Government spokesman and Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon commented on four demands made by the Buddhists -- a presidential apology, dismissal of officials accused of biased action including Police Commissioner Eo Cheong-soo, legislation on the religious bias of public servants, and immunity for protesters wanted for having organized candlelight vigils against U.S. beef imports.

With regard to the apology, Yu quoted President Lee Myung-bak as telling senior presidential secretaries on Monday, "Formally or informally, public servants should not take actions or make remarks related to religious matters that might undermine national harmony."

On Eo’s dismissal, Yu said, "We'll make sure that he visits Buddhist leaders to express his regret and promises to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents."

He said the government will introduce a law and educate government employees to prevent religious bias. Immunity for protesters, who have been camped out at the Jogye Temple in Seoul, was “difficult to accept from the standpoint of law and order,” he said, but the government will make “utmost efforts" to take lenient measures by taking Buddhists' views into consideration.

An hour later, organizers of a Buddhist rally planned for Wednesday which prompted the government action condemned Yu’s remarks. They used words like "disappointment," "mockery," "deception" and "arrogance" to characterize the announcement. They were particularly upset that the government issued a statement that quoted President Lee as instructing senior presidential secretaries to take no action or make remarks related to religious matters.

The Venerable Wonhak, director of the general affairs department of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, said, "It is possible to discuss how to make a law and establish a system later. But we expected the president to apologize and punish those involved immediately. We understand today's statement by the government as meaning that we have to keep rallying to denounce the government." The rally will therefore go ahead as planned.

The Ven. Jinhwa, another Buddhist leader, said, "Despite the short 15-day period for preparation, temples under a total of 27 different Buddhist orders across the country will join the rally. Some 200,000 monks and Buddhist believers will arrive in 2,000 buses from various temples across the country."

After preliminaries at noon Wednesday, the rally organizers will hold a Buddhist ceremony starting at 2 p.m. and afterwards march from Taepyeongno Street to Sejongno Intersection to Jonggak Intersection to the Jogye Temple.

Unless there is a change in the government's attitude, the Buddhists said they will stage a series of rallies against the Lee administration in each region, beginning with the Gyeongsang provincial region, after the Chuseok holidays.

(englishnews@chosun.com )