By Cho Jae-hyon
People Team Editor

From the ghost of inflation to the specter of a property bubble, Korea has been haunted by various kinds of ghosts. Among them, McCarthyism is the most diehard and frequent phantom.

For the past two years the Lee Myung-bak administration has been busy hounding out what they call leftists in various government organizations.

The Grand National Party's floor leader Ahn Sang-soo is at the forefront of the cleanup campaign, claiming the two years were meant to put all sorts of abnormalities created by the two previous left-leaning governments back to normal.

Indeed many top officials, branded as left-leaning or leftists, have been kicked out of government agencies.

For Ahn, these leftists are evils that should be blamed even for increases in violent sex crimes.

To straighten up the left-leaning society, Ahn is desperate to eliminate all of the remaining villains who he believes are corrupting the culture, education, broadcasting and religious fields.

He is obsessed with this self-imposed mission of pulling out "the big spikes driven in by the leftist governments."

But there are some spikes yet to be pulled out.

Ven. Myeongjin, head monk of Bongeun Temple in southern Seoul, is among those on the black list.

Ahn reportedly called the monk, who has been critical of government policies, one of the "leftist monks" who should be plucked out.

He is suspected of having plotted with Ven. Jaseung, the head of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, to oust him and put Bongeun Temple under the direct control of the Jogye Order.

Against these allegations, Ahn has reacted with silence. If he was falsely accused, he should have said he would file a defamation suit against Ven. Myeongjin, who made the accusations.

The monk is an eyesore for the Lee administration. Ven. Myeongjin, who was named head monk of Bongeun Temple in Nov. 8, 2006, started a 1,000-day prayer ritual on Dec. 5 that year to show his will to reform the temple.

After declaring he would not leave the temple for 1,000 days, he staged kowtows 1,000 times every day. He went out of the temple only once, to take part in the funeral service of former President Roh Moo-hyun on May 29.

It is known that he has overhauled the way the temple is run, making its finances transparent. These reformative steps and the transparent management have drawn support from its Buddhist followers.

Under his leadership, Bongeun, located in affluent central Gangnam, saw its number of registered followers growing to over 200,000 and its annual budget reaching 14 billion won ($12 million), the largest among any domestic temple.

Support from religious leaders is crucial for any political party. For GNP's Ahn, the monk is one of those who should be shown the door.

However, Ahn should have been extra careful as he was dealing with an ultra-sensitive issue ― the separation of state and church.

Ahn, who had been under growing pressure to resign following his controversial remarks, has gotten some breathing room as media attention has shifted to the sinking of the naval ship Cheonan in the West Sea.

However, the disputes will resurface. Either Ahn or Ven. Jaseung of the Jogye Order should come forward and give an explanation on the allegation that they colluded to replace the leftist monk. Of course if they are clean, Myeongjin should be held accountable.

Any attempt to profile a religious leader as rightist or leftist is silly, let alone intervention in religious affairs by the state.

Ahn and other conservative ranters under the Lee administration are frequently using this red-baiting.

Kim Woo-ryong, former chairman of the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture, the largest shareholder of MBC, showed that the red-baiting ruse, if overused, backfires.

He told a monthly magazine that Cheong Wa Dae pressured MBC President Kim Jae-chul to fire all "leftist" executives in the nation's largest broadcasting company in a recent personnel reshuffle.

He said Kim fired all the leftists only after the presidential house summoned him and "kicked him in the shin." Several days after his remarks were published, Kim stepped down from the chairmanship.

It's easy to brand someone as a leftist. But what they mean by leftist is unclear. They abuse the word without knowing what discerns leftists from rightists or liberals from conservatives.

The boundary is indistinct, inconsistent and artificial. That's why even President Barack Obama is also being called a communist by his foes in the United States.

This witch hunt is the last thing we need. There are still many public figures seeking to capitalize on ideological rifts and social divisions.

What should be guarded against is this inertia going back to the McCarthy era. What's needed is not going back to the past but moving forward to the future.

chojh@koreatimes.co.kr