▲ Venerable Hyeoneung, the abbot of Haeinsa Temple, surrounded by allegations of sexual misconduct. 


Haeinsa Temple, a temple with a thousand years of study, was caught up in an unprecedented incident of suspicion of sexual harassment of the head monk.



In the midst of this, even a violent incident occurred in the process of electing the next governor, and the shock seems to spread throughout the Buddhist world.



On the 18th, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism announced that it would closely investigate the suspicion of sexual harassment by Venerable Hyeoneung, the abbot of Haeinsa Temple, and the violence that occurred during the process of electing the next abbot, and said that it would respond strongly.



Prior to the investigation, the Jogye Order's general affairs staff notified the head priest Hyeoneung and several monks who were involved in violence and were accused of breaking the precepts to come to the Ministry of Justice for investigation, but they did not appear to have responded to the request to appear. It is known.



Enlarge Image


Monk Hyuneung, who is suspected of sexual misconduct, has been involved in various scandals in the past.



The 'Emergency Response Committee for Normalization of Haeinsa Temple (hereafter referred to as the Non-Captain)', composed of monks who expressed concerns about the recent scandal regarding monk Hyeoneung and the process of selecting the next head priest of Haeinsa Temple, raised suspicion of sexual scandal about monk Hyeoneung through a recent statement.



In a statement, the emergency committee said, "As the problem spread, such as the chief priest Hyeon-eung wearing public clothes (private clothes) with a nun monk, he was exposed in a place that did not conform to the law (law and reason), so he submitted a letter of resignation and did not appear." claimed.



This is not the only suspicion surrounding Monk Hyeoneung.



In 2018, when she was the Director of General Affairs Education, she was suspected of sexually harassing women and was also suspected of entering entertainment establishments.



She also recently raised suspicions that she played golf wearing plain clothes, not monk clothes.



As the Jogye Order decided to investigate various allegations surrounding Venerable Hyeoneung, he decided to put his resignation on hold.



Meanwhile, about 50 monks physically clashed at the Haein Chongrim special meeting held at Haeinsa Temple on the 16th to recommend a successor head priest, resulting in one Haeinsa official being seriously injured and taken to the hospital.



It is known that this happened when the side who wanted to observe the meeting and the side who opposed it confronted each other.



First of all, at the Haein Chongrim meeting held that day, it was decided to send monk Hyeoneung to Sanmun (山門黜送).



Sanmunchulsong is a system in which monks are kicked out of the temple if they commit a serious sin.



Monk Hyuneung, who is at the center of the controversy, is currently out of contact.