on.

Kyung doesn't care about being the leader or about recognition (his credit is his tho, even if he doesn't care as much as he would have once), but Dae Ho lost his trust even after they both closed the portal together. I'm very, very interested in seeing how they decide to explore their life-long friendship and their possible reconciliation.

I hope there's a conversation about how Chul and Mok weren't told about the closing of the portal, but I'm not holding my breath.

Ok! I honestly have a lot more thoughts that I initially believed, but I needed to get them out of my system!

[stuff-diary]

D.P. (Season 2)

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2023

D.P. (Season 2, 2023, South Korea)

Director: Han Jun Hee

Writers: Kim Bo Tong & Han Jun Hee

Mini-review:

The moment has finally come: Netflix's best Korean Original has made its return with a second season. And these two years of waiting have been more than worth it. It seemed impossible but, somehow, this new season is even better than the first one. It preserves all of its many strengths, and then it takes them to the next level. Both the directing and the writing are amazingly intense. I spent six whole hours on the edge of my seat, biting my nails to the quick, and the last two episodes left me breathless. I also loved the show's attempts at experimenting, like the musicality in episode 3 or the horror undertones in episode 4. As for the acting, is there anything left to say? This is a cast full of incredible actors, and all of them give career-best performances. This time round, Jung Hae In and Son Suk Ku are probably the MVPs, but everyone does a flawless job. To sum up, this second season blew away my sky-high expectations, and I really hope we get a third one, cause TV shows don't get better than this.

P.S. There's a lot of triggering content here, so please be careful with that. Those of you who watched the first season already know this, but I'm saying it just in case.

[whenlovetriestoleave]

kiss of life by back sang chul for the star magazine jan '24

[k-star-holic]

My Little Old Boy' Likes Sangmin, Kim Hee-chul 'My Style' on AI Profile Photography

[korelist]

ALCHEMY OF SOULS // KDRAMA DİZİ YORUMU

UYARI : Yazılar genel olarak spoiler içerebilir. İçermeyedebilir.

İmdb puanı : 8,8 Benim Puanım: 9

Drama: Alchemy of Souls (English title) / Return (literal title)

Hangul: 환혼

Director: Park Joon-Hwa

Writer: Hong Jung-Eun, Hong Mi-Ran

Date: 2022

Language: Korean

Country: South Korea

Cast: Lee Jae-Wook, Jung So-Min, Minhyun, Yu Jun-Sang, Yoo In-Soo, Hong Seo-Hui, Shin Seung-Ho, Lim Chul-Soo, Ko Yoon-Jung

Bu dizi konusu ve kalitesi açısından diğer dizilerden sıyrılıp ön plana çıkmayı başarıyor. Öncelikle dizide mantıksızlıklar ya da yaptım olduculuk yoktu. Hotel Del Luna yazarlarından yine ortak bir çalışma olarak karşımıza çıkan bu dizide aynı mantık ile hikaye oluşturulmuş. Bir dünya yaratılmış, o dünyanın kuralları ve mekaniği belirlenmiş. Hikaye örgüsü bu mekaniğin üzerinde yürütülmüş. Bu nedenle de kendi mantığını kendi yaratıyor.

Dizi iki kısım olarak yayınlandı. İki kısmın birbirinden en büyük farkı ise başrol kadın oyuncu. Cesur bir karar verip dizinin yarısında başrol değiştirmek herkesin alabileceği bir risk değil. Çok net söyleyebilirim; altında da kalkılmış. Fantastik bir dünyada kurgusal bir ülkede geçen dizi bizi bekliyor. Farklı yeteneklere sahip ailelerin hakim olduğu, yuvarlak masa şövalyeleri gibi bir konsey tarafından yönetilen bir şehir ile diziye giriş yapıyoruz. Bu dünya da büyü ve ruhlar alemi sıradan bir şey. Herkesin geldiği aileye göre büyü yetenekleri, içinde uyanmış ya da uyanmayı bekleyen bir ruh taşı var.

Her güzel şey gibi bununda olumsuz bir tarafı var. Dizinin kötü adam kontenjanlarının amacı da bu ruh taşlarını kullanarak beden değiştirmek. Yani 80 yaşındaki birinin ruhunu 25 yaşındaki birinin bedenine koyarak, ikinci bir hayat yaşamasını sağlıyorlar. Bu şekilde de mürit topluyorlar. Kralın sağ kolu ve baş kötü adamımız Jin Mu (Jo Jae-Yun) aynı zamanda değişik büyülü objelerin korunması ve saklanması görevini üstlenmiş olan büyük bir ailenin soyundan geliyor.

Diziyi anlatmaya neden kötü adamdan başladığımı bilmiyorum. Ama bağlayacağım. Ruh değişiminin ağır bedeller ile geldiğini de söylemeliyim. Büyük bir büyücü olan babası, ruh değiştirme konusunda yaşadıkları sonrasında doğan oğlu Jang Uk(Lee Jae-Wook)’un bütün büyü gücünü bebekken mühürler. Ve ülkeden ayrılır. Zamanında kralın sağ kolu olan bu adam, hatırı sayılır nüfusunu kullanarak diğer bütün büyük büyücülerin ve ailelerinin de bu mührü kırmayacaklarından emin olur. Aradan uzun yıllar geçer. 4 ailenin çocukları birlikte büyürler. Jang Uk büyü gücü olmadığı için hep arka plandadır. Hiç kimse onun bu mührü kırmasına yardım etmeye cesaret edememiştir. Yıllarca büyü öğretmenleri tarafından eğitim verilmesi reddedilmiştir. Mührünü kırabilecek kadar güçlenmesine yardımcı olacak bir hoca aramaktadır.

Soğuk kanlı bir katil olan ruh değiştirici Naksu (Ko Yoon-Jung), büyük ailelerden biri olan Songrim’in lideri Park Jin(Yu Jun-Sang) ile girdiği dövüş sonrasında ölümcül bir yara alır. Naksu, inanılmaz bir güce sahip bütün ülkede korkulan bir isimdir. Ruh değiştirici olduğu bilinen bu tehlikeli kız aldığı yara sonrasısı kayıplara karışır. Tam ölmek üzereyken ruhunu başka bir vücuda aktarır. Aktardığı vücut kör bir köylü kızı olan Mu-Deok(Jung So-Min)’tur. Naksu bütün büyü gücünü kaybetmiş olarak Mu-Deok’un bedenine hapsolur.

Bir şekilde yolları kesişen Jang Uk ve Mu Deok garip bir ikili olurlar. Jang Uk, Mu-Deok’un öğretmeni olmasını ister. Mu-Deok ise Jang Uk’un nüfusunu kullanarak kılıcını geri almak ister. Jang Uk, onun Naksu olduğunu fark ettiği için, eğer gücünü geri kazanırsa mührünü kırabilecek güce sahip olduğunu bilmektedir. Yalnız kaldıklarında Mu-Deok usta, Jang Uk çıraktır. Etraflarında birileri varken ise, Jang Uk efendi, Mu-Deok hizmetçisidir.

Bu şekilde hikaye başlar. Dizide salya akıtacak kadar abartılı bir romantizm, süründürecek kadar dram yoktu. İzleyici olarak çok güzel bir lüks olduğunu söyleyebilirim. İzlediğiniz şeyden keyif alıyorsunuz ve akıp gidiyor. Ama sizi sömürmüyor. Jung So-Min tek kelime ile yıkmış geçmiş. Üç farklı karakteri, şiveyi pürüzsüzce bir araya getirmişti. Daha önce onu ilk kez “Because this is my first life” dizisinde izlemiştim. O dizide de dikkat çekiciydi ama akılda kalıcı olduğunu söyleyemem. Lee Jae-Wook ise bence bu dizi ile patlamasını yapmış olabilir. Onu ilk “Do do sol sol la la sol” gibi başarısız bir dizide izlediğim için ön yargılarım vardı. Bütün önyargılarımı yıktı geçti. Songrim ailesinin varisi Park Dang-Gu rolündeki Yoo In-Soo dizide en şaşırdığım isim oldu. All of us are dead dizisinde ölmek bilmeyen akıllı bir zombi vardı. Sinirden saçımızı başımızı yolmuştuk. Bitmek tükenmek bilmeyen enerjisi ile kendisinden nefret ettirmişti. Heh işte onu almışlar, şeker gibi, bal gibi bir karaktere koymuşlar. Birkaç bölüm sonra onun o olduğunu anladım. Benim için gerçekten şok ediciydi. Ve inanılmaz takdir ettim.

İkinci kısımda ise Jung So-Min dizide bu kadar tutmuş ve patlama yaratmışken yerine orijinal Naksu karakterini canlandıran Ko Yoon-Jung diziye giriyor. Bu konu açıklandığı zaman herkes gibi benim de tepkim olumsuzdu. Oyuncunun değiştirilmesi bana son derece gereksiz ve saçma geldi. Dizinin tam ortasında karakterlere bu kadar alışmışken hiç olacak şey değil diye düşündüm. Çok büyük yanılmışım. Hatta itiraf ediyorum, Jung So-Min’un Lee Jae-Wook’dan büyük olmasının beni rahatsız ettiğini fark ettim. Ko Yoon-Jung ile yaşı yaşına uygun bir partner olarak çok daha tatlı olmuşlardı. Yeni ikilinin kimyasını görünce bir önceki çift çok çabuk ikinci plana atıldı.  Onun yanı sıra Ko Yoon-Jung’un oyunculuğu takdir edilesiydi. Esas kız rolünü kaldırdı kucakladı götürdü maşallah. Aldığı sorumluluğun bilincindeydi.

Dizinin genel havası; ilk kısımda canlı renk paletleri, eğlenceli bir atmosfer ve küçük dertler varken ikinci kısmında karanlık bir atmosfer, depresif bir hava ve daha hayati mevzular dönmeye başladı. Oyuncular da bu değişimleri çok başarılı bir şekilde sırtlandılar. Birinci kısımda da ikinci kısımda da dizinin mizah yönünü sırtlanan isim prens Go Won rolü ile Shin Seung-Ho oldu. Dizinin joker elamanı gibiydi. Tatlı sert halleri, ciddi görünen şapşallıkları diziye süper eğlence katıyordu. Dizi genel olarak bütün beklentileri karşılıyordu. Ben ekran başından oldukça tatmin olarak ayrıldım. Bütün oyuncular son derece profesyoneldi. Çekimler pürüzsüzdü. Mekanlar şahaneydi. Enerjileri, konu dinamiği ile aldı yürüdüler.

 OST:

Car, the garden  - Scars leave beautiful trace

Raven Melus

BAŞKA NELER VAR ?

FOTOĞRAFLAR

[whatisonthemoon]

On David Kim in the Inter-War Periods

▲ Pictured: Michael Warder, Young Oon Kim, and David Kim

David Kim’s Background (according to UC sources)

Kim, David Sang Chul was born on November 9, 1915 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Came to the United States, 1959.

Education

Bachelor in English Literature, Chosen Christian College, Seoul, 1939. Postgraduate, University Wales, 1954—1955. Postgraduate, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1959—1961. Postgraduate, University Oregon, 1962—1963. Master of Arts, University Oregon, 1965. Postgraduate, Pacific School Religion, Berkeley, California, 1965—1966. Doctor of Philosophy, Pacific Columbia University, 1988.

Career

Staff Chosen Rubber Industry Association, Seoul, 1939-1945. Fin assistant United States Military Government, Kunsan City, Republic of Korea, 1945-1948. Government official Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Government of Republic of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 1948-1959. Charter member Unification Church, Republic of Korea, since 1954, 1st missionary to England, 1954-1955, missionary, evangelist, 1959-1970. Counseling supervisor Clearfield Job Corps Center, Utah, 1966-1970. Founder, president, owner The Cornerstone Press (now Rose of Sharon Press), 1978-1985. Charter member, trustee World Relief Friendship Foundation, Inc. (now International Relief Friendship Foundation, Inc.), since 1974. President International One World Crusade Inc., since 1975. Founder, United Faith, Inc., Portland, Oregon, since 1970, Global Education Research and Development Fund, Inc., 1981-1996. President Unification Theological Seminary, 1974-1994. Charter member, trustee National Council Church and Social Action, 1976-1996. Advisory finance supporter Global Congress of World Religions, Inc., 1978-1996. Charter member International Religious Foundation, Inc., since 1982. Vice president Unification Thought Institute, 1989-1997. Founder, president Marriage and Family Institute American, since 1994. Chairman inauguration The Family Federation for Unification and World Peace, Netherlands, since 1996. President emeritus Unification Theological Seminary, since 2000.

David Kim's background consists of many of the UC's highest administrative, business, and evangelistic positions, as well as military and government positions, both prior to and after joining the Unification Church. 

David Kim (Sang Chul Kim) grew up descended from nobility, attending Chosen Christian College, run by western Presbyterian missionaries serving the children of Korea’s most elite families. According to David’s testimony,

I went to Chosen Christian College from 1935 to 1939. It was established by missionaries of the Presbyterian Church of America. I attended the College when I was 20 to 24 years of age, a pure virgin bachelor. I was the source of pride and envy of my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, because I was the sole heir of the entire Kim clan birthright and I was studying at an American missionary college. Even in Japanese colonial days, Chosen Christian College, along with Ewha Christian College (a women’s college established by the Methodist Church of America), were the most prestigious colleges amongst the educated Korean elite. This American missionary college produced many Korean leaders not only in the fight against Japanese domination, but also in the years following liberation from Japan in 1945.

It should be noted that it is known that this school had deep connections to the U.S. military. 

Horace Underwood II was the founding president of Yonsei University. At that time, Yonsei was called Yonhee College by Koreans and Chosun Christian College (CCC) by Americans. As the top adviser to the commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea (1945-48), he was the key person for Korea’s modernization.

From 1939-1945, he experienced relative privilege working for Chosen Rubber Industry Association. According to Kim, this was a Japanese-run company. In one account, he wrote that he was well-to-do in these years. He wrote in his testimony:

Even in Japanese colonial days, my wife and I lived well, since I was an employee of a government-controlled industrial organization. I had a good position and was well paid until the end of World War II in 1945, when Korea was liberated from Japanese domination.

Many Western-educated Japanese collaborators became U.S. assets following WWII, such as Helen Kim. 

In the 50s-70s, many of South Korea’s most wealthy and influential figures had been collaborators during the Japanese occupation, including much the political and military leadership. Many of them actively erased their past as a traitor from public memory, at times with the assistance and support of the U.S. government.

Many believe that it would be fair to describe David Kim as a Japanese collaborator during their occupation.

He, like other early Moonie missionaries, had a liaison position between the U.S. military and the South Korean government following World War II.

From 1948-1959, Kim worked for South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which undoubtedly would have had strong intelligence relations. 

When he met Moon in 1954, he wrote that he was a "third-tier rank official of the Korean national government." Kim joined the Unification Church February 1954, and the Unification Church was officially named and founded on May 1 (May Day), 1954.

Kim had even spent time in Europe after joining the church, having been sent there by his own government as a “UN scholar,” burdened with the mission of bringing the Divine Principle to European Christians:

Not long after the founding of HSA-UWC in Korea, I was selected by the Korean government to study in Britain for two years as a UN scholar, along with other under-developed nations’ representatives at Swansea College, Uni­versity of Wales. Externally I was a UN scholar, but internally I had a mission to spread True Father’s message to Chris­tians overseas and around the world.

While I was in Wales I never neglected my heavenly mission and duty. Whenever I had spare time, I vis­ited many churches and small groups to look for people, and spoke many times at churches as a guest speaker. On those occasions I would introduce our Korean group and preach based on the contents of Divine Principle, which was available only as handwritten notes exchanged among the early members. Near the end of my stay in England, I succeeded in contacting a conserva­tive Christian organization called the Apostolic Church International, which was holding a World Convention in South Wales at that time. I was allowed to speak for 30 minutes, appealing to 3,000 participants at the World Conven­tion about the situation of Teacher Sun Myung Moon, our movement and the Korean government persecution.

More articles on early UC history below

How Young Oon Kim Allegedly Recruited Bo Hi Pak

Young Oon Kim and Bo Hi Pak were both employed by the Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG)

The Moon Organization and the KCIA – ‘Privatizing’ covert action

Thoughts on South Korea (R.O.K.) - United States (U.S.) Relations

The Unification Church and KCIA: Some Notes on Bud Han, Steve Kim, and Bo Hi Pak

On Young Oon Kim’s Relationship to Butterwick

Rev. Moon Aide Concedes KCIA Sent Him $3,000 (1978)

Bo Hi Pak - Did you join the Unification Church in February 1957 or February 1958?

1964-1965: Young Oon Kim’s Missing Year

More Questions about Young Oon Kim, and What is Clear

Young-oon Kim joined, but it ended in tears and flames

Programmed to Chill - Bonus Episode 07 - the Korean War, Biological Warfare, COMINT, and MKULTRA, feat. Jeff Kaye