Buddhist leader proposes inter-Korean cultural project

The Korea Times

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Buddhist leader proposes inter-Korean cultural project

Posted : 2020-01-15 16:53

Updated : 2020-01-15 17:07

Ven. Wonhaeng, president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, speaks during a press conference to convey his New Year's message in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Ven. Wonhaeng, president of Korea's largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, pledged to launch inter-Korean cultural projects with North Korea to facilitate peace on the Korean Peninsula.

He proposed that North Korea team up with the Buddhist sect to collaborate in cultural projects, including the restoration of cultural assets and forests in the North and the return of North Korean cultural assets that are currently in the possession of the religious group to the temples in the North.

"To establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Jogye Order will actively seek a role to facilitate inter-Korean exchanges," Ven. Wonhaeng said during a press conference to mark the beginning of the year 2020 in Seoul, Tuesday, stating the current political situation surrounding the peninsula is going against what the Korean people want.

Specifically, he suggested an inter-Korean project to restore Jangan Temple and Yujom Temple in the North, which were damaged during the Korean War, saying he is willing to sit down with the North Korean authorities to discuss ways to hand over North Korean Buddhist cultural assets his faction possesses to the North. He also said the Jogye Order is willing to work closely with the North on forest restoration.

Ven. Wonhaeng and other senior ranking Buddhists, reportedly said the Jogye Order has been in talks with the North through behind-the-scenes channels, visiting Singye Temple. The sect is in possession of the North's Chilseongdo, (paintings with seven stars) and Buddhas which belonged to a temple in Pyongyang in the past. The assets were acquired in a 2018 auction held in Japan.

The Jogye Order joined hands with the North and was able to restore Singye Temple at Mount Kumgang in North Korea in 2007 which was destroyed during the Korean War.

The Buddhist leader's conciliatory remarks came amid icy inter-Korean relations. In recent years, Buddhist temples pushed ahead with seeking cultural exchanges with Pyongyang, suggesting a set of measures, including the establishment of a building to promote inter-Korean templestay programs in Singye Temple with the North. North Korea has not responded to their requests.

Marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, Ven. Wonhaeng also said that Buddhists "will push for the holding of a ceremonial event with North and South Korean religious people at Panmunjeom to proceed with the declaration of the end of the Korean War and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula."

In addition to inter-Korean projects, the Order is planning to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its "Bunhwang Temple" in Bodh Gaya, India, in March, the first such facility in the region. Also, it is in official talks with the Pakistan government over a self-mortification statue of Shakyamuni, planning to exhibit it in South Korea for the first time to promote cultural exchanges between South Korea and Pakistan.

He also pledged that the Jogye Order will boost its templestay programs so that more foreigners can enjoy Korea's traditional cultural program while saying that it will invite more underprivileged people and families with multicultural backgrounds to participate in the program.
Ven. Wonhaeng took the helm in September 2018 amid a feud between the mainstreamers and rebels, mostly grass-roots Buddhists and activists who called for resignations en mass of those who were in the leadership to take responsibility for a rift inside the Jogye Order. His predecessor Seoljeong stepped down amid rumors that he had child (now an adult) with a woman and reportedly was embroiled in corruption. Although he denied the allegations, he resigned in August, less than a year after he was elected leader of the Jogye Order's cutting short his tenure. Wonhaeng won the following election.
The new leader of the Jogye Order stressed the need for stability and reconciliation inside the sect. He said he would overhaul the sect and to proceed this, all members need to be unified and reconciled.

Wonhaeng said he would work closely with the government to move the memorial hall project forward to commemorate the victims of the military government's brutal crackdown on Buddhists in 1980 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the incident.
The then military government hunted down and arrested over 1,800 people from 573 temples before interrogating and torturing them.

jwpark@koreatimes.co.kr