Rapid socio-economic growth of South Korea has brought an unwelcome side effect that threatens to undermine its own cultural heritage as well as moral standards.
Worse yet, fierce - if not fanatical Christian evangelical onslaughts - have jeopardized the history and value systems of Korea, whose culture and way of life have harmoniously interlaced with Buddhism since its introduction in the year of 372 AD.
Under the seizure of bellicose evangelism, Buddhism in Korea has been painted as a misguided, superstitious cult, while Buddhists are openly abused as 'demons worshippers'. In some cases, physical and criminal assault were reported, such as temple-burning, insults openly hurled at Buddha images or statutes etc.
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I stayed in South Korea for seven months (I'm a monk). I was accosted by an old woman on the subway who was wearing one of those red vests that said something like, "Jesus, Heaven - No Jesus, Hell." I've also been told that the Korean Buddhist temples here in the L.A. area also sometimes receive hateful letters from Korean Christian fundamentalists as well. I really feel sorry for such people because they must be acting out in this way because they are suffering so much. They're also creating a tremendous amount of negative karma.
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