Buddhist monks hit by scandal after devotees filmed smoking, drinking and playing high-stakes poker



Six Buddhist monks have quit after being secretly filmed drinking, smoking and playing a game of poker in which more than £600,000 was won.

South Korean television showed shots of the monks who had gathered at a luxury lakeside hotel for a colleague’s memorial service.

The monks, who played poker for 13 hours, were from the Jogye order, which has ten million followers – a fifth of the nation’s population.

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Caught: Members of the Jogye Buddhist order play poker and smoke during a memorial gathering for a fellow monk

The head of the order made a public apology yesterday, vowing ‘self-repentance’.

He added: ‘Basically, Buddhist rules say don’t steal ... they abused money from Buddhists for gambling.’

The episode has led to speculation of a power split within the order.



South Korean TV networks aired shots of monks playing poker, some of them smoking and drinking, after gathering at a luxury lakeside hotel in late April for a fellow monk's memorial service.

'The stakes for 13 hours of gambling were more than 1 billion won (£541,400),' Seongho, a senior monk who uses one name, said today.



He said he had reported the incident to prosecutors.



Uproar: Buddhist monks at Jogyesa Temple, Seoul, South Korea

Gambling outside of licensed casinos and horse racing tracks is illegal in South Korea and frowned upon by religious leaders.

'Basically, Buddhist rules say don't steal. Look at what they did, they abused money from Buddhists for gambling,' Seongho said.



The behaviour of the supposedly abstemious monks has led to Korean media speculation about a power split within the Jogye order.

Seongho said he had obtained a USB drive containing a video clip from a camera hidden in the hotel. He would not say who his source was because of recent threats made against him.



The wayward monks appear to have upset many in South Korea.



'A group of monks who gamble, drink and smoke in a hotel room is tainted in the eyes of all people in the nation,' civic group Buddhist Solidarity for Reform said in a statement.

The outcry also spilled on to Twitter, with some posts calling for reforms within the sect.



'...it can be good news. Please, Jogye Order, cut out the rotten part before it gets worse and take this opportunity to be reborn,' one Twitter user wrote.

Shame: The secret footage was broadcast on South Korean TV just days before one of the biggest dates in the Buddhist calendar