Late Park Chung-hee’s Daughter Joins Group Wedding Ceremony
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
Late President Park Chung-hee's second daughter, Geun-ryung, 55, who made headlines by marrying a professor 14 years her junior, has had a second wedding ceremony ― a religious one this time.
Park and her husband, Shin Dong-wook, 41, a professor at Baekseok Culture University, took part in a Unification Church wedding Wednesday on the campus of Sun Moon University in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, along with 7,500 other couples from 160 countries.
The Unification Church, led by its founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, is known for its massive group wedding ceremonies.
The couple are not followers of the Unification Church. But they joined the ceremony as they were attracted to the religion for its active engagement in overseas volunteering programs and efforts for the reunification of the two Koreas.
Park was quoted by a daily as saying, ``I have longed for a life of volunteering. I came to partake in the ceremony as I have been touched by stories of Unification Church volunteers who are actively doing services overseas.''
She said she would like to take part in volunteer programs organized by the church in the future.
Shin added, ``We don't belong to the Church, but we were thrilled when it asked us to take part in the ceremony and to receive blessings from Rev. Moon.''
The couple got married last October. The bride's elder sister, Park Geun-hye, former chief of the governing Grand National Party, and brother Park Ji-man were absent from the wedding, which triggered speculations on conflict within the family.