Sun Myung Moon by the governments of both North and South Korea. Businesses he promoted included News World Communications, an international news media corporation known for its American subsidiary "The Washington Times", and Tongil Group, a South Korean business group (chaebol), as well as various related organizations. Moon was born in what is now North Korea. When he was a child, his family converted to Christianity. In 1947 he was convicted by the North Korean government of spying for South Korea and given a five-year sentence to the Hŭngnam labor camp. In 1954, he founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of
Family Peace Association on reuniting families divided between North and South. The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification was established in 1994 by Sun Myung Moon. Sun Myung Moon stated at the founding of the FFWPU that he never intended to create a new religion, but to open an age after religion where families would serve as the core of spiritual and character growth. Sun Myung Moon has even stated that the HSA-UWC, the predecessor to FFWPU which he established in 1954, was meant to foster ecumenical cooperation among Christian sects to promote families with deep spirituality and a commitment to serving