Tens of thousands of South Korean Buddhists took to the streets of Seoul yesterday to protest what they say is pro-Christian bias in the administration of President Lee Myung-bak.
Discontent among Buddhists has been brewing for months over Lee's alleged favoritism toward Christianity. Buddhists have criticized Lee, a Presbyterian, for filling most of his Cabinet and top presidential posts with other Christians.
Police estimated that 38,000 people, including 4,000 monks, gathered Wednesday at Seoul's City Hall. Organizers said they would march to the Jogye temple, South Korea's main Buddhist temple, several blocks away.
Buddhist ire was raised again in June when the transportation ministry dropped Buddhist temples from electronic maps of the public transit system and by a photo in which the head of the national police agency posed with a famous pastor at a Christian event.