Julia Moon Inaugurated as WFWPI’s New International President
Written by Tamara Starr
On March 6, 2019 Julia Moon was appointed as the new International President of WFWPI at the Universal Art Center in South Korea, replacing Professor Yeon Ah Moon.
More than a dozen women leaders and 15 members of parliament from Korea, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal were among the hundreds that attended the appointment ceremony.
A representative of WFWPI’s founder, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, read a statement from her that expressed her wishes for the NGO to develop under Julia Moon’s leadership.
“Do your best to fulfill the mission so that we can realize the dream to make all humanity as one ideal family,” Dr. Moon said in the statement. “I pray the members of WFWP and all the other women leaders can take the lead.”
After the statement was read, the WFWPI flag was passed on from Yeon Ah Moon to the newly appointed president.
The former president expressed her wish to see WFWPI to be the sovereignty for a world of true love.
“I have been honored to work actively with our [leaders and members] of WFWP for the past 10 years and it was a great blessing to receive direct guidance from [the founder],” she said.
Professor Yeon Ah Moon was presented with a plaque and flowers for her years of service with the organization.
In her inauguration address, Julia Moon expressed her hope for expanding WFWPI’s vision and mission.
“Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon is desperately working day and night to build a world of peace and I know too well how serious she is about it,” she said. “I accepted that responsibility...with the desire to lessen the heavy burden she has been carrying.”
Born in the USA, Julia received her early training at the Sunhwa Arts School in Seoul, the Royal Ballet School in London, and L'Academie de Danse Classique de Princesse Grace in Monaco and later became a dancer with the Washington Ballet.
In 1984, when the Universal Ballet was founded as the first civilian ballet company in Korea, she moved to the country to continue her dancing career as one of its founding members and the prima ballerina.
She later made a successful transition from a prima ballerina to CEO and introduced pre-event commentary and real-time subtitles in ballet concerts for the first time in Korea. She also dedicates much of her time to her social contribution activities under the motto “I am because we are.”
Her accomplishments in this area include the Julia Company, a ballet school for gifted children, which provides scholarship grants to all its students, and various projects in which she works with UNICEF.