The Segye Times

Mission and objectives

On February 1, 1989, True Parents founded the daily newspaper The Segye Times in Seoul. They established it as a conservative newspaper with the motto “Love Heaven, Love People, Love Your Country,” and the mission statement, “Discuss the unification of the homeland, promote the national spirit, and realize a moral world.”

The Segye Times, more than most Korean newspapers, has an international network of correspondents to cover the main regions of the world and has gained respect for its coverage of international news.

1. Many people ask, “Why would a religious leader invest a huge amount of money and take such an interest in media businesses? What is his true motivation?” The answer in a few words is that I know very well that the media has a crucial role in determining if there will be peace or war in the world.

The latter half of the 20th century has been an age when we have been virtually ruled by the media. Media power is becoming even greater than military power, with all its nuclear weapons.

When the media sparks discussion based on noble and virtuous values, it can become a standard-bearer for world peace. But when the media deceives people with irresponsible, misleading, and incendiary information, it becomes a tool for the destruction of world peace. (1989/02/22)

2. I am from Korea, and I am the founder of the Unification Church which carries out missionary work in 160 nations. The reason that I, as a religious leader, founded The Segye Times daily newspaper in my homeland of Korea is because I know very well that the media can play a vital role in building the ideal we all strive for, a world where all people live in peace and freedom.

Moreover, the media is crucial for developing a world where God's ideal of creation is realized, where true love blossoms, and where all people prosper.
(254-109, 1994/02/01)

3. The Segye Times was born and uttered its first cries in this land of Korea. The Segye Times is the symbol of free media, and we affirm before you that it will become the model of responsible journalism.

The Segye Times will shed tears for justice and will be relentless in exposing injustice. The Segye Times will transcend political parties, will not side with any single denomination, but instead will shed blood and sweat for the sake of the people, nation, and world.

In short, The Segye Times will become the pride of the Korean people and all people. The Segye Times and The Washington Times will become lofty beacons of truth in the East and the West.

They will become lights of freedom and democracy and voices of reason that distinguish clearly between truth and falsehood. The Segye Times is your newspaper. It is your voice and your representative. The Segye Times gives voice to your conscience. (1989/02/22)

4. The Unification Church strives to move God's providence forward. It yearns to save all humanity.

Although we are creating a newspaper, it will not be an organ of the Unification Church. Rather, it will be a publication guided by the Will of God.

Think of it as an organ of the historical providence with God's Will at its core, rather than as an organ of our church.

Do not have such a church-centered outlook. We must teach people every day, but the Will is global and is not solely bound to the Unification Church. This Will is the Will of God. (203-114, 1990/06/23)

5. If you listen to me, The Segye Times will develop rapidly. Journalists have their concept of how they should be, but that concept is not based on an absolute. The habitual tendencies of journalists are not what you should emulate; they are not absolute. Seek that which is absolute, but not for the sake of knowledge. In the future, to develop The Segye Times, what must we do?

What is the basic motivation driving our development? We must unite and stand together, from bottom to top. Whose company is this? It is my company. What is the common denominator I share with The Segye Times? The common denominator is a vision of reviving the nation.

This company exists for the sake of reviving the nation. Employees here need to be united as patriots working for the sake of the nation. You must do so not only with the nation in your heart but with all humanity. If you do this, everything will be accomplished. (199-220, 1990/02/17)

6. The purpose of establishing The Segye Times, as revealed in the mission statement, is to “discuss the unification of the homeland, promote the national spirit, and realize a moral world.”

From a national perspective and the perspective of humanity's cultural history, these are ideals everyone desires. In this way, I have worked according to God's Will, which is to establish a peaceful nation and peaceful world.
(254-102, 1994/02/01)

7. Our church members go from house to house at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning delivering The Segye Times while praying for the unification of Korea. Standing on the front line like that, they are showing a good example to everyone.

You should know that criticism of the newspaper pains me deeply. But look at The Segye Times' mission. The newspaper was not created to make money, and I intend to use it to scold those who make money by unethical means.

History's tradition and the path of hope can move forward only after righting these wrongs. Without doing so, our present success will not connect to the future. We have the responsibility to quickly resolve the problems of the world. Taking this on, we seek the path of life. (249-253, 1993/10/10)

8. We need to go beyond The Segye Times. The Republic of Korea's journalists should instill moral values into society. They ought to use moral principles as a sword, to quickly influence the national spirit of people who yearn for a better future.

For a journalist, using the pen for the sake of social justice is more fearful than using a sword because in a duel with swords, the victor, and loser are quickly decided, but this is not so in the case of writing on social issues.

Occasionally, we cannot judge whether arguments pro and con are right or wrong, even after centuries and millennia have passed. Therefore, in your journalism, from start to finish, you should be responsible, serious, precise, and trustworthy.

Employees of The Segye Times must become serious people, to bring together external reporting and internal moral influence. (186-138, 1989/01/31)

9. If we want to unite North and South Korea, we need to find people with hidden talents who can help make this happen. It is difficult to publish a newspaper at all, never mind one that represents all the people.

But without a newspaper, we cannot unite North and South Korea. Now we hope to publish a monthly magazine to reach each city and province. We are preparing for that. We cannot neglect this nation. I could establish a foundation of this scale only after going through indescribable hardships. I did it because I embraced heavenly principles.

This is why I cannot just leave. The Segye Times, which was established as a newspaper to present arguments on North-South unification, has to be distributed to every village you can reach. It is not a newspaper that exists to make money. (222-051, 1991/10/27)

10. We have to create an atmosphere through which North and South Korea can unite. You must take The Segye Times newspaper to every corner and every house in Korea. As people who distribute The Segye Times, you deliver the “cosmic daily news.” You go out with the daily news of love. You are envoys of the heavenly nation who are building the cozy house of love.

This is why I tell you to stay quiet even though people persecute you and slam the door in your face. If you open your mouth and argue, you cannot go back to that person a second time. By staying quiet and investing 100 percent in your mission, the rope of true love will grow thicker and thicker and those people will become like the strands that gather around you.

Through doing this, you are helping Korea to become the original homeland that the progenitors of the Korean people failed to realize. Therefore, you should remain quiet and endure, advancing silently. If you do that, you will naturally accomplish the Will. (186-113, 1989/01/29)

A responsible and moral media

True Father said, “The media should be the voice of truth and the conscience of society.” He gave instructions that The Segye Times should function as an influential newspaper that presents sound arguments.

He emphasized especially that the current world is descending into chaos due to the collapse of moral values and that the newspaper should take responsibility for guiding society.

He also said that its interaction with sister news organizations, The Washington Times and United Press International, will strengthen our international media network.

11. The character Se in The Segye Times means the world. The character is in Ilbo means day. Therefore, The Segye Times reports the world news of the day. What kind of day? A good day, not a bad day. What is a good day in Korea?

The Segye Times should praise what is good and critique what is bad. This is the right path.

You must be responsible journalists. You should take responsibility in this way and put your life on the line for this principle. (179-183, 1988/08/12)

12. As newspaper journalists, you ought to leave a legacy of positive achievements in society. What should that legacy be? How many journalists are confident enough to declare, “I took the path of righteousness in my career,” and to testify about that to their children? This is a serious matter.

The reality is that we cannot significantly or permanently move the world utilizing knowledge, money, or power.

We can move the world only with truth. Truth in the end is what moves the world. Ultimately, The Segye Times is fighting daily to establish righteousness rooted in truth. (179-191, 1988/08/12)

13. The Segye Times should be a record of the most worthwhile stories from all over the world, and it should establish a reputation that we have a high standard. From that position, you must critique issues relating to the nation, Asia, and the world.

As a journalist, you decide that certain points in a news story are key, and present them as such, but what percentage of your story will receive approval when seen through the lens of God's absolute truth?

You may have written the article flawlessly from a technical journalistic perspective, but what percentage would be flawless from God's perspective? This is where the problem often lies. Do not try to deceive your conscience.
(179-194, 1988/08/12)

14. Media organizations should establish high standards that educate society.

Presently, they are wreaking havoc in the world. Your journalists should not become like blasé university professors who care little about their students. Instead, you should take responsibility for raising young people in a way even better than you were raised yourself.

University graduates who received a great education all too typically end up falling into corruption in the workplace. Who causes this? Journalists have a great deal of responsibility.

In reporting the news, journalists seek glory for themselves and fail to think about the good of the people.

This is why I have come here to call for a responsible and godly media. Through such media organizations, we can improve society by educating our readership. (205-307, 1990/10/01)

15. The Segye Times was founded as a bastion of righteousness that should press forward boldly. How boldly should you press forward? You must press forward even more boldly than I do. Sons and daughters and descendants should be better than their forebears.

Only then can a particular family, company, or nation prosper. Therefore, you should be more tenacious and advance more forcefully than I do.

When you fight for something, you should not only put your life on the line; you should say, “Father, having put my life on the line, I put my love, health, children, money, and influence on the line, and I will press forward even more boldly than you!”

Moreover, your thoughts and actions should be one. When you do that, a new door to a world of unity will be opened. (186-154, 1989/01/31)

16. In the future, the Unification Thought Institute should become the research department of The Segye Times. Also in the future, all the newsroom executives higher than an assistant managing editor, including the editor-in-chief, managing editor, and editorial page editor, should take responsibility for guiding the nation's leaders, based on clear thinking both in public policy and theology.

Of course, it is important to write outstanding articles, but guiding the leaders of the country is even more crucial. My standards for education, exemplified in venues such as the ICUS and the World Media Conference, are preparations for this.

This standard of guidance should be instilled in the Korean media. In public schools, teaching is based on a fixed curriculum mandated by government policy. In other words, department of education regulations limit what can be taught. But the media contends with no such constraints.

Therefore, the media must operate according to a clear ideological perspective for the sake of strengthening a new direction of education. Moreover, we need to do this in light of our face-to-face confrontation with North Korea.
(186-126, 1989/01/31)

17. Our newspaper company needs to be a beacon of moral guidance. Our challenge is how to raise people who can revolutionize the entire newspaper industry in five to ten years.

This is why we have to revitalize ourselves and become moral beacons. We have to elevate the social prestige of journalists above that of professors and teachers.

With this in mind, we must develop a newspaper that deals with the issues of character education, civic virtue, public ethics, and personal morality.
(223-076, 1991/11/07)

18. More than 1,000 people work for The Washington Times, most of whom are veteran American media professionals who are respectful of my work. I dream of connecting The Segye Times with The Washington Times, of setting it up so that individuals from The Washington Times can be seamlessly exchanged with The Segye Times. I have come to realize that it is useless for The Segye Times' journalists to be just correspondents for The Washington Times. They should work as “exchange agents” and then serve as correspondents. Only then will they be able to use The Washington Times wherever they ?o.

They should not work only on their newspaper while following The Washington Times around. We also should set up a system for such exchanges with the Sekai Nippo and The Middle East in Times.

What I envision is to streamline our company so that the workforce can be balanced to provide the most substantial international coverage for all. There is a saying, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” There must be a way to have exchanges like this happen between our newspapers.

Based on this, The Segye Times will become even more hopeful, as part of a single family of media organizations under one roof, governed by a comprehensive strategy. (212-346, 1991/01/11)

19. When you write an article, you should put your reputation on the line and write it responsibly. When I started The Washington Times in America, I asked them not to follow The Washington Post or The New York Times. This was a declaration of independence. I set up a standard of autonomy.

Now, Japan's Sekai Nippo has risen to this standard. I advised The Washington Times not to increase its print run until there is greater demand. Now we have become established; many people recognize us, including the United States government.

Why is that? It is because no one can equal the quality of our coverage of local, national,l, and world affairs; we have our finger on the pulse of information. American newspapers today are all too often indirect purveyors of communist disinformation.

They have given up moral standards and run provocative articles promoting an ideology of decadence. But we are different. Let there be light in your eyes and study hard how to be independent. (179-198, 1988/08/12)

20. In the future, I plan to establish The Segye Times as an international model of journalism, a newspaper that represents Asia. It will be read all around the world just as The Washington Times is to do that, The Segye Times can translate and reprint even a large portion of The Washington Times, printed in Washington, DC. This will result in the world news section doubling in size.

The Washington Times articles from the culture section, the religion section, and the family section are especially valuable for The Segye Times. In the process, you can interphase Korea's state of affairs with America's, and the result will be a new global newspaper. (281-293, 1997/03/09)

21. The leading international wire services send correspondents to fewer than 100 countries. However, our reporters cover 180 nations. They take photos and file articles from those locations, including expert analysis, which we introduce to the Korean people.

We also have the option of including viewpoints on a story from neighboring countries. Because we have done this, Koreans learn about the world directly from our sources. We publish extensively about each nation.

If we vary the number of pages to accommodate articles about several nations at once, everyone will come to read our newspaper and lose interest in other papers. What I am saying is, we should not increase circulation merely by following the lead of other companies. (281-294, 1997/03/09)

22. The world is in a state of chaos due to a loss of values. Therefore, someone has to take a stand; this is the time we need to do this. As the communist and democratic worlds are both collapsing, who will take a stand?

There is no one but us, no one but Reverend Moon. Now the age of autonomy has come and we must stand and move forward independently. We have to thoroughly teach people about this. We must not follow others.

The Washington Times has gone this way, which is why it could achieve a global stature in such a short time. I am saying that you should not just be a follower. We must press forward boldly, standing on our principles. (203-112, 1990/06/23)

23. The Segye Times absolutely should not follow the other ten newspaper companies in Korea. When I founded The Washington Times, one of the first things I told them was not to follow what existing newspapers were doing.

From a publicly recognized position, a national newspaper can exert influence over a nation and on a nation's governance.

If you, as a newly founded newspaper, simply follow the other newspapers, you will not influence people any more than the other papers do, no matter how much you engage them. (282-178, 1997/03/12)