The Sunday firings of executives at the Washington Times and the possible exit of its top editor are apparently being driven more than previously known by last month's transfer of power of the Unification Church and associated business empire from Rev. Sun Myung Moon to his children.

A newsroom source familiar with church politics tells TPM that the root of the shakeup at the Washington Times is a feud between Hyung-jin Moon, 30, and Hyun-jin Moon, 40, also known as Preston, both U.S.-educated sons of church Father Rev. Sun Myung Moon. The church announced in early October -- in an exclusive given, notably, to the Associated Press not the Washington Times -- that day-to-day operations were being handed over to Preston, Hyung-jin, and a third son.

Preston is chairman of News World Communications, the church-owned parent company of the Washington Times.

The youngest of the three sons, Hyung-jin, was selected last year to be the church's religious leader, presumably a responsibility that will fully vest when his father, who is nearly 90, dies. Hyung-jin may have won Rev. Moon's favor with feats such as his reportedly performing 21,000 "full body" bows in honor of his parents over the summer.

But the selection of Preston's young brother for the high-profile role -- along with Rev. Sun Myung Moon's doling out of powerful posts to other siblings -- rankled Preston, a Harvard MBA who has competed in two Olympics on the Korean equestrian team, the source tells us.

That's what brings us to the weekend shakeup in which Washington Times publisher Thomas McDevitt, chief financial officer Keith Cooperrider, and chairman Doug Moon Joo got the ax.

As chairman of church-owned News World Communications, Preston controls the newspaper. According to the source, he went to the three newspaper executives and asked them to side with him against what he sees as his father's favoritism toward Hyung-jin. When they declined to side with Preston, they lost their jobs.

The power struggle between Preston and Hyung-jin is also confirmed by a pair of internal church memos obtained by TPM.

In the first memo, sent by Hyung-jin Nov. 4 and addressed to "regional presidents, national messiahs, national leaders," Hyung-jin, who has a BA and an MA in Divinity from Harvard, announces the appointment of himself as the new chair of an arm of the church called the Universal Peace Federation, which describes itself as committed to world peace and reinvigorating the United Nations.

Who was Hyung-jin replacing at the top of UPF? His older brother Preston, of course.

In another memo, apparently sent later that day, Preston fired back, complaining that Hyung-jin's announcement was sent out from church headquarters, which, he says, did not traditionally have jurisdiction over UPF. While couched in plenty of language about Father's ideal of a "God-centered world," the thrust of the of the memo is clear: a protest of what he saw as his younger brother's power grab.

"No member of the board of directors of UPF, and no members of the UPF Secretariat were consulted about any of these announcements," Preston wrote.

And it looks like the trouble between the Washington Times and Unification Church headquarters in South Korea has been simmering for some time. The AP -- not the church-owned Washington Times -- was given the October 12 scoop about transfer of day-to-day operations to the three sons.

A second newsroom source tells TPM: "I knew something was wrong between the Times and the Moonies about a month ago" when the AP story ran, calling it "a horrific snub on a matter of that consequence."

The Washington Times had to run the AP version of the story the next day, October 13, and finally getting its own original piece published on the 14th.

In the wake of the shakeup, at least one former Times staffer is worried the paper could fold.

"We always thought that wouldn't happen because they have invested so much in it. But anything is possible with Preston Moon," the former staffer told TPM. The source believes the church has invested up to $2 billion in the newspaper, which was founded in the early 1980s to fight Communism. And the church is running a multi-million dollar annual deficit to keep the institution alive.

We've reached out to get the church's comment in response to our story, but did not immediately hear back. We'll update if and when the church has a statement.

Late 11/11/09 Update: See more on this in our latest story, Source: Rev. Moon Son Went Rogue In Ordering Wash Times Shakeup.