Unification movement status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Unification movement The Unification movement or Unificationism, also called the Unification Church (UC), is a worldwide new religious movement. Its members are colloquially called "Moonies". It was officially founded under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea, in 1954, by Sun Myung Moon, a Korean religious leader also known for his business ventures and engagement in social and political causes. In 1994 the HSA-UWC was replaced by Moon with a new organization, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU). The
Sun Myung Moon World Peace Academy, an organization founded by Moon, sponsored a conference in Geneva to debate the theme "The situation in the world after the fall of the communist empire." In April 1990, Moon visited the Soviet Union and met with President Mikhail Gorbachev. Moon expressed support for the political and economic transformations under way in the Soviet Union. At the same time the Unification Church was expanding into formerly communist nations. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, some American conservatives criticized Moon for his softening of his previous anti-communist stance. In 1991, Moon met with Kim Il