Cheong Wa Dae welcomes Buddhists` acceptance of Lee`s apology

SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Friday
welcomed the local Buddhist community's decision to accept President Lee
Myung-bak's public apology for his administration's alleged religious bias
against Buddhists.

Earlier on Friday, a group of Buddhist leaders emerging from a meeting in Seoul
declared their intention to accept President Lee's apology for his government's
alleged pro-Christian bias, as well as his promise to observe religious
neutrality in state affairs.
Lee's administration recently came under fire for a series of incidents that
allegedly revealed its religious bias, including the appointment of Christians to
top government posts, the omission of major Buddhist temples from an online
government map and a controversial search of a top Buddhist monk's car by police.
While issuing a public apology on Sept. 9, Lee, an elder at a Seoul Christian
church, said the latest incident should help pave the way toward reconciliation
and tolerance among the nation's religious and social organizations.
Reacting to the Buddhist community's decision to accept Lee's apology, a ranking
official at the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae said, "We feel relieved to see
Buddhists take Lee's apology seriously. From now on, both sides should work
together to dispel any remaining misunderstanding and make reconciliatory
efforts."
"Taking a lesson from the incident, the government will now make extraordinary
efforts to abstain from any religiously controversial gestures," the official
said.
He also said the latest compromise with the Buddhist circles is expected to give
further impetus to Lee's presidency.