AFP: South Korean President Apologizes to Buddhists Over Alleged Religious Bias

by Danny Fisher

The Agence France-Presse is reporting that South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak formally apologized to the nation’s Buddhists today following nationwide protests against alleged religious bias by his administration. The trouble started almost two weeks ago, when more than 200,000 South Korean Buddhists, both lay and monastic, from almost all orders, gathered at Jogye Temple in Seoul to protest this perceived discrimination. It was one of the largest demonstrations in Korea in many years. Then, late last week, over ten thousand South Korean temples representing twenty-seven different Buddhist orders held religious services simultaneously to protest the government’s perceived anti-Buddhist/pro-Christian bias. For more on the events leading up to all of this, take a look at this post of mine from two weeks ago.