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Koreans protest government refusal to allow Dalai Lama

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October 30, 2000 

SEOUL (AP) - Hundreds of Buddhists and supporters staged a rally Sunday to protest the government's refusal to allow a visit by the Dalai Lama.

A Buddhist group had invited the exiled Tibetan leader to visit Seoul in November. But China has warned South Korea against hosting the Dalai Lama, saying he is a separatist who should be denied a forum to promote his campaign for Tibetan autonomy.

South Korean Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment Sunday.

Protesters, led by a dozen monks in gray robes, held an hour-long rally at a temple in downtown Seoul and briefly marched through nearby streets.

"Protect cultural sovereignty! Oppose shameful diplomacy!" protesters chanted, carrying placards, banners and yellow balloons on which similar slogans were printed.

The government had already refused to issue the Dalai Lama an entry visit.

The Dalai Lama Visit Preparation Committee, the group campaigning for the visit, demanded that the government make its stance clear. In response, the government notified the group over the weekend that the Dalai Lama will not be allowed to visit.

With an estimated 12 million followers, Buddhism is the largest religion in South Korea, which has a population of 47 million.

China annexed Tibet by force in 1950. A Buddhist monk, the Dalai Lama went into exile in India after an anti-Chinese uprising in 1959.