hankyoreh

The Jogye Order of Buddhism has decided not to light its border tower this year for the Buddha’s Birthday at Aegi Peak at the foremost front with North Korea in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. The order said that it felt compelled to respect the 2004 agreement between North Korean and South Korean authorities to halt propaganda activities in the area of the Military Demarcation Line. Concurrently, a number of North Korea groups launched flyers toward the country from Imjingak yesterday. When residents tried to stop them, they apparently carried out the effort under cover of darkness in the early morning hours.
The Jogye Order’s decision can be seen as indicating that while North Korea did engage in provocations, South Korea should avert a larger clash by firmly abiding by the agreement between North Korean and South Korean authorities. Since the sinking of the Cheonan and the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, the Lee Myung-bak government has been waging psychological warfare with radio broadcasts and flyer distributions to North Korea. Amid all of this, tensions have been ratcheted up considerably as military authorities on both sides have faced off, declaring their intent to strike at “the source of the provocations.” Under these circumstances, the religious world has expressed the wise position that there is no reason for generating unnecessary conflict.
Some have also claimed that propaganda activities against North Korea have the effect of provoking the country and leading to changes. This short-sightedness rests on a weak foundation. For instance, when propaganda flyers are sent to North Korea, this only results in stronger controls on North Korean society. It is an act that can produce a backlash instead of promoting change. This is the reason we frequently sense a determination among the groups engaging in propaganda activities to play up their own presence in South Korean society rather than actually achieving changes in North Korea.
After the Jogye Order announced its plans not to light the tower, military authorities reportedly asked around about other Buddhist groups to perform this activity. A situation of extreme tension occurred in December of last year in the Aegi Peak area over Christmas Tree lights. Pyongyang called it a psychological scheme, and South Korea went so far as to declare “Jindo Dog One,” its highest level of readiness posture for a localized clash. South Korea’s military authorities, who should be working to remove such sources of danger, are instead creating a pretext for a conflict. It is truly irresponsible behavior that shows no consideration at all for the fears of area residents. One wonders whether the North Korea groups as well have thought about the suffering of residents in the border region.
Efforts to generate changes in North Korea are necessary. But the answer is not likely to be found in outside propaganda activities. If we truly hope to see changes in North Korea, the right thing would be for the government and private sector alike to make efforts at interchange and communication with North Korea in various ways. In particular, we hope that military authorities will immediately halt their ridiculous search for a Buddhist group to light the Aegi Peak tower in place of the Jogye Order.

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