President Lee Myung-bak Tuesday apologized for his administration's alleged religious bias against Buddhists and instructed all civil servants to observe religious neutrality.
"Some civil servants have recently made remarks and exhibited behavior that could cause misunderstanding over religious bias, and I express my deep regret at such remarks and acts as they caused concern within the Buddhist community," Yonhap News quoted Lee as saying at a weekly Cabinet meeting.
"All Cabinet ministers, particularly the culture, sports and tourism minister, will have to thoroughly supervise and educate civil servants to prevent the recurrence of a similar incident."
President Lee, an elder at a local Christian church, said the latest incident should help pave the way toward reconciliation and tolerance among the nation's religious and social organizations.
Lee's remarks came as Korean Buddhist monks and lay followers have been angered by what they perceive as the Lee administration's pro-Christian bias.
Lee's administration has recently come under fire for a series of incidents that allegedly reveal its religious bias, including the appointment of Christians to top government posts, the omission of major Buddhist temples from an online government map and the recent search of a top Buddhist monk's car by police.
Following a massive anti-government rally in downtown Seoul in late August, Buddhist leaders have threatened to launch a series of protest rallies across the nation later this month unless Lee personally apologizes and dismisses his police chief over the car search incident.
During the Cabinet meeting, Lee didn't mention Buddhists' demand for the dismissal of Eo Cheong-soo, chief of the National Police Agency.
Instead, the Chief Executive instructed Eo to visit Jogye Temple, headquarters of the nation's largest Buddhist sect in central Seoul, to offer an apology to its head monk, Ven. Jigwan, for searching his car in late July.
The unprecedented search took place as police were attempting to arrest a group of anti-government activists taking refuge in the temple.
"Regardless of the motives behind the search, the police chief has to visit Buddhist leaders and offer an apology. He must also promise to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents," Lee was quoted as saying.
In a related development, the Cabinet meeting approved a revision of the civil servant code, which will prohibit all government employees from discriminating against any specific religion in the process of carrying out their duties.