Seoul: Buddhists, Protestants and Catholics united against the Park government

SOUTH KOREA
Seoul: Buddhists, Protestants and Catholics united against the Park government 
by Joseph Yun Li-sun
A thousand Buddhist monks took to the streets to denounce intelligence agency interference and criticise the president for her "inability to communicate with the public." On 16 December, a group of Protestant clergymen will begin ten days of prayer and hunger strike against the government. Tensions with the ruling party continue, as it attacks the Church in right-wing newspapers.


Seoul (AsiaNews) - Despite the wave of criticism and threats against the Catholic Church, even South Korean Buddhist monks took to the streets in Seoul yesterday to slam the country's intelligence agency and criticise President Park Geun-hye for her "inability to communicate with the public."

About a thousand monks called on the government to appoint an independent counsel to investigate the allegations against the National Intelligence Service (NIS) for interfering in the last presidential election. In addition, they want President Park to apologise for her "arbitrary handling of state affairs."

In so doing, the monks join the pro-democracy campaign launched a few months ago within the Catholic community in favour of "truth and justice" in national politics.
On 22 November, a priest from the Diocese of Jeonju got caught up in a controversy for criticising the government in his homily over its militaristic policies that in his view force North Korea to respond militarily.  

South Korea's establishment lashed out at Fr Park Chang-shin, accusing him of being an "enemy of the nation". He is currently under investigation on "various criminal charges."
Seoul Archbishop Mgr Andrew Yeom Soo-jung yesterday said that Catholics "must be involved in politics" but urged priests and consecrated people to act "upon careful consideration," without direct involvement.

The situation is very tense. Two days ago, a bomb scare forced the archdiocese to close Myeongdong Cathedral, with police deployed around the site to "defend" it from a demonstration of hundreds of army veterans, who pushed their way towards the building.
Right-wing papers and the ruling conservative Saenuri Party are still attacking the Church for its "interference".

Some Protestants also joined Catholics. A group of them said that they would hold a national demonstration on 16 December to demand Park's resignation, followed by a ten-day hunger strike with prayer in front of Seoul City Hall.
"In this regard," wrote the Korea Herald in an editorial, "religious organizations are advised to stay away from politics. When Korean society was undergoing a transition from dictatorship to democracy, it needed their active participation in politics. But Korea has already passed that stage."


At the same time, "President Park should not miss the message of the progressive religious groups. She should ensure that the whole truth about state agencies' systematic meddling in last year's elections is brought to light."

South Korea Retaliates Against Outspoken Catholic Priest with ‘Pro-North’ Accusations

South Korea Retaliates Against Outspoken Catholic Priest with ‘Pro-North’ Accusations

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2013/11/28/south-korea-retaliates-against-outspoken-catholic-priest-with-pro-north-accusations/

South Korea has launched an investigation into a prominent Catholic priest after he made remarks calling on the country's president to resign over the state spy agency and Defense Ministry's widespread manipulation of online leading up to last year's elections. 

Park Chang-shin, a priest from the Diocese of Jeonju and a member of the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice who has been outspoken in his criticism of the president over the electioneering scandal, is under fire for his comments involving North Korea. During one of his recent homilies (full text [ko]), he said that “it was natural for the North to attack Yeonpyeong island since the United States and South Korea held joint military exercises near its sea border” referring to North Korean attack against that border island in November 2010 which left two civilians and two marines dead.

This has become ammunition for the government to have him invested by prosecutors. South Korea's prime minister labeled Park's remarks as “destructive to the country and supportive of the enemy”, and the Defense Minister chimed in by calling him an “enemy of the state”. It is ironic because in that same homily, Park also said that he is “so sick of the ‘pro-North’ rhetoric that the conservative regimes love to adopt and abuse in order to clamp down on critics after branding them as pro-North Korea sympathizers.”

Since late summer of this year, Catholic leadership in South Korea, spearheaded by the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice, has been vocal in condemning the government's systematic interference, regularly holding combinations of Catholic Mass and candlelight vigils in protest. The group has the history [ko] of resisting against President Park's father's dictatorial rule back in the 1970s and also were the ones who unearthed the torture and death of Park Jong-Chul, a milestone that lead to the June Democratic Movement in 1987.

The latest revelations about the electioneering scandal show that more 24.2 million tweets have been written by the spy agency and the Defense Ministry's Cyberwarfare Command to smear opposition candidates and praise current president Park Geun-hye. As more and more protests have sprung up, the president recently said that ‘she would not tolerate any attempts to cause social division and hurt national unity'.  

The Korean web has erupted with anger and concerns over the nation's freedom of expression and democracy in light of the treatment of Father Park. 

Prominent citizen journalist @mediamongu tweeted a photo of a special Mass organized by the CPAJ and celebrated by Father Park on November 22. Approximately 400 priests and Catholics reportedly participated in this protest: 

After the Mass and protest calling for President Park's resignation ended, priests and Catholics members took to the streets, holding candles in their hands and shouting ‘Step down, President!' 

Many net users expressed their fear over the fact that pro-North rhetoric has been used so frequently against progressive groups and critics of the government:   

Catholic priests call for Pres. Park to resign

Priests and laypeople from the Jeonju diocese of the Catholic Priests‘ Association for Justice (CPAJ) marched after a special mass on the evening of Nov. 22 to hold a candlelight vigil in front of a Lotte Mart in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. (by Kim Bong-gyu, staff photographer)

Interference in last December’s presidential election and highhanded response prompt calls for Park’s resignation

By Park Im-geun, North Jello correspondent, Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent, Kim Kwang-soo, Busan correspondent and Choi Sang-won, South Gyeongsang correspondent

Priests from the Jeonju diocese of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice (CPAJ) held a special mass on the evening of Nov. 22 at the Susong Cathedral in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. At the mass, the priests declared that the presidential election was illegal and rigged because of the interference by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and other state institutions. The priests also called on President Park Geun-hye to resign.

Up to this point, Catholic priests and laypeople in dioceses around the country had held special masses at which they presented statements and asked for Park to apologize and punish the those responsible for the election interference, but this is the first time since she took office that priests have explicitly demanded that she step down.

The mass was independently planned by the Jeonju diocese of the CPAJ. However, since the position they took reflects the views of a considerable number of the Catholic clergy, it is now possible that demands for Park to step down will spread to other dioceses.

The priests from the Jeonju diocese of the association read their manifesto aloud during the mass. “If the president does not meet our demands for her to apologize, reveal the truth, punish those responsible, and announce her resignation, we will continue to hold special prayer meetings and masses calling for her resignation, and we will declare that she is no longer the president of South Korea,” the statement said.

The Jeonju priests said that the systematic election interference that state institutions were revealed to have carried out in last December’s presidential election suggest that the election was illegal and rigged, something that is unacceptable in a democratic country. Since Park is the person responsible for governing the country, they argued, she ought to take the ultimate responsibility for this.

The manifesto by the priests quoted several passages from the Bible, including Luke 8:16-17 (“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed...For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open”) and Matthew 18:17 (“…if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector”).

The mass was officiated by Song Nyeon-hong, priest at Susong Catholic Church. Song is the head of the Jeonju diocese of the CPAJ. The sermon at the mass was delivered by Park Chang-shin, a veteran priest who was one of the leaders in the democratization movements of the 1970s and 1980s.

After the mass was over, the priests and laypeople marched for about 900 meters through the neighborhood and took part in a candlelight vigil with local residents.

The CPAJ released an official statement on the same day, explaining that “the Jeonju diocese was acting alone when it called for President Park’s resignation.”

Nevertheless it is now possible that when priests from other dioceses express their position or take action by holding a special mass they may also call for Park to step down as the Jeonju priests did.

“While it may seem a little erratic for the Jeonju diocese of the CPAJ to ask President Park to step down, when you look at the underlying trends in the organization, they did not make this decision lightly,” said a source with the Seoul Archdiocese who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Backing up the demands for the president’s resignation is a strong consensus that has formed within the clergy.”

The source explained that Catholic priests had been using special masses and lectures to demand that the truth be revealed about the NIS’s interference in the election and that democracy be restored. The government made no kind of response to these efforts, however. With distrust in the government increasing throughout the Catholic Church, people in the Jeonju chapter of the CPAJ finally started talking about calling on Park to step down.

The cancellation of a meeting between Park and the council of Catholic bishops that had been scheduled for last month also could have affected the demand for the president to resign. Park was scheduled to have a lunch meeting with seven bishops on the council, but the Blue House unilaterally canceled the plans, explaining that the president was too busy.

Distrust of the president has increased in the Catholic Church, with people believing that Park was ignoring the church and was unwilling to communicate with it.

Priests from the fifteen Catholic dioceses started calling attention to the political situation on July 5. Through September, they delayed regular masses and issued manifestos criticizing state institutions’ illegal interference in the presidential election.

The Busan diocese was the first to issue an emergency manifesto in July, and on Nov. 4 it held a mass condemning state institutions’ illegal interference in the presidential election. The mass took place at the Seomyeon Cathedral located in the Bujeon neighborhood of the Busanjin district of Busan. It was the second such mass, following the first mass in September.

A total of 715 people took part in the mass on Nov. 4, including 162 priests from the Busan Diocese and 553 monks and nuns. During the mass, a manifesto was presented, which said, “We can no longer stand by and watch the current administration’s highhanded attempts to cover up the illegal interference in the election and to obstruct the investigation into the same. With heavy hearts, we offer a grave warning to the administration whose actions compel us to once hold a special mass and issue a statement. This is the last chance to choose the truth and to reform.”

The Committee for Justice and Peace at the Masan Diocese is planning to hold a third mass about the political situation.

“We held two special masses calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor into the National Intelligence Service’s illegal interference in the election. The first was at the Myeongseo Cathedral in Changwon on Sep. 9, and the second was at the Okbong Cathedral in Jinju on Nov. 18,” said committee chair Baek Nam-hae. “While we haven’t settled on the data or location yet, we are planning to hold a third special mass depending on how things go in the political situation.”

The Committee for Justice and Peace in the Gwangju Archdiocese, which had been holding a regular protest mass each Thursday, is also mulling over how it should respond.

“Just the facts that have surfaced so far about state institutions’ illegal interference in the presidential election was enough to bring us to this point [urging Park to resign],” said Lee Yeong-seon, the committee chair. “We will discuss what action we should take in the future after attending the protest mass in the Jeonju Diocese.”

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

Tables Turn Against S. Korean Pres. Park as Reputable Catholic Priests Demand Her Resignation

Yesterday | Posted by: roboblogger | Full story: CNN

On Friday, November 22, 2013 a special mass was held in Gunsan South Korea, a city located in the southwest province, by the Jeonju diocese of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice .

http://www.topix.com/world-leaders/park-geun-hye/2013/11/tables-turn-against-s-korean-pres-park-as-reputable-catholic-priests-demand-her-resignation

On Friday, November 22, 2013 a special mass was held in Gunsan, South Korea, a city located in the southwest province, by the Jeonju diocese of the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice (CPAJ). Approximately 400 priests and Catholics participated in the mass. They demanded the resignation of President Park Geun-hye stating that the legitimacy of her presidency was severely damaged by having been elected through a fraudulent election. It was the first time since last December’s election that the resignation of Park Geun-hye was called for publicly by any South Korean organization. Sources believe that this is only the beginning of organized support against President Park. Soon other religious and activist groups will also publicly call for her resignation.

Evidence has mounted since the election proving that state agencies such as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the army Cyber Warfare Command had interfered in the election to bring the candidate of the ruling party, Park Geun-hye, to victory. Despite substantial evidence against Park the opposition party leaders and citizen groups have so far only demanded a thorough investigation and an apology from the President. Park has been denying any association with the alleged crimes or to have received any benefit from the illegal election campaigning preformed in her favor.

The Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice was established in 1974 to fight against the dictatorship led by Park Chung-hee, the father of the current president. The priests in this group have played a major role for the past 40 years of South Korean history fighting for human rights, democracy, and freedom of speech. Many priests have been physically assualted, imprisoned, and tortured for supporting just causes.

Immediately upon the demand of the resignation of President Park by the CPAJ extreme right-wing conservatives and even the Blue House (Park’s office) made statements where they accused the priests of interfering in politics inappropriately and accused them of being North Korean sympathizers. This political strategy by Park’s administration was expected as any well known public figure who has spoken out against the election fraud has been branded as a North Korean sympathizer. Activists, religious leaders, poets, scholars, writers, and anyone with a platform to spread the truth have been attacked by Park’s administration and the major media outlets (which are all controlled by Park as well).

*For more information:

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/612424.html

The photograph is from the Hankyoreh.