Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Military Buddhist priest of the Jogye Order visits Araw unit

A special military Buddhist priest of the Korean Buddhist Jogye Order visited the Araw unit, the joint support group for The Philippines, and encouraged soldiers who were hard at work with recovery from the typhoon.

Recently, Monk Jeongwoo, a special military Buddhist priest, with two military religious officers (Buddhist priests), paid a visit of two nights and three days to the unit, which was deployed in Tacloban City, Leyte.

They had a Buddhist service to pray for safety at the sanctuary of the unit, and attended the ceremony in Palo City for the completion of Baras elementary school, which was recently rebuilt with donations.

And later, they took a look around the recovery area of a refugee village and soup kitchen and medical support site in Tanawan City, finishing their schedule with an event for encouraging soldiers of the Araw unit to perform their missions safely. 

Monk Jeongwoo had carried out a Buddhist send-off ceremony for soldiers shipped to The Philippines at the sanctuary of the international peace corps on December 24, and at that time he promised to visit the unit again.

Jogye Order had collected around 37 million won by conducting a campaign for sharing and practice of charity when The Philippines, one of combatant nations for the Korean War, was damaged by super typhoon Haiyan.

Adding 220 million won to this collection, which was raised by “Friends on the Path”, the public interest foundation of Jogye Order, it supported the recovery of nine elementary schools in The Philippines.

By Byeong-No, Yun < trylover@dema.mil.kr >
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