About 700 officials and Buddhists from South and North Korea held a ceremony Sunday to celebrate the restoration of part of a temple on the North's scenic Mount Geumgang that was burnt down during the 1950-53 Korean War.
The renovation of 10 buildings was completed following the restoration of the main hall of Shingye Temple two years ago.
In January, 2003, the Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, agreed with the (North) Korean Buddhist Federation on restoring the temple on the mountain, which is on the North's east coast. About 80 percent of the temple has been restored.
"We can hold this ceremony thanks to June 15 joint declaration," Chung So-jung, the federation's chief, said in a speech. "Our hopes for the unification of the two Koreas will be backed by prayers by Buddhists from the two Koreas."
The June 15 declaration refers to a joint statement issued at the end of the first-ever inter-Korean summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000 in Pyongyang.
The restoration project was the first inter-Korean project to restore a common cultural asset since the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1948. The temple emerged as a hot spot for many inter-Korean cultural events.
Founded in 519 A.D. during the Silla Dynasty, Singye Temple is one of the four most famous Buddhist temples on Mount Geumgang.
But the entire temple, except for a three-story stone pagoda, was destroyed in 1951 by U.S. bombing.
Mount Geumang, North Korea, Nov. 19 (Yonhap News)
Two Koreas hold ceremony for restored buddhist temple on Mt. Geumgang |
