| Show Houses of worship makes appearance in North Korea Barbara Demick Los Angeles Times Watched over by impassive granite peaks and the sullen eyes of the North Korean secret police a Buddhist temple is coming back to life in this most inhospitable ter ter- rain For the past 11 months South Korean monks and craftsman have been living in North Korea to rebuild a famous temple destroyed during the Korean War Among the myriad of joint ventures under way between Koreans from opposite sides of the geopolitical divide this one is extraordinary because it itis itis itis is happening despite the communist communist communist regimes regime's hostility to religion Houses of worship have not fared well in hi North Korea but there are exceptions to the rule The Temple is one Although the 10 million reconstruction reconstruction reconstruction recon recon- will not be completed until 2007 there are regular ser ser- vices In the main shrine where a statue of Buddha sits under intricately intricately intricately cately carved but as yet unpainted beams one can hear the hollow tapping of the wooden gong or each morning and the hypnotic chanting of a monk calling calling calling call call- ing the faithful to prayer or at least those permitted to attend The temple is intended fo for r South Koreans and other foreign foreign- 4 ers visiting Mount one of the few parts of the reclusive country open to tourists The only North Koreans permitted here are area area a handful of construction workers and farmers who tend to a collective collective collective tive plot thick with curling vines of pumpkins and squash On occasions occasions occasions occa occa- ranking high-ranking delegations of I North Korean officials pay visits to see what is going on The lush valley of pine trees atthe at atthe atthe the foot of Mount has been the site of Buddhist temple dating back to A stone monument monument monument ment erected by the North Korean government claims that the most recent temple was wa destroyed by US U.S. warplanes in 1951 The architectural beauty of our ancestors ancestors ancestors ances ances- tors was destroyed by the brutal air bombing of the American imperialists imperialists imperi imperi- imperialists it says Although there was little left after the war war other than some stone pillars and a a shrine for Buddhist relics the site of temple became a pilgrimage site for North Koreans Not only was it seen as a monument to US U.S. aggression but the place was blessed with visits in 1947 and 1948 by North Koreas Korea's founder Kim II Sung The monk supervising the construction construction con con- construction acknowledges that thai the North Koreans regard the temple as a cultural relic rather than a house of worship |
