President Moon Responds Briefly to Criticism Over 'Choseok Seating' Post
President Moon Jae-in is receiving an explanation from Kim Hyun-mo, the Commissioner of the Cultural Heritage Administration, at the site of Beopheungsa Temple located on the southern trail of Bukaksan Mountain on the afternoon of the 5th. / Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Regarding the controversy over President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook sitting on the presumed foundation stone of Beopheungsa Temple during a commemorative hike for the opening of Bukaksan Mountain in Seoul, Hong Joon-pyo, a member of the People Power Party, commented, "They probably did it unknowingly."
On the 7th, a netizen posted an article titled "President Moon Jae-in sitting on Buddhist cultural heritage" in the 'Hongmun Cheongdap' corner of Hong's online communication platform 'Youth Dream.'
The netizen criticized, "President Moon could have simply said, 'I didn't know it was a cultural heritage site. I am truly sorry.' But instead, government departments are making excuses and protecting the president. President Moon remains silent. His approach to the media has been like this throughout his five years in office."
They added, "One of the main reasons people disliked the Moon Jae-in administration was because there was never a single instance of admitting mistakes and apologizing," and said, "A person who makes mistakes but does not admit them and acts shamelessly is worse than an incompetent person." In response, Hong said briefly, "They probably did it unknowingly."
Earlier, on the 5th, during the commemorative hike for the opening of Bukaksan Mountain, the president and his wife sat on the lotus-patterned foundation stone at the presumed site of Beopheungsa Temple and received an explanation from Kim Hyun-mo, the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration. When the Blue House released photos taken at the time, voices of criticism arose from the Buddhist community regarding the president sitting on the foundation stone.
On the 6th, the Buddhist media outlet Beopbo Newspaper published an article titled "President and First Lady sitting on the foundation stone of the main hall... Blue House’s awareness of cultural heritage is dismal," pointing out, "Criticism of the Blue House’s awareness of Buddhist cultural heritage is growing."
In response, the Cultural Heritage Administration stated, "The foundation stone at Beopheungsa Temple is not a designated or registered cultural heritage," but also said, "We agree with the criticism that we did not prepare more delicately in advance, and we will be more careful in the future."
Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House Chief of Public Communication, said in an interview with MBN, "The president’s respect for Buddha and Buddhism has nothing to do with this," and added, "If there was any discomfort, we apologize for not being thoughtful about this issue."
However, he also said, "I was beside the president at the time, and he asked Kim Hyun-mo, the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, 'Is it okay to sit here?' The head of the Cultural Heritage Administration seemed to think it was not an ancient relic because it was recently carved. He also apologized for not paying close enough attention, so I hope people can understand it to this extent."
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