It was not an easy task. Bo Hi Pak communicated with North Korean Vice Premier Kim Dal Hyun, but North Korea’s response was #rmly in the negative.

       “!e people of North Korea know President Moon only as the ringleader of the international movement for victory over communism,” the vice premier said. “Why would we welcome the leader of a conservative, anti-communist group? A visit to North Korea by President Moon absolutely cannot be permitted.”

       Bo Hi Pak did not give up. “President Nixon of the United States was a strong anti-communist,” he reminded the North Korean official. “But he visited China, met Chairman Mao Zedong, and opened diplomatic relations between the United States and China. It was China that profited from this. Until then, China had been branded an aggressor nation, but it is now rising as the central country on the world stage. For North Korea to have international credibility, it should establish a friendship with a worldwide anti-communist such as President Moon.”

       Finally, President Kim Il Sung invited my wife and me on November 30, 1991. We were in Hawaii at the time, so we quickly $ew to Beijing. While we were waiting in the VIP lounge of Beijing Capital International Airport, which the government of China had arranged for us to use, a representative of the North Korean government came and handed us the o-cial invitation. !e o-cial stamp of the Pyongyang government was clearly visible on the document.

       “!e Democratic People’s Republic of Korea extends an invitation to Mr. Moon Sun Myung of the Uni#cation Church, his wife, and entourage to enter the Republic. !eir safety is guaranteed during the period of their stay in the North.”

       It was signed “Kim Dal Hyun, Vice Premier, Cabinet of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. November 30, 1991.”