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The Dhamma Times, 29 August 2004
The Province, Vancouver - It could become one of the Lower Mainland's newest landmarks. But the expansion plans for a Buddhist temple in Richmond are raising some concerns.
Worshippers at the temple on No. 5 Road in Richmond have approved a $50-million project, that would be built just south of the existing site.
It would include a giant statue of Buddha. If approved, it will be bigger than the largest statue of its kind on Hong Kong's Lantau Island -- and it may even rival New York's Statue of Liberty in size.
But officials with other churches in the area say the expansion may overwhelm the area.
"That's significantly larger than what any of the other facilities and churches and temples along here have been allowed to build," said Brad Julihn, senior pastor at Richmond Bethel Church.
Richmond Councillor Bill McNulty says the expanded temple would be the largest Buddhist temple in North America, and one of the largest in the world.
The megaproject is in the final planning stages, and is expected to go before Richmond city council for approval this fall.
 Korean monk's protest halts railroad link
The Dhamma Times, 29 August 2004
By Kim So-young
Korea Herald, Seoul - It was the 58th day after Buddhist monk Jiyul started fasting outside Cheong Wa Dae when top presidential aides visited him this week and accepted her demands.
In an effort to protect several famous Buddhist temples in Mount Geumjeong and Mount Cheonseong. Jiyul had been protesting against the construction of a controversial rail tunnel through mountains in South Gyeongsang Province over the past two years.
Backed by Korea's strong Buddhist community and environmentalists who oppose the construction, a crucial part of the nation's high-speed train service, the monk's agony has paid off: Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Society Moon Jae-in and Vice Environment Minister Park Sun-sook pledged Wednesday to suspend the work about for three months until a court rules on its viability.
Jiyul is the Herald Person of the Week in recognition of his role in suspending the large-scale government project and energizing other pro-environment protesters. Her protest is a blow against the Korea Train Express, the bullet train launched this year.
Now the government has acceded to the demand for a review of the impact of the rail construction on the environment, the high-speed railroad on the Seoul-Busan Line, scheduled for completion in 2008, could be delayed by one or two years.
It now takes two hours 40 minutes from Seoul to the southeastern city of Busan by the KTX. Once construction is completed, the trip will be cut to one hour 45 minutes.
About 26 percent of Koreans are Buddhist, forming the largest religious group in the country, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry last year.
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