South Korean monks fist-fight for power

Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat A Buddhist monk cries with a serious injury after being beaten by rival monks at the Chogye Temple in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Nearly 40 people were injured, some seriously, as rival Buddhist monks fought through the night Tuesday for control of the temple.

SEOUL, South Korea - The gray-robed monks of the Chogye Buddhist order are generally a meditative lot, spending long hours in silent search of spiritual enlightenment.

But not lately.

For the past three weeks, thousands of them have been fighting each other with fists, rocks, firebombs and clubs over matters far more temporal and mundane: power and money.

At the heart of the dispute is a struggle for control of the order, the largest in South Korea. A swift resolution does not appear likely, and riot police stood guard around the temple yesterday in case of new violence.

The frequent clashes at the Chogye order's main temple in downtown Seoul have been captured by television cameras, sending surreal images into millions of South Korean homes.

During one melee, a portly, middle-aged monk swings a collapsible metal chair at a fellow monk wearing a bright yellow construction hard hat atop his shaven head.

In another scene, a monk wearing what appear to be combat boots tries to scale a barricade barring the main door of the order's administrative building. From above, a rival dumps the contents of a chamber pot on his head.

The latest brawl this week left 37 people injured, some seriously, and the two main sanctuaries on the temple grounds badly damaged.

It also left many of South Korea's 8 million lay Buddhists dismayed.

The trouble began when the head of the order, Song Wol-ju, sought a third four-year term. Opponents seized his office early last month, effectively blocking his re-election.

"This whole dispute was caused by some greedy, corrupt, power-oriented monks. We are determined to reform the order at any cost," said Wol Tan, a spokesman for the anti-Song monks.

Under public pressure, Song offered to resign, but his followers refused to give in and tried to oust opponents from the temple grounds.

"The people who have seized the office building are not monks but hoodlums," said Ji Sun, a spokesman for Song. "We cannot possibly let them lead the order. And it is clear which side the public supports."

The public, however, does not appear to support either one.

"The monks are more like politicians than monks. And they know that the winner gets everything and the loser gets nothing," said Yoon Won-chul, a professor of religious studies at Seoul National University.

The victorious faction gets to control an annual budget of $9.2 million, millions of dollars in property and appoint 1,700 monks to various duties. In the past, those on the losing side were accused of corruption and deprived of their status as monks.

Yoon said it is an open secret that many monks, once they take control of an order, begin to amass wealth - houses and expensive cars - through donations by worshipers.

He also said many Korean Buddhist monks are not well-educated, and are ill-equipped to support themselves if they leave their temples.

"Those who are not interested in power and money stay in their temples and rarely make public appearances. And hearing about this dispute, they will become even more reluctant to be involved," Yoon said. "In the meantime, the order's high-ranking jobs get filled with monks who are much more interested in power than the religion itself. It is a vicious cycle."