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DAILY FORTUNE - August 8, 2018

DAILY FORTUNE - August 7, 2018

DAILY FORTUNE - August 6, 2018

DAILY FORTUNE - August 4, 2018

DAILY FORTUNE - August 3, 2018

Jogye Order leader to step down soon

By Kang Hyun-kyungVen. Seoljeong, president of the Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist sect, said Wednesday that he would soon step down to take responsibility for corruption allegations surrounding him. The announcement came five days after he declared to decide on whether to resign after listening to the opinions of senior Buddhist monks. He added he had “emptied” his mind.Ven. Seoljeong, president of Jogye Order / YonhapSpeaking on behalf of the Jogye Order president, Ven. Sungwoo, head of the chief monks of 25 Jogye Order head temples, quoted Seoljeong as saying that he would resign before Aug. 16 when a major meeting of senior Buddhist leaders is scheduled to take place. Ven. Sungwoo paid a visit to the Jogye Order president prior to the announcement. The chief monks of the Jogye Order head temples met later the same day to discuss ways to handle worsening public opinion about the sect over the corruption allegations surrounding its leadership.Last week, they advised Ven. Seoljeong to resign as the alleged corruption scandals dealt a blow to the sect. He is accused

DAILY FORTUNE - August 2, 2018

Church leaders urge gov't to scrap 'pro-homosexual' policy

By Kang Aa-youngA group of Protestant church leaders urged the government to stop its attempts to implement policies in favor of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.Staging a protest in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Wednesday, the leaders of 21 Protestant denominations demanded the government withdraw the National Action Plan for Human Rights which is expected to be approved at a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 7. They said it has some “toxic elements,” citing the expression “gender equality” in the final draft as one of them. “The government's gender equality policy must be removed from the action plan because it is seen to legalize same-sex marriage,” said the church alliance.The group also called for the government to replace the term “gender equality” with “sexual equality” in the action plan. They claimed the two words are not interchangeable, adding sex is a term based on physical differences between men and women and thus it does not include transgender. Meanwhile, they said, gender equality is based on eco

Executive chief of largest Buddhist sect to resign over corruption allegations

The executive head of South Korea's largest Buddhist order committed Wednesday to step down this month in the face of growing corruption allegations and ensuing calls for his resignation by rank and file members of the sect.Ven. Seoljeong, the executive chief of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, told the council of the heads of Buddhist temples that he will resign from his post before the sect's central meeting set for Aug. 16, according to the council.Calls have been growing for the 76-year-old monk to step aside over a string of allegations that he forged his academic credentials, illegally owned a vast amount of real estate and secretly fathered a daughter against the sect's celibacy rule.The allegations led many rank and file members of the Jogye Order and civic groups to stage protests demanding Seoljeong's resignation.A reform-minded senior Buddhist monk, Seoljo, was taken to a hospital on Monday after a 41-day hunger strike staged next to the order's headquarters in central Seoul in protest.It marks Seoljeong's departure from the top executive post of the Jogye Order less th

DAILY FORTUNE - August 1, 2018