Buddhist Monks Join the People   2008-07-05 07:46

As promised, over six hundred Buddhist monks from all over Korea joined us yesterday afternoon in protest. Those of you who are concerned about the current state of democracy in Myanmar would know that Buddhist monks have been playing a major role in anti-government protests there as well. To be sure, Buddhism in Korea is Mahayana whereas it is Theravada in Myanmar. Despite doctrinal differences, however, Buddhists in both countries seem to share a high regard for nonviolence and human rights. In Seoul, the monks joined the People for the rally and then held a mass in Seoul Plaza. Just like the Catholics and Protestants who led the rallies earlier this week, the Buddhists prayed for peace and democracy in their own way, and thousands of citizens participated too. Once more, there was no violent conflict with the police.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks rally with citizens in downtown Seoul.

The banner reads: "The Will of the People is the Will of Buddha." This statement should be understood rather literally, as most interpretations of Buddhism have it that each and every person either is or has the potential to become a Buddha.

The monks hold a mass in Seoul Plaza.

over 10,000 citizens participate in the rally. The National Flag is visible in the front.

Catholic priests, who have been fasting in Seoul Plaza since Monday, give roses to Buddhist monks as a sign of friendship and appreciation.

Many of us are intrigued by Buddhism's decision to take part in the protests. Even during the days of military dictatorship, Buddhists in Korea had remained rather unconcerned. (It was Christians who actively supported democratization back then.) But the quiet and gentle monks finally seem to have decided that they can't take this anymore.

Part of the reason might be the conservative Christian President's anti-Buddhist policies. Just to give an example of these ridiculous policies, the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs published a set of new maps a couple of weeks ago. Even the smallest churches were given prominent places in the map, whereas many of the nation's major Buddhist temples were conspicuously omitted. The government has since accused a contractor for the omissions and put the temples back in, but c'mon, it was a really lame excuse. Not even Christians -- most of whom are as sensible as anyone else -- were amused by the little trick.

But that is not the end of the story, and Buddhists obviously have a lot of other objections to make against President Lee's reckless policies. One of the monks said at the rally: "We're vegetarians, so perhaps the issue of beef trade has little to do with us. But if a policy kills lives, we cannot tolerate it." This comment applies not only to the BSE problem which has triggered the recent protests, but also to several other of Lee Myung-Bak's key policies. For example, there has been a massive recall of beef in the U.S. this week due to an E. coli infection. The Nebraska company which is responsible for the infected beef also exports beef to Korea. Under the current agreement between Korea and the U.S., however, the Korean government has no right to prohibit that particular company from exporting beef to Korea; the only thing that Korea can do is to reject particular shipments that have been proven to be infected. Some strains of E. coli, such as O-157, can be very dangerous. Forget about BSE which is still a murky issue; E. coli can make you ill today. Citizens of Korea obviously have the right to expect their government to take appropriate measures to prevent infection. And yet, President Lee gave up quarantine in order to make the pending Free Trade Agreement more palatable to Washington. Likewise, Lee's plans for the privatization of universal health care and public utilities have the potential to make life very difficult for a lot of low-income families, and the proposed complete deregulation of education is certain to make dozens more of the already stressed-out teenagers to commit suicide every year. What is more, the government seems to have no plans whatsoever to mitigate the threatened harm; instead, Lee's family and friends are already lining up for a share of the profits from privatization. For the government, our quality of life -- and life itself -- takes a back seat to economic considerations. No wonder the Buddhist monks are seriously alarmed about this!

It is Saturday again, and it is time for another massive rally. Last week's protests were marred by a bloody confrontation with Lee Myung-Bak's dog (the police). At least 968 citizens and activists have been arrested so far for protesting (though many of them were released after a while). Lawyers for Democratic Society is trying hard to protect the rights of these political prisoners, and the rest of us have added their immediate release to our list of demands. Meanwhile, the discussion site Daum Agora, which has been under tremendous pressure for the activism among its members, has announced measures that will make it easier for "law enforcement" to identify dissenters and remove their posts. The man known as "cow in a ditch" (ddorang e deun so), arrested four weeks ago for raising suspicion that the government is hiding the death of a young woman due to police violence, now faces a trial. Those who had been working with him in online forums are paying close attention to the trial. Amnesty International has sent a special team to Korea, in order to investigate the arrests and police violence; the government, however, seems to be concerned more about UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's visit. Mr. Ban, who is Korean, has not said anything about the recent turmoil. The ruling Hannara Party seems to be very pleased with his visit. All in all, the state of democracy and human rights in Korea remains as murky as before.

On a more positive note, religious leaders and hundreds of other volunteers have pledged to protect the citizens from police violence this weekend. They will stand at the front of every rally and do everything they can to keep the peace. We will have to wait and see what the government has in store (please, not another stupid wall against us!), but it seems that more People are feeling comfortable participating in protests this weekend. How many hundreds of thousands will show up? Well, stay tuned for updates.

Just to lighten you up a little bit, we've found evidence that President Lee himself has been doing exactly what he says is illegal and/or treasonable. Below is a picture of him participating in a candlelight protest in December 2005. He was the Mayor of Seoul at that time, and the protest was about the proposed regulation of private schools. Okay, let's see... the demonstration took place after sunset, so it was clearly illegal. The gathering probably also occupied a fair amount of public property, and that also makes it illegal. Hey, police! What are you waiting for? Beat him up, arrest him, and shower him with water cannons!

As we reported towards the end of this article, the City of Seoul is planning to re-grass Seoul Plaza -- in order to keep protesters away. The City set up a sign at the entrance to the Plaza which reads: "The grass has been damaged beyond repair... You are requested to keep out of the Plaza while the grass is being replaced." Humorous citizens covered the sign with different words over the days, so it now reads: "Our politics has been damaged beyond repair... Hannara Party and neo-conservatives are requested to keep out of the scene of democracy while the President is being replaced." Now, that's neat. Only if those words could come true.

» Comments are Closed.