By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The Jogye Order, the largest sect of Korean Buddhism, is demanding the government exclude their temples and surrounding real estate holdings from the zones. It warned that it would mobilize hundreds of thousands of monks for ``Pan-Jogye protests'' should the government not listen to their demands.
However, the government is firm in its stance that the temples should remain in national park zones. It fears that other individuals who hold properties in parks would also ask for the same treatment, which could bring about mass damage to the park system itself.
According to the Buddhists, the designation of parks surrounding the temples is an infringement upon the individuals' rights to own property. As the popularity of Buddhism and other meditation practices is booming, there are growing demands for more centers or other facilities, which could be profitable for the religious group. However, being a part of a national or other public park prevents them from constructing new buildings or making other changes to temples, the Buddhists say.
Moreover, the fact that they are ``obliged'' to follow government-driven development projects such as installing stairways or building hiking routes have compromised their finances, Kim Yong-gu, the public relations director of the Jogye Order headquarters, said. ``What we are asking is that the government gives us back the rights we had 40 years ago.''
According to the order, temples in Korea have hundreds and sometimes thousands of years of history and most ownerships haven't changed since their acquisition because Buddhists consider real estate offerings precious. It is often found in ancient records that a lot of the properties given to them were offerings of gratitude from rich people, for childbirth or recovering from illness; or a king giving out presents to his mentors.
In 1967, the Park Chung-hee government implemented the National Park Law, which created the Mt. Jiri National Park that encompasses Hwaeom and Ssanggye temples among others. Since then national parks have surrounded 20 large temples.
``It is ridiculous of the government to make private property part of national parks by force. It was the authoritarian government threatening us to follow their rules ― we had no option. But things are different now and I hope the Lee Myung-bak administration could show more respect toward private property,'' Kim said.
Last Thursday, over 1,500 monks and 2,000 Buddhists gathered at Tongdo Temple in South Gyeongsang Province and officially requested the government to exclude their assets and designate them as separate cultural properties.
``Temples are more of a cultural heritage, but the government has done nothing to protect us,'' they said. They asked the Korea Forestry Service, which is much more open to development, to take charge of the management, if necessary.
However, for the government, it is a more complex matter. The amount of real estate the Jogye Order has inside national parks nationwide takes up 8.8 percent of the total 3,899 square kilometers, most of which is in quite ``lucrative areas.''
``In drastic cases, the temples may cut off access to their land, and could bring immense discomfort to mountain lovers,'' Ma Soo-yun, an official at the Ministry of the Environment, said.
In addition, the real problem lies in whether other private property owners who also had their real estate integrated into the parks, file similar requests. This takes up 30.3 percent of the park area, and losing access to this space could have a critical impact on operations of the Ministry of the Environment and the National Park Corporation.
``As far as we know, the government has been trying to negotiate with the Buddhists for quite a long time. We have actually sent some official letters suggesting that we form a committee to resolve the issue,'' Ma said. However, a Jogye Order member rejected negotiations, saying they were willing to fight for an immediate conclusion.
As of 2009, there are an estimated 17 million Buddhists believers in Korea ― 10 million belonging to the Jogyye Order.