Wonder if anyone saw these articles...
Jogye
Order says Korean government of favoring
Christianity
The Indian Catholic, July 1, 2008
SEOUL, South Korea -- Buddhists in South Korea have protested what
they see as the new government's bias against Buddhism and in favor
of Christianity.
The Jogye Order, the country's largest Buddhist denomination, on
June 24 issued a statement charging that Seoul's transport
information system, Algoga (find your way), "intentionally" omitted
mention of any Buddhist temples.
It pointed out that the system's online map (www.algoga.go.kr) did
not include the famous Jogyesa and Bongeunsa temples, which many
foreigners visit in the capital. The Ministry of Land, Transport
and Maritime Affairs maintains the map, which it says 20,000
Internet users visit every day.
Venerable Seungwon, Jogye spokesperson, signed the statement,
titled We strongly condemn religiously biased actions of President
Lee's government. In it the monk accuses President Lee Myung-bak's
administration of favoring Christianity, especially
Protestantism.
In 2003, when the previous government built the online information
system, the Buddhist temples were marked on the map. But a version
updated on June 9 dropped them. The ministry, at a June 23 press
conference, admitted a "mistake," and the Buddhist temples
reappeared on the map four days later.
Meanwhile, however, on June 25, all 28 first-time elected members
of the Jogye Order's 81-member Central Council issued another
statement. They contended the omission was not just a mistake,
because the map showed even small Protestant churches, marked with
a red cross and their name.
The Buddhist monks also accused Lee of favoring Protestants for his
Cabinet and the Presidential Office since his inauguration in
February. Of the current 15 ministers, 10 are Protestants, two are
Catholics and the religious affiliation of the other three is not
known.
The monks also noted that the deputy head of presidential security,
a Protestant, said in a newspaper interview that "his dream is to
evangelize all government ministries." Another incident they cited
involved a presidential secretary, who is a Protestant pastor,
reportedly telling a Presbyterian gathering in Seoul on June 5 that
people attending candlelight vigils to protest U.S. beef imports
are "a host of Satans."
"Such religiously biased incidents are done with government
connivance," the Jogye council members charged. They asked the
government to introduce legal measures to prevent such religious
bias or discrimination.
The Religious Peace Commission of the order has also demanded the
transport minister's resignation. The commission has issued several
statements protesting the government's alleged religious
bias.
In a June 25 statement, it disclosed that Eo Cheong-soo, head of
the national police, openly supported Protestant police personnel's
"fasting prayers for the evangelization of all the police."
According to the commission, a photo of Eo, a Catholic, appears on
a poster to publicize the prayers along with Reverend Cho Yong-gi
of the Full Gospel Church.
Reverend Park Deuk-hoon, co-representative of Christian Alliance
for Church Reform, told UCA News on June 27 that "such incidents
should not have occurred." The police chief's photo on the poster,
he said, "very possibly pressed his people" to participate in the
prayers.
A Protestant official, Reverend Kim Tae-hyon, director of the
Church and Ecumenical Relationship Department of the National
Council of Churches in Korea, acknowledged the general issue as
very sensitive. He told UCA News the people in Lee's government
"are not qualified morally."
Park Kwang-seo, co-representative of the Korean Institute for
Religious Freedom, claims that governments have given preferential
treatment to Christianity and discriminated against Buddhism since
the Republic of Korea was established in 1948.
The Buddhist professor at Jesuit-run Sogang University in Seoul
told UCA News on June 27 that Buddhists have suffered
discrimination under Christian presidents. Four out of the
country's 10 presidents have been Christians.
Park also noted that Christian pastoral ministry in the military
started in 1948, while Buddhists could only begin such work in
1968. A Protestant radio service, he added, began airing in 1954,
but Buddhists were only allowed to start such a service in
1990.
James Byun Jin-heung, former secretary general of the Korean
Conference on Religion and Peace, told UCA News the president
should be neutral in religious issues. Even before Lee took office,
many people worried about his strong Protestant conservatism, the
Catholic layman noted.
(http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=45,6726,0,0,1,0)
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