By Kim Heung-sook
I have lived in Seoul for ages, but I have never seen such a spectacle. Tens of thousand Buddhist monks and their followers milling around the heart of the capital city. If I lived 100 years, it would still be my first time to see such a sea of men and women with clasped hands pack Seoul plaza. The scene was striking particularly because Buddhists, unlike Korean Christians, seldom present themselves in media spotlight.
Aug. 27, 2008. I will always remember this day as one of the saddest days in my life, the day that testified to Korea's loss of an invaluable element of its beautiful culture, ending more than a century of peaceful co-existence of diverse religions.
Since Protestantism was introduced into this country in late 19th century, it helped sustain Koreans together with Buddhism, Won Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam and other credos until recently. Signs of Protestant exclusionism began to appear in the 1970s and 1980s amid emergence of mammoth churches, but none of the former heads of governments exercised their religious belief through the administration.
When Lee Myung-bak, a church elder, was elected president at the end of last year, more than a few people expressed concern that he might be too fervent a believer to lead a nation noted for religious pluralism. Still, guarded optimism prevailed as people thought common sense would work.
Within months after his inauguration in February, however, such an optimistic view turned out to be a wishful thinking. Lee appointed many of his fellow believers from Somang Presbyterian Church to important posts and his ministers and aides responded by exposing their loyalty through inappropriate religious remarks.
Here are some of the examples of how President Lee and his officials abused their credos and connections, as reported on the website of the Christian Broadcasting System: In March, former Pohang City Mayor Chung Jang-sik was appointed president of the Central Officials Training Institute. As mayor, Chung angered non-Christians by proclaiming to use 1 percent of Pohang's budget to make it a sacred city.
Also in March, Lee had a Christian worship at Cheong Wa Dae by inviting a pastor and well-known ``new rightist'' campaigner Kim Jin-hong. In May, the President stirred up controversy by attending Christian prayer meetings in person or via T.V., while skipping the time-honored presidential congratulations to Buddhist leaders on Buddha's birthday.
In June, a presidential secretary called citizens participating in the candle-lit, anti-government vigils ``satans.'' Pastor Kim Jae-chul of Somang Church, where President Lee is an elder, called Lee as ``a (the) son of God.'' The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs dropped Buddhist temples from its ``Algoga'' tourist map, showing Protestant and Catholic churches only.
On June 24, National Police Agency Commissioner-General Eo Cheong-soo appeared on a poster advertising ``the Fourth Fasting Conference for National Police Evangelization'' together with a pastor. On June 30, an elementary school teacher reportedly told his class that they would go to heaven if they believed in Christianity but would go to hell if they chose Buddhism or other religion.
In July, the police searched the car of Jigwan Seunim, the head monk of the largest Buddhist order, upon the special directive from police chief Eo. No wonder his dismissal is sought by Buddhists. On July 30, 371 or one sixth of the polling stations were set up at churches for the election of superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. In March, the National Human Right Commission of Korea ruled that setting up polling stations at churches violated voting rights of people and recommended that booths be set up elsewhere but to no avail.
On Aug. 14, several Christian hymns were sung during the Korea Broadcasting System live concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of government establishment. TV watchers had to see subtitles of the verses, too. On Aug. 22, Yeosu Mayor Oh Hyun-seop angered citizens by reportedly pledging that he would make the Yeosu Expo 2012 an ``Evangelical Expo.''
Whenever I talked about the power of one, I was thinking about an individual's efforts to stop the wrong. Now, I know that the opposite works, too.