National Buddhist Temple

I visited the national Buddhist temple last week, which is in the heart of Seoul.

The building itself isn't very big, and it seemed recently built. My homestay brother explained that all of the older temples in Seoul were destroyed during the Japanese occupation, so now the only place where you can find the ancient structures and granite Buddhas is way out in the countryside.

In the courtyard in front of the temple was a display of paper lanterns, which at first seemed like nothing more than a way to brighten up the area.

But if you look closer from underneath them, you can read the word "OUT." "OUT" being part of the most popular political chant now in Korea, "Lee Myung Bak Out," (Lee Myung Bak is the current unpopular president).

I have even seen the chant shortened to 2MBOUT when it is spraypainted on buildings, (the word Lee also means two in Korean).