Letter arrives 27 years later from donation box thief pardoned by monk
A letter recently found in the donation box at Jajangam Hermitage in Tongdosa Temple, Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. Courtesy of Jajangam
A letter and an envelope containing 2 million won (about $1,500) in cash were found on Aug. 20 by a staff member while opening the donation box at Jajangam Hermitage, part of Tongdo Temple in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.
The anonymous letter writer confessed to having stolen from the donation box at the hermitage during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
"I was thoughtless as a child," the letter began. "I remember taking a donation box from Jajangam 27 years ago, climbing up the mountain and stealing about 30,000 won ($23) from it."
The letter continued, "A few days later, I went back to steal money again, but a monk caught me by the shoulder, closed his eyes and silently shook his head. Nothing happened that day, and I went home."
The writer expressed deep gratitude, saying, "Since that day, I have never desired anything that wasn't mine. I have worked hard and lived a good life. Looking back now, I think the monk cast a spell that guided me to be good."
The letter went on to express regret for not returning sooner: "I'm sorry I didn't come back earlier. I hope you can think of it as a temporary loan. I'm expecting a baby soon, and I want to be a proud and honorable father to my child. Thank you so much, Monk. I'm sorry again."
The monk who stopped the young thief is Venerable Hyeonmun, the former abbot of Tongdo Temple, who still resides at Jajangam.
A view of Jajangam Hermitage at Tongdosa Temple in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. Captured from Encyclopedia of Korean Culture
An official from the Yeongchuk Cultural Foundation of Tongdo Temple, who learned about the story alongside the monk, told the Hankook Ilbo, "It's such an old story that the monk does not remember the boy's face, but he recalls it was a young boy, probably in elementary or middle school. There were often people lingering around the donation box due to the hardships of the (Asian financial) crisis."
Back then, with no CCTVs, it was common for people to steal small donation boxes, break the locks and take only the money. The problem was so frequent that sometimes the boxes were left open, allowing people to take just the cash.
Reflecting on those times, the monk said, "It was such a difficult time, and everyone was struggling, so we didn’t try to catch the thieves; we just let them go."
In his response to the letter, the monk conveyed a message: "I believe you will become a wonderful father who will not feel ashamed in front of your soon-to-be-born child. I wish you a future filled with good things."
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.