Angry South Korea Buddhists rally against president

By Kim Junghyun

SEOUL (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of grey-robed Buddhist monks in straw hats flooded a park in central Seoul on Wednesday to protest alleged government bias against their religion.

Buddhists have criticised President Lee Myung-bak, a Christian, when he named several members of his Presbyterian church to his transition team before taking office in February, and further upset them when government maps released online in June did not list sites such as Buddhist temples.

"President Lee, stop violating the Constitution, which stipulates a separation of church and state," an alliance of Buddhist groups that organised the protest said in a statement.

Lee, who has battled massive street protests in recent months in opposition to his policies, has said his government advocates religious neutrality.

"Freedom of religion is a basic right granted in our Constitution. Personal religious views should not be used to stir up social conflict or damage the unity of people," Lee was quoted as saying by a presidential Blue House official.

About a quarter of South Korea's 49 million people are Buddhist and another quarter are Christian. Mass rallies over religious differences are rare in South Korea, a country where protests in the capital are otherwise commonplace.

Organisers said about 200,000 people gathered for the rally while police put the number at about 60,000.

Buddhist leaders said they may close their temple grounds to visitors unless they receive an apology from Lee.