Attending the Hoeamsa Culture Festival
First Lady Kim: “Bringing honor to unification of Buddhist community”
Yoon, attends 5.18 Memorial Ceremony for the third consecutive year,
President Yoon Seok-yeol and First Lady Kim Geon-hee are entering the ‘Hoeamsa Sari Eun Memorial Cultural Festival and Samdae Hwasang Daryejae’ held at Hoeamsa Temple in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province on the 19th. Yangju=Yonhap News
President Yoon Seok-yeol and First Lady Kim Geon-hee celebrated the return of the remains of three great masters and two monks after 100 years away from their homeland during a ceremony at the Hoeamsa Temple in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.
President Yoon and First Lady Kim attended the ‘Hoeamsa Sari Eun Memorial Cultural Festival and Samdae Hwasang Daryeje’ held at Hoeamsa Temple in Yangju on the 19th. The event commemorated the return of the remains of three great masters and two monks from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to their original resting place.
President Yoon, in his speech, expressed that the return of these precious artifacts was a long and difficult journey, facilitated by the close relationship between South Korea and the United States. He emphasized the collaboration between the government and the people, working together to achieve the people’s hopes.
According to reports, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism had repeatedly requested First Lady Kim’s attendance at the event. When First Lady Kim visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts during President Yoon’s state visit in April last year and requested the return of the remains, discussions resumed after a decade. Venerable Hosan, Chief Priest of Bongseonsa Temple, expressed special gratitude to First Lady Kim for enabling the return.
First Lady Kim stated that it was an honor to contribute to resolving a longstanding issue within the Buddhist community which was the result of the aspirations of millions of Buddhists. Her participation in a public event marked her first appearance after visiting the memorial altar of the late Chief Priest Jesung at Jogyesa Temple in December last year.
President Yoon, on the previous day, attended the ’44th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Movement’ held in Gwangju for the third consecutive year. He stressed the importance of ensuring economic freedom for all people to create a society where both the working class and the middle class can be happy.
While President Yoon did not mention the issue of incorporating the spirit of the May 18 movement into the constitution, leaders from various political parties who attended the ceremony expressed their determination to pursue this path. However, the ruling Democratic Party emphasized the need for a ‘May 18 single-point amendment,’ while the main opposition party proposed a more comprehensive amendment to address fundamental issues with the constitution dating back to 1987.