Just in Case you thought that Only we in the West have Issues

Infighting at Somang Church and Bongeun Temple

A fistfight and allegations of political interference have led both groups to call for resignations of their respective leaders

By Lim Ji-sun “Reverend Kim Jie-chul, step down!” This was the chant of around ten elders gathered at the chapel of the second Somang Church education building in Seoul’s Gangnam District around 9 p.m. Wednesday. Somang is a megachurch that President Lee Myung-bak also attends, and from which many of his appointments are made. That day marked the holding of the first church session since a violent incident on Jan. 2 between head Pastor Kim Jie-chul and two vice pastors. The church session, a conference in which the church’s pastors and elders gather to handle important matters, was supposed to be held on Jan. 5, but was delayed because of the incident. Kim, who has avoided the press since the incident, said that he was “sorry to have shocked the church session members, believers, and Korean churches and society due to a violent incident that took place within the church at the beginning of the new year.” In response, elder Gang Sam-hong stood up and delivered a statement on behalf of “all praying elders” in which he charged that “the head pastor issues improper orders to vice pastors and forces them to fall in line.” “He must take responsibility for this situation,” he continued. Around ten elders stood up and repeated chants demanding the head pastor’s resignation, after which they departed the meeting. The session resumed around twenty minutes later. Kim said that day that believers had requested suspensions and bars to church access for the two vice pastors who caused the violent incident at the Korean Presbyterian Church and submitted that request for a vote. However, no vote took place due to objections from the congregation. “Venerable Jinwha, head of Bongeun Temple and Jaseung must step down immediately!” Members of the Laypeople’s Association, a believers’ group at Bongeun Temple in Seoul’s Gangnam District, distributed 700 copies of a statement at 1 p.m. Thursday. In it, they said that “the designation of Bongeun Temple as subject to direct management and the departure of Venerable Myeongjin are lamentable actions that sell out all believers.” “Secretary-general of the Jogye Order Jaseung and Venerable Jinwha, who now seeks to gag believers, must step down,” the statement said. The calls from Buddhists grew fiercer after Bongeun Temple shut down its web site on Feb. 11. The temple explained that it was a “temporary suspension of service due to reorganization work,” but believers countered that “the unilateral closure of a Buddhists’ forum for communication is an attempt to shut their eyes, ears, and mouths." After the objections from believers grew more strenuous, the temple partially resumed service for the web site Friday morning. However, posts from prior to Thursday criticizing management of the temple by its head monk had been deleted in their entirety. Bongeun Temple announced that it would “delete writings that damage the harmony and order of Bongeun Temple” from the new bulletin board. In response, a Laypeople’s Association member said, “Ever since Venerable Jinhwa arrived as head monk, people who were close to Venerable Myeongjin have been shut out of the temple’s operation.” “If the biased operation of the temple continues, we will wage a campaign for the head monk’s resignation and a refusal to make offerings,” the member added. A previous scandal unfolded around Bongeun Temple among allegations that then-GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo (now chairman) placed outside pressure on a Buddhist leader to put the Bongeun Temple under the direct management of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Bongeun Temple, located in the wealthy Gangnam District, was previously led by Venerable Myeongjin, an outspoken critic of the Lee administration. The scandal abruptly subsided with the sinking of the Cheonan. Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]