▲ Ven. Jaseung (Yonhap)

Buddhist monk-death

Ven. Jaseung dies in fire at temple

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- Ven. Jaseung, an influential former leader of the Jogye Order, the nation's largest Buddhist sect, has died in a fire at a temple, according to the Jogye Order on Thursday.

A senior official at Bongeun Temple in southern Seoul, Ven. Jaseung was visiting Chiljang Temple in Anseong, 64 kilometers south of the capital, when a fire erupted there at around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday.

His body was found after firefighters extinguished the fire in about three hours. He was 69.

The police were investigating the exact cause of the fire and his death.

Born in 1954, Ven. Jaseung became a Buddhist monk at age 19 and served as the president of the Jogye Order from 2009 to 2017.

He assumed the chairmanship at the Korean Council of Religious Leaders from 2011-2017 and also served as co-chairman at the Korean Conference of Religion and Peace from 2014-2017.

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