Dalai Lama Wants Korean Reunification

The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual and political leader (71), who is currently staying at Tibetan University, Varanasi, India, expressed his wishes for the two Koreas to find new ways to coexist soon as he met with female monks from South Korea on February 9.

“South and North Korea have the same culture, the same race and the same language. So the two Koreas have every reason to be able to achieve a legitimate reunification. Yet, North Korea is still ruled by a dictatorship, which will present some obstacles in their road to reunification. I hope, however, that the two Koreas will bring about a national reunification without any bloody war,” he said.

On that day, the Dalai Lama was visited by 16 members of “Samsohoe,” which means “a group of three smiles,” including Buddhist nuns, Catholic and Anglican nuns, and provosts of Won-Buddhism, who are on a pilgrimage to sacred places around the world. The Dalai Lama said, “I heard Christianity and Buddhism have a sour relationship in Korea, but I am very glad to see nuns and monks from different religions help one another to make a pilgrimage.”

The Dalai Lama, who currently heads the Tibetan government in exile, expressed his intention to visit Korea if the appropriate time comes.

He has been fighting for harmony between religions since 1975, and pointed out, “Religion has been and still is a cause for religious conflict and bloody wars. A harmony among religious people can make a great contribution to peace in the world.”

Jeong-Gook Yoon jkyoon@donga.com