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Happy Veg Trend Continues in South Korea
Compiled By Korea News Group (Originally in Korean)
[Korea] Inspired by Supreme Master Ching Hai’s motivation in bringing loving, joyful and cruelty-free meals to people’s dining tables, the Korean initiates opened the first Loving Hut in their country in December 2008 in Busan. Since then, three more Loving Hut restaurants were opened in Ulsan, Seoul and Jeju Island. 
The Loving Hut, in the biggest Korean industrial city, Ulsan, has been thriving and filled with many customers since its opening in April. In Seoul, Loving Hut is located at a hot spot in Shinchon, right in front of Yon Sei University, where many young students from near universities like to hang out. Customers were pleasantly surprised at the colorful, delicious and affordable food, and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. Some expressed their wish to see more vegan restaurants spread out in the country, thus increasing the vegan population. Since Jeju Island is a world famous tourist destination, the newly opened Loving Hut appeals to the highly environment-conscious Jeju citizens and attracts worldwide tourists. May all Loving Hut restaurants continue to prosper and spread the compassionate vegan lifestyle.
[Busan] On May 26, Golden Year 6 (2009), fellow initiates held a lecture on the benefits of a vegan diet on children and the environment at Baek Yang primary school in Busan. Thanks to the active support of the school, many parents attended the lecture. They listened attentively to the speakers and were touched by initiates’ genuine concern about global warming. They were impressed by the tasty vegan lunch boxes served after the lecture and some of them even asked where to buy such healthy and delicious food. Many parents and school staff members voiced their gratitude for the event and some of them expressed their wish to be vegetarian. On June 16, the initiates held another SOS Global Warming video lecture and vegan buffet, this time at Geummyeong Middle School. Thirty parents and 55 teachers attended the lecture. The Vice-Principal and many teachers of the school expressed their gratitude and admiration to the dedication and selfless service of the initiates and a domestic science teacher took many pictures of the colorful food to be used as teaching materials in his class. Everyone enjoyed being a part of the noble mission of saving the planet.
[Kim Hae] On May 31, a video seminar on Master's teachings was held in Kim Hae Cultural Center. The initiates put up many posters and distributed flyers on the days leading up to this important event. As a result, many people attended the seminar and watched the SOS global warming film and a Master's lecture from 2000. After having the vegetarian lunch, 16 people stayed to learn the convenient method of meditation and many of them had good experiences with visions due to God’s blessing. May more people join our Quan Yin family and bring more light into this world.
[Seoul] Master’s books The Dogs in My Life, The Birds in My Life, and The Noble Wilds were brought to the Seoul International Book Fair from May 13 to May 17, and attracted numerous visitors. After reading The Dogs in My Life, a girl commented, “Lucky - when he was red-fruit colored, was so cute and pretty.” She added, “From now on I will not eat any animals and start eating things like tofu and vegetables.” Many people spent a long time watching the DVD showing the loving interaction between Master and Her animal companions. Fellow initiates also distributed SOS fliers and explained to the visitors the relationship between vegetarianism and global warming, which received positive responses. 
From May 11 to 13, at the Students Festival in Seoul National University, fellow initiates set up a vegan booth to serve delicious earth-friendly food. It’s the third year in a row the initiates have participated in this event. The university really supports the idea of healthy eating and it offers vegetarian meals each Wednesday in its cafeteria. A community of students has become interested in this alternative, compassionate and sustainable diet.
[Daegu] For the third consecutive year, initiates from Daegu Center participated in the Daegu International Food Industry Exhibition, running from June 11 through June 14. The event took place in Exco, the largest exhibition complex in Daegu. They promoted vegan soy meat and other meat substitute products, displayed vegan foods, and showcased Supreme Master Ching Hai’s books. SOS flyers and CDs were distributed freely. 
Countless people visited their booth to sample vegan soy meat, organic vegan cookies as well as vegan cakes. Many were eager to learn new recipes. The visitors, including several Catholic nuns and Buddhist monks asked questions and showed great interest in the vegan diet and the Quan Yin Method of Meditation. Master’s books attracted many people, especially children, who were reluctant to leave.
[Hongchun] The 17th Citizen’s National Ping Pong Championship took place in Hongchun Public Stadium in Hongchun county, Gangwon province on May 9 and 10. Initiates from Wonju Center provided 642 servings of the vegan meal for the participants. Because of animal related diseases and outbreaks such as swine flu, avian flu and mad cow disease, there is a pervading awareness that vegetarianism is good for health and many people happily enjoyed vegan meals, saying this is the way they should eat and live. Some people expressed their gratefulness for being able to eat such clean food after the ping pong matches. The president of Gyounggi Ping Pong Association was so inspired that he asked initiates to help him open vegetarian restaurants. His request was met with enthusiastic support from the initiates who thanked God for successfully sowing the seeds of compassionate living in this small town.
In the month of May and June, with the help of powerful media, initiates were able to bring the urgent message of global warming to a large audience over Korean radio. On May 13, two initiates were invited to talk on vegetarianism for 25 minutes through Gwangju MBC radio’s “Women’s Era.” Another initiate had a chance to speak on the same issue on Busan’s Buddhist Broadcast Station.  From June 1 to 7, SBS radio, one of the major Korean broadcasting stations, aired a one-minute speech twice every day about the environment and vegetarianism through its popular show, “One World Through Love.” This program is beloved for its contribution to turning the world into a brighter place through positive messages. Our initiates were invited to address topics like, “We are one with the environment” and “Meat is the main cause of global warming.” They encouraged all the listeners to take an active part in the solution of the current planetary crisis. On June 28, at the Ajar Ajar Fan Gathering Event with DJ Churi hosted by SBS Radio, our initiates gave a lecture on global warming and provided a delicious vegan buffet for about 150 fans. Many audiences including DJ Churi showed their strong intention to join the noble cause of stopping global warming by being vegetarian. Ajar Ajar with DJ Churi is a popular live show broadcasted from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends interacting with about 100,000 fans nationwide through text messaging. The Korean initiates thanked Master and all the radio stations
who gave them the wonderful opportunities to publicize the impact
of global warming and promote vegetarianism.
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