"The Foundation of Our Nation's Spiritual Culture"
"Uniting the People in Times of Crisis"
Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung stated on May 5, "The stable transmission and preservation of Buddhist culture is a mission of our era and a responsibility to future generations," and added, "I will establish a solid foundation for the transmission of Buddhist culture."
On this day, in celebration of Buddha's Birthday, Lee introduced his policy pledges to support Buddhism on his social networking service (SNS) account and made these remarks.
Lee emphasized, "Buddhism is the foundation of our nation's spiritual culture, and it has united the people and repelled foreign invasions during times of national crisis as a bulwark of national defense," adding, "The Democratic Party and I feel a sense of responsibility for the historic task of passing on Buddhist culture."
Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung is greeting citizens at the Korean Seonbi Culture Festival held at Munjeong Riverside in Yeongju, Gyeongbuk on the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News
In particular, Lee stated, "We will expand the national support system so that Buddhism can strengthen its religious role in social integration." He also promised, "We will increase support for the templestay program, which is part of the national healing initiative, and provide assistance for meditation programs." He further explained that he would support Buddhist cultural exchange projects promoted at the private level to enhance the diplomatic role of religion.
He also said, "We will ease the self-funding ratio for the maintenance and repair of traditional temples," and explained, "To prevent damage such as wildfires caused by climate change, we will expand firefighting and disaster prevention facilities such as water pipe connections, and increase research and development of firefighting facilities incorporating new technologies."
He added, "We will pursue regulatory improvements and expand support, taking into account the public contributions of traditional temples," and continued, "We will promote the construction of a transmission center for the Lotus Lantern Festival, which is recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and seek support to raise awareness of the contemporary value of the Tripitaka Koreana."
In addition, he stated, "We will ease regulatory elements of the cultural heritage admission fee reduction system and improve the management support system for temple forests and temple sites as complex cultural heritage," and added, "We will relax activity restrictions for preservation efforts by reflecting the unique characteristics of traditional temples within park cultural heritage zones and strengthen support for their management and protection."
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