Chambumo Gyeong - 376. Father visits his birthplace
After receiving an official invitation from the North Korean government, True Parents arrived in North Korea on November 30, 1991. This was True Fathers first visit to North Korea after an absence of 40 years and 11 months. He met his surviving relatives at his hometown of Jeongju on December 5. Father said that his birthplace will be a holy ground to which people of the world will make pilgrimages. His visit to North Korea greatly interested both local and foreign mass media. At the farewell ceremony held at the guest house in Seojaegol, Pyongyang, on December 6, Father emphasized that true love is the driving force behind unification, as he explained that "love is thicker than blood." 1 We flew to my hometown in North Korea in two helicopters. The 70-mile trip took only 40 minutes. We landed at a schoolyard and drove to my old house. The road was paved so nicely that cars could travel on it. I was told that it took them ten days to pave the road for my visit. The level of preparation they made for me was on a par with the level they would have made for Kim Il-sung. They took meticulous care and put much effort into covering my parents' graves with good sod and placing gravestones with words carved in red. When we went to the house where I had once lived, I discovered they had also repainted it entirely, probably upon orders from Kim Il-sung. The interior had an earthen floor, as do most traditional Korean houses, buttressed with rocks stacked strongly around it, finished up with cement. The yard was covered with sand. They had done a wonderful job. They were like Esau trying to serve his younger brother Jacob as a king. (226-119, 1992/02/02) 2 I asked Kim Il-sung to open up my hometown so that Jeongju can welcome people from around the world to visit and participate in workshops. This is the heart with which I visited Kim Il-sung. No amount of opposition could suppress this. When heaven casts its net of righteousness, it catches everything that is not in accordance with the heavenly principle. That is why they placed gravestones on my parents' graves and covered them with good sod. It was none other than Kim Il-sung himself who ordered that this be done. He told his people to pave the two-lane road leading to my hometown, and they even paved an asphalt road to my parents' graves. His hospitality was greater than that of Esau when he was welcoming Jacob. Why is the Esau of Korea greater than the Esau of Israel? It is because the Israelites were the first chosen people, the formation stage. Christianity was the Second Israel, at the growth stage; however, America never even dreamed of developing my hometown as a holy ground. Because Kim Il-sung did this, North Korea possesses the authority as the people of the Third Israel. (225-314, 1992/01/26) 3 During my meeting with Kim Il-sung, he asked me, "Reverend Moon, you went to your birthplace, right?" When I answered, "Yes" and thanked him for it, he told me, "That place will one day be a famous site. I'll take care of everything." When he said that, the people next to him responded, "Yes, we understand, Mr. President!" The words of Kim II-sung carry a lot of weight, as weighty as the words of God. I added a rider to his promise, though. I told him to turn it into the hometown that I used to live in when I was a boy. I gave them directions as to what to put where and how to make it in such and such a way. If they do this, it will become a pilgrimage site for Unification Church members across the world, who will vividly see and feel the things of the past that I have talked about. (226-120, 1992/02/02) 4 When I visited North Korea, my family and even distant relatives came to greet me. I did not say a word. They wanted to greet me and hold me, and did not want to let me go, but I kept silent because I knew how the communist world works. Why would I not say how thrilled I was to see my older and younger sisters again? It is because everything I said would have to be reported to the superior authorities. If the words of my younger sister and the words of my older sister were different, they would both be in trouble. But how could they give the exact same report? My nephews and everyone who was present had to give a report. Should any of their reports be different from the others, they would find themselves in serious trouble. They would be accused of lying and, as a result, I would be banned from North Korea and they would lose their lives.
In North Korea, the entire family must report. Husbands, wives, everyone from kindergartners to grandparents report to different offices. Having said that, if people in the same family write identical reports, that poses a problem, too. They can be accused of collaborating on the reports, and be bound hand and foot. Theirs is a world where you cannot speak freely even though you have a mouth, and where a slip of the tongue can spell trouble. (237-305, 1992/11/17) 5 I lost my hometown; I lost all there was in North Korea. Even though I know that my father and mother met a tragic end, I have to love Kim Il-sung, thanking him for protecting my parents. I am not oblivious as to how their lives ended. How miserable it was! Standing in front of my mother s grave, do you not think I would weep bitterly? Though bearing inexpressible grief, I was in pain, using all my energy to keep myself from bursting into tears, because I did not want my enemies to see me wailing. I still remember I had to bite my tongue and fight back tears, because I did not want people to report that Reverend Moon came to North Korea just to visit the graves of his mother and father. Until all the problems are resolved naturally, I will devote myself to the reunification of Korea. (394-055, 2002/10/06) 6 My older and younger sisters com pletely broke down in tears when I went to my parents' graves in North Korea. "Father! Mother! The son that you've been waiting for so long has finally returned. He is here," they cried. Anyone who was there listening to their cries, amid such tragedy, could not help but weep too. However, I did not go there as a son with the family name of Moon, but rather as the leader who can bring about the unification of Korea. Look at the countless graves! There are many who have died unimaginably tragic deaths. So I could not shed tears just for my own suffering parents.
As I saw my sisters burst out crying, I prayed, "Honored father and mother, I am sorry. I cannot cry, because I came here as a public person. When I come here after unifying Korea, I will fulfill my duty as a filial son and take responsibility for your graves. I will attend you after I build the unified kingdom where I can attend God and convey His blessing to all people." (304-073, 1999/09/10) 7 My mother loved me dearly. Everyone in my family knew that my mother loved me more than she loved anyone else. My older sister knew that I, her younger brother, was the most beloved, and my younger sister knew that I, her older brother, was the most beloved. Such a mother met her end while yearning to see her beloved son one last time. I believe that the North Korean government did wicked and terrible things to her. And I went to save North Korea, the country which did such things. (311-072, 1999/08/19) 8 My mother was truly pitiable. Out of the 13 children she bore, five passed away, and she raised eight of us. Among her children, she loved me the most. She would do anything for me, but I was never able to buy her a pair of socks or even a handkerchief. She did not perform any noteworthy deeds in her lifetime, but at the end of the providence of restoration, I will make known how much merit she deserves because of the way she lived for me. That is why, even though it is truly heart-breaking, I continue this work until that day comes. I can still remember how she cried at the top of her lungs, shedding a waterfall of tears, her nose running, because she felt terrible about something I had done. As I stood in front of my honored parents' graves in North Korea, I felt I was truly an un-dutiful son. From a secular viewpoint, I would be considered unfilial. (312-144, 1999/10/14) 9 All of you want to go to my hometown. I was very disappointed when I visited there in 1991. There were trees in the mountains 50 years ago, and I used to be able to hear the howling of wolves. But there is not even one tree left. I was stricken to look at the barren scenery. I thought to myself, "Maybe it would have been better if I had not come at all." Looking at my town that has gone through such a change, my impressions of the past suddenly left me. In general, people can erase memories of the past when they have more beautiful environments in the present. But the fact is, because my images of the past were more beautiful than the present, the more I tried to erase them, the more vividly those images came back. So when I go back to my hometown, I have a plan to gather the young Unification Church soldiers and elite troops from around the world and rebuild my hometown to its original state, the way I remember it. (227-134, 1992/02/11) |