[KS] North Korean temple photos

don kirk kirkdon at yahoo.com
Thu Aug 14 20:33:25 EDT 2014


Brother,
Thanks for linking to all those beautiful pictures. I wonder if you could tell a little more about destruction of temples in the Korean War-- bombing, ground attacks, deliberate blowing up of structures with explosives after they were overrun. Were battles fought in the mountains -- and were any of the temples actually used for military purposes? Here's a little known aspect of the war  -- would appreciate some details.
Don Kirk


On Friday, August 15, 2014 8:00 AM, Brother Anthony <ansonjae at sogang.ac.kr> wrote:
 


Virtually all the temples in Geumgangsan were destroyed during the war, amidst claims that they were being used as military bases. The main exception was Pyohunsa which was damaged but then (at least partially) repaired and continues to be used as a temple to some degree. Also Bodeok-gul (-am) remains perched on its metal pillars.  Part of Jeongyang-sa was also repaired after the war. Singye-sa was largely rebuilt 8 - 10 years ago with a lot of help from South Korean Buddhists. Seok-wang-sa's single-pillar entrance gate alone remains though there is talk of rebuilding. Some parts of the great Geonbong-sa complex (now in South Korea) have been rebuilt. Photos of these and others, past and present, can be seen through the links in http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/DiamondMountainTemples.html 

Brother Anthony
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