nativist stance. In 1992, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung gave his first and only interview with the Western news media to The Washington Times reporter Josette Sheeran, who later became executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme. At the time, The Washington Times had one-eighth the circulation of the Post (100,000 compared to 800,000) and two-thirds of its subscribers subscribed to both papers. In 1994, it introduced a weekly "national edition" which was published in a tabloid format and distributed nationwide. U.S. President George H. W. Bush encouraged the political influence of The Washington Times and other Unification movement activism in support of American foreign policy. In 1997, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, which is critical of U.S. and Israeli policies, praised The Washington Times and its sister publication, The Middle East Times, for what it called their objective and informative coverage of Islam and the Middle East, while criticizing their generally pro-Israel editorial policy. The Report suggested that these newspapers, being owned by religious institutions, were less influenced by pro-Israel pressure groups in the U.S. In 2004, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported that Chung Hwan Kwak, an important leader in the Unification movement, wanted The Washington Times to "support international organizations such as the United Nations and to campaign for world peace and interfaith understanding." This, Ignatius wrote, created difficulties for Pruden and some of the Times columnists. Ignatius also mentioned the Unification movement's reconciliatory attitude towards North Korea, which at the time included joint business ventures, and Kwak's advocacy for greater understanding between the U.S. and the Islamic world as issues of contention. Ignatius predicted that conservatives in Congress and the George W. Bush administration would support Pruden's position over Kwak's. In 2006, Moon's son Hyun Jin Moon, president and CEO of News World Communications, dismissed managing editor Francis "Fran" Coombs because of accusations of racist editorializing. Coombs had made some racist and sexist comments, for which he was sued by other employees of The Washington Times. John Solomon editorship 2008–2015 In January 2008, Pruden retired, and John F. Solomon began as executive editor. Solomon had previously worked for the Associated Press and had most recently been head of investigative reporting and mixed media development at the Post. Within a month, The Washington Times changed some of its style guide to conform more to what was becoming mainstream media usage. It announced