Fascinating

by John

From The Wall Street Journal, 1992, the method behind Moon’s marriages:

Mr. Moon makes all the choices himself after looking at about 24,000 photos displayed on rows of easels, or so the church says. In only a matter of days, he
matches them up according to height, education level and their
nationality preferences. He used to do it all in person, church
officials say, but the number has grown so large that he now uses
bar-coded photographs and a computer to help do the sorting.

[...]

The Unification Church is charging $1,200 each, not including air
fare, for prospective brides and grooms from industrialized nations
and $300 for those from poor countries. (Couples supply rings and
veils.) So revenue could total $24 million. Subtract $24,000 for the
stadium rent, another $115,000 for the satellite hookup and deduct
the cost of the buses, the unfrosted sponge cake and a can of Tongil
Group’s McCol barley soda handed to each celebrant before the
ceremony, and the church could make a tidy sum on the wedding.
But it will be difficult to find out just how much. “In Korea, it
is rude to ask how much a wedding costs,” says Ju Jin-Seung, a
church spokesman.