Unification Church party visits N. Korea

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SEOUL, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A visit to North Korea by a delegation from South Korea's Unification Church did not cover international relations, a source told the Yonhap News Agency.

The church party traveled to North Korea to receive the condolences of family members and government officials over the death this week of the church's founder, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

A church-affiliated businessman told Yonhap Moon was officially mourned in North Korea with a wreath and a commemoration for his efforts to reunify the two nations. The agenda stuck to condolences and did not touch on international issues.

"There were no discussions at all with the North regarding inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation ... or political issues," the source said.

Moon's personal ties to North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung led the church to invest in tourism and auto-making enterprises in the north. He also had extensive family ties in the north.

The Unification Church, for a time, owned United Press International, and one of Moon's sons is chairman of the UCI Group, which currently owns UPI.