▲ Chun Doo-hwan and his wife listen to the monk's explanation while looking around the grounds at Baekdamsa Temple on November 23, 1988.


Monk Samjung, who taught Buddhist scriptures to Chun Doo-hwan while he was staying at Baekdamsa Temple, said today (24th), "(Around 1995-1996) when I was imprisoned at Anyang Prison, I had a difficult visit and said, 'Kim Young-sam (former president) is trying to kill me'. He said," he recalled old memories.



In a media call, he recalled, "Mr. Jeon is closely related to me. At the time, he was sentenced to death in the first trial, and he also said that he was preparing to die."



Monk Samjung devoted himself to reforming prison inmates in the past.



In particular, he was called the godfather of death row inmates because of his efforts to edify death row inmates.



In 1986, he received a special prize for corrections for his work.



The monk had an opportunity to visit the Blue House after receiving the Grand Prix award, and it is said that he met Jeon for the first time.



After Mr. Jeon stepped down from the presidency, the meeting continued as he retreated to Baekdamsa Temple in Inje, Gangwon, due to problems such as 'liquidation of the 5th public sector'.



He visited Baekdamsa Temple and lectured Jeon on the 'Geumganggyeong', the fundamental Buddhist scripture.



Monk Samjung remembered, "(Chun) taught the Geumgangsutra about 30 times while at Baekdamsa Temple."



At that time, Jeon expressed bad feelings about Roh Tae-woo, who had been the baton of power and caused the 12/12 military coup as a classmate at the Military Academy, saying, "He and I have been together for 40 years, but it's over with 'Human Roh Tae-woo'." The monk said that he even revealed it.



Nevertheless, Jeon said that while he was in Baekdamsa for about two years, he prayed for Noh's health by offering early morning prayers.



Regarding this, his wife Lee Soon-ja said, "Do you even pray for the person who exiled us to Baekdamsa Temple?"



After Mr. Jeon was released from prison, Samjung remembered the last time he and Mr. Jeon met at his home in Yeonhui-dong.



As his health deteriorated, he said that he had no longer met Mr.



The monk said, "People hate Chun Doo-hwan as a dictator," but he said it was difficult to make a political evaluation on his own.



Instead, he said, "There was a case where a death row prisoner was spared," referring to the reduction in sentence to life imprisonment, a death row prisoner from a Korean-Japanese who had been involved in a life-saving campaign during the Jeon regime.



Samjung, who was born in 1942, is staying at a temple near Gyeongju and is in poor health, including kidney dialysis.



(Photo = Yonhap News)