Hanpig2000 went to Gaeun-eup in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do to visit Nongam Gongso (a Catholic meeting place with no permanent priest), built in 1965 by Brother Alwin Schmid of the Benedictine Order.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t much mention the place, but Gaeun-eup, snuggled beneath the Songnisan Mountains of central Korea, is one of the most beautiful places in Korea. It’s also home to Bongam-sa, one of the most special Buddhist monasteries in Korea.
Speaking of Bongam-sa, the monks there just released a statement condemning LMB’s plan to build a canal linking the Nakdonggang and Hangang rivers. This is quite unusual for the monks there. Bongam-sa is a Jogye Order special meditation center famous for being as far removed from the real world as you’ll get in Korea — it’s located deep in a mountain forest, and it’s closed off to the general public for 364 days a year (Buddha’s Birthday being the exception). Nevertheless, if a canal is built, it may very well end up going through their neighborhood, destroying a very beautiful area of the country.
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This is just one amongst the first of the many protests to this inherently bad idea (canal).