THE KUKMIN DAILY

On December 8, it was revealed that Buddhist circles this year received 300 times more in government subsidies than Protestant Christian circles, for upkeep of religious cultural assets. Critics say the government is funneling national budget funds to a particular religion in the name of repair and maintenance of cultural heritages.

According to the “Recent 3-Year National Budget Support for Religions” submitted to the National Assembly by the Cultural Heritage Administration (Administrator: Rha Sun-hwa), the government spent 72.39 billion won on Buddhist properties out of the total 233.9 billion won of its budget designated for Repair and Maintenance of Cultural Heritages. The amount is 313 times more than what it spent on Protestant Christian heritages, 231 million won. The support for Protestant Christianity, moreover, was much less than that for Confucianism (2.787 billion won) or for the Catholic Church (1.329 billion won). In addition, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism spends a separate budget for preservation of traditional temples, amounting to tens of billions of won.

Hwang Pyeong-wu, an expert member of the Cultural Heritage Committee, asserted in his presentation on November 29 at an academic panel discussion organized by the Korea Institute for Religious Freedom, “The recent revision of the law on traditional temples omits a previous article that required listing of properties and public display of the list, as well as an earlier article that required the government to appoint a property manager in cases of illegality or dispute… Subsidy payments made according to the current legal structure inevitably cause spending without proper plans.”

Prof. Park Myeong-su of Seoul Theological University pointed out, “In a country where religion and politics are separate, supporting a particular religion without a certain principle brings about religious partiality.”

The general secretary of the Korean Association of Church Communication, Shim Man-seob, criticized, “An enormous amount from the national treasury is being poured out in the absence of appropriate management and supervision, as if the government is encouraging religious corruption."

Reporter Yeong Dae Yoo (ydyoo@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)


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