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Poker-playing Buddhist monks scandalise South Korea | Poker-playing Buddhist monks scandalise South Korea |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Six leaders from South Korea's largest Buddhist order have quit after secret video footage showed monks playing high-stakes poker, drinking and smoking. | |
The scandal broke just days before Koreans observe a national holiday to celebrate the birth of Buddha, the holiest day of the religion's calendar. | The scandal broke just days before Koreans observe a national holiday to celebrate the birth of Buddha, the holiest day of the religion's calendar. |
The head of the Jogye order, which has 10 million followers – about a fifth of the population – made a public apology on Friday, vowing "self-repentance". | The head of the Jogye order, which has 10 million followers – about a fifth of the population – made a public apology on Friday, vowing "self-repentance". |
South Korean TV networks aired shots of monks playing poker, smoking and drinking, after gathering at a luxury lakeside hotel in late April for a fellow monk's memorial service. | |
"The stakes for 13 hours of gambling were more than 1bn won [£543,000]," Seongho, a senior monk, told Reuters on Friday. He said he had reported the incident to prosecutors. | "The stakes for 13 hours of gambling were more than 1bn won [£543,000]," Seongho, a senior monk, told Reuters on Friday. He said he had reported the incident to prosecutors. |
Gambling is illegal in South Korea outside of licensed casinos and horse racing tracks and is frowned upon by religious leaders. | Gambling is illegal in South Korea outside of licensed casinos and horse racing tracks and is frowned upon by religious leaders. |
"Buddhist rules say don't steal. Look at what they did, they abused money from Buddhists for gambling," Seongho said. | "Buddhist rules say don't steal. Look at what they did, they abused money from Buddhists for gambling," Seongho said. |
The behaviour of the supposedly abstemious monks has led to Korean media speculation of a power split within the order. | The behaviour of the supposedly abstemious monks has led to Korean media speculation of a power split within the order. |
Seongho said he had obtained a computer memory stick that contains a video clip from a camera hidden in the hotel. He would not say whom his source was because of recent threats made against him. The filmed monks appear to have upset many in Korea. | |
"A group of monks who gamble, drink and smoke in a hotel room is tainted in the eyes of all people in the nation," the civic group Buddhist Solidarity for Reform said in a statement. | |
The scandal also attracted attention on Twitter, with some posts calling for reforms within the sect. |