GAPYEONG, South Korea — The Rev. Sun Myung Moon — a self-proclaimed messiah who built a global business empire and called North Korean leaders and US presidents his friends despite doing time in prison in both countries — died yesterday, two weeks after he was hospitalized with pneumonia. He was 92.
Followers of his Unification Church cherished him, but critics said he brainwashed recruits and extracted money from worshippers. He reportedly died in a church-owned hospital, his wife and 10 children at his side. Funeral arrangements were not announced.
Moon claimed in 1954 that Jesus Christ had asked him to complete his work. He gained notoriety by presiding over the mass marriage of thousands of followers whom he had matched to build a multicultural religious world.
The Unification Church claims 3 million followers, 100,000 in the US. But ex-members cap it at 100,000 total worldwide.