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Lotus Lantern Festival celebrated in rain

People participating in a Lantern Parade, march in the rain in the streets of Jongno, downtown Seoul, Saturday, in celebration of Buddha's birthday, holding luminous lanterns during the annual Lotus Lantern Festival. The 3-kilometer parade that began from Dongdaemun gate headed toward Jogye Temple. / YonhapLanterns creates magnificent waves of lightBy Park Jin-haiEven drizzling rain couldn't deter the festivities of people celebrating the Buddha's birth. At the lantern parade, the highlight of the annual Lotus Lantern Festival which ran on Saturday and Sunday, over 100,000 lanterns created a magnificent wave of light that flowed through the heart of Seoul like an earthbound Milky Way. People holding lanterns they made walked three-kilometer in the rain from Dongdaemun gate via Jongno to the Jogye Temple, led by a traditional royal military band and four grand lanterns in the shape of the Buddhist gods to celebrate the coming of the sage that falls on the eight day of the fourth month of the Lunar calendar each year. That is May 22 on the solar calendar this year. The festival, aiming

DAILY FORTUNE - MAY 14, 2018

(379) Saju of global leaders: What would be South Korea's relationship with North Korea, China, US?

By Janet ShinReferring to the saju of global leaders, is there any determining factor associated with their leadership styles and their relationships?I have read the saju of many global figures, such as the G-20's comtemporary successful and unsuccessful presidents, historical leaders, dictators and spiritual leaders including some religious gurus, to find a certain tendency in their inclinations, destinies and tendencies of times.Knowing that one symbolic letter, the stem of one's birthday, represents the master of the saju, we may simply draw inferences from the characteristics of yin, yang and the five elements.First of all, we may consider yang to have stronger leadership over the yin. And among the five elements, fire would make a leader as yang fire represents the sun. Others may also consider yang wood which pursues growth or metal as it represents the power of weapons and authority. It is a correct assumption when it comes to traditional leadership. Napoleon Bonaparte, a military leader during the French Revolutionary Wars, had a yang wood day master. Kim Dae-jung, the 15thpr

DAILY FORTUNE - MAY 11, 2018

DAILY FORTUNE - May 10, 2018

DAILY FORTUNE - May 9, 2018

(378) Saju: the reading of relationships

By Janet ShinYou may see saju as a reading of an individual life but it actually involves intricate structures with many layers in the relationships between humans and the surrounding environment. So it reveals not only one's personal destiny but very systematic and social ones. The structure of human fate is associated with family and social relations, both private and public, in addition to their innate energy. Above all, one of the most important factors to determine one's destiny is “when” and “where” they are.If we compare the saju of Vladimir Putin, the current president of Russia, and that of Adolf Hitler, the dictatorial leader of Nazi Germany, we may find lots of consistencies. First of all their day masters are the same, yang fire and other major elements, such as earth in yellow. This is just an example to illustrate the cases of similar saju. It doesn't necessarily mean their fates will be same. Nevertheless it apparently shows some likenesses between the two. Then what makes the two different? It is their times and places. People with the same saj

DAILY FORTUNE - May 8, 2018

Some religious leaders misuse power

Buddhist monk, pastor embroiled in sexual scandalsBy Jin Yu-young Out of all the different roles in society, religious leaders are expected to have the highest morality and integrity, as they have the job of guiding their followers to righteousness. Many recent cases, however, prove the opposite as several of the world's most prominent religious leaders have been called out for their unethical behavior. Manmin Central Church pastor Lee Jae-rock enters the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, May 3, to answer questions from a judge reviewing a request for a warrant for his arrest. / YonhapFollowing the Jogye Order scandal of 2012 in which several of its monks were caught smoking, drinking and gambling on camera, more of its monks have come into the spotlight due to many accounts of misdemeanors. First, the head of the Jogye Order of Buddhism, Seol Jung, is suspected to have smuggled large sums of money into the account of an accomplice on multiple occasions. He is accused not only of that, but is also suspected to have lied about his academic background at Seoul National Un

Court recognizes refugee status of Iranian over religious persecution

A South Korean court has ruled that an Iranian who converted from Islam to Christianity should be given refugee status as he could be persecuted if he goes back to his country.The Seoul Administrative Court said on Sunday the Iranian has won a lawsuit he filed against the chief of the Seoul Immigration Office demanding the authority withdraw its decision not to recognize his refugee status.The man began to attend a Protestant church upon entering South Korea in August 2011 and was baptized to convert from Islam to Christianity in March 2016. In April that year, he applied for refugee status to the immigration office only to be denied. He filed an administrative suit when his objection to the Justice Ministry was rejected."He should be considered a refugee because it is admitted there is sufficient fear that he could be persecuted by the Iranian authorities for his conversion to Christianity," Cha Ji-won, presiding judge of the court, said in a verdict.By the refugee law, foreigners who have sufficient grounds to be persecuted for their race, religion and political opinions are recogn