The Korea Times: Tens of Thousands of Buddhists Protest Presidential Administration’s Perceived Discrimination
by Danny Fisher
The Korea Times is reporting that more than 200,000 South Korean Buddhists, both lay and monastic, from almost all orders, have gathered at Jogye Temple in Jongno to protest what they perceive to be discrimination against their religion by President Lee Myung-bak’s administration. It is one of the largest demonstrations in Korea in many years. President Lee is a Christian minister who once offered Seoul up to God in a public prayer while he was mayor of the city. He also once issued a video statement commending participants in a prayer meeting that called for the physical collapse of the country’s Buddhist temples. Buddhists account for only a scant percentage of public officials, while members of Lee’s Somang Church fulfill many important positions in the administration. President Lee was elected with the support of many Buddhists voting in a nonpartisan way and presumably hoping that he would govern in the same manner. Earlier this summer, though, a transportation data system and new maps of the Cheonggye Stream provided by the government excluded locations of Buddhist temples. This was later amended, but tensions flared again more recently after police officers searched the car of the Ven. Jigwan, the respected chief executive of the Jogye Order, ostensibly looking for activists from the People’s Association Against Mad Cow Disease who have been hiding in a local temple. (Their work caused President Lee’s approval rating to take a sharp drop.) The demonstrators in Jongno are demanding an apology from President Lee, “reprimands for public officials involved in religious discrimination,” legislation to better protect citizens from the abuse of power they perceive, and the removal of the People’s Association Against Mad Cow Disease activists from the government’s wanted list. I’ll have more on this story as it develops.
A few notes…. Jongno is an area in Seoul.
Also, I believe the president was a church deacon (Presbeteryian?) and not an actual minister.
Although I agree with other expat Buddhists here (and many Korean Buddhists as well) that the Buddhists here (and Koreans in general) tend to protest far too soon and far too often, the context of these protests needs to be understood. The fundamentalist forms of Christianity exported to Korea largely from the U.S. have been taken to an extreme here and this fundamentalism has infected even the more mainline churches such as the Methodists and Presbeteryian (sp?) churches. This led to a decade or more of attacks on Buddhist temples here in the 1980`s and 90`s which included acts of arson against centuries old temples, defacement of Buddhist temple murals recognized as national treasures (often in the form of red crosses being painted on them), the decapitation of Buddha statues, etc… There was even a Christian youth group that harrassed people on the campus of Dongguk university, a Buddhist university here, near the outdoor Buddha statue at the center of campus in an attempt to gain converts. During this time a prominent deacon in the Presbeteryian church said publicly that if his faith were stronger he would also burn down Buddhist temples. As I understand it, this didn`t end until U.S. churches and Christian organizations really got what was happening here in Korea and strongly expressed their disaproval. Even today, one hears of incidents of harrassment of Buddhist monastics by fire-and-brimstone fundamentalists.
There are also documented cases of military commanders forcing non-Christian subordinates to attend Christian religious services.
In terms of the current administration, during the earlier protests against importing American beef due to fears about mad cow disease, I believe a member of the president`s cabinet called the protestors `satanic.`
So, if one only looks at the relatively minor incidents that have recently occurred, it`s easy to say that some of the Buddhists here are being overly sensitive. However, looking at the history of things here, it`s easier to understand why much of the Buddhist community is so concerned. In other words, the issues here run much deeper than some temple names being ommitted from a website (though I think your post pointed that out).
[...] For past write-ups on tensions between Buddhists and the Lee government, check out this post, this post, this post, and this post. [...]
[...] distorted ideas towards the national culture.” In 2008, over 200,000 lay and monastic Buddhists gathered for one of the largest demonstrations in South Korea in years to essentially make the same point. [...]
[...] For my past write-ups on tensions between Buddhists and the Lee government, check out this post, this post, this post, this post, and this post. [...]
[...] For my past write-ups on tensions between Buddhists and the Lee government, check out this post, this post, this post, this post, and this post. [...]
[...] For my past write-ups on tensions between Buddhists and the Lee government, check out this post, this post, this post, this post, and this post. [...]
[...] For my past write-ups on tensions between Buddhists and the Lee government, check out this post, this post, this post, this post, and this post. [...]