Conviction Buddhist institutions and contexts Buddhist institutions and lineages Seoul, South Korea · 2025

South Korea: Jin-Gak Order and official convicted after retaliation against a monk's accuser

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

senior monk within a Buddhist order, the religious order as employer and institution

Organization

Jin-Gak Order

Spiritual nexus

The victim was a member of the order subject to the senior monk's hierarchical religious authority; when she reported, the order itself used its institutional power to reassign her — the finding the court penalised.

Institutional obedience or isolation
Guru or spiritual-teacher authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2025-01-01 · conviction and damages award

Seoul court, South Korea. A Seoul court convicted the Jin-Gak Order and its HR official of violating sexual-violence-prevention and whistleblower-protection law after a senior monk repeatedly touched a 25-year-old order member without consent. The monk received a suspended ten-month term, and the victim was awarded 309.5 million won in damages for retaliatory reassignment.

Documented coercion mechanisms

hierarchical seniority within the order
retaliatory reassignment of the person who reported

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict and damages report 'Whistleblower wins compensation in #MeToo case against senior Buddhist monk', The Korea Herald (2025).: Reports the convictions of the order and its HR official and the damages awarded for retaliation against the person who reported.

Related record

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