Ven. Jinwoo Re-elected to Lead Jogye Order, Marking First Incumbent Renewal in 13 Years

Ven. Jinwoo has secured another four years at the helm of South Korea’s Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, winning an election that also revealed a clear appetite for reform within the order.

Jinwoo received 183 votes, or 57%, from the 321-member electoral college at a vote held on the 3rd at the Korean Buddhist History and Culture Memorial Hall in Seoul. Ven. Gyeongwoo received 138 votes, or 43%. The re-election of a sitting chief executive had not occurred since the 2013 election of Ven. Jaseung, who led the order from 2009 to 2017.

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I will open a new century for Korean Buddhism, moving from stability to a leap forward.

The contest attracted particular attention because it was the first election since 2017 in which multiple candidates ran. The electoral college consists of 81 members of the Central Council, the order’s legislative body, and 240 representatives elected by the order’s 24 regional headquarters. Jinwoo campaigned on the record of his first term, which began in September 2022, including a popular Buddhist expo and the introduction of an artificial-intelligence robot monk.

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The monastic community will become more confident, the order more stable, and Buddhism younger and more dynamic.

He presented those efforts as part of a broader push to make Buddhism more accessible and strengthen its standing in society. Before the election, he said that the order’s stability and change, achieved through the joint effort of its four communities, should not stop. Fifty-three Central Council members endorsed him, calling his leadership necessary to maintain a stable but innovative order and a Buddhism respected by the public.

Gyeongwoo campaigned on reform of the order. Another candidate, Ven. Jeongnyeom, withdrew after declaring support for Gyeongwoo and saying the order needed a change in leadership and systemic innovation. After his victory, Jinwoo said the vote represented a mandate for a new leap based on stability and harmony, not merely personal support. He pledged to listen with humility and exclude no one.

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Today’s choice is not support for me personally. I will accept it as a solemn mandate to achieve a new leap for Buddhism based on the order’s stability and harmony.

The next term will test that promise. Jinwoo has proposed a special committee to improve the leadership election system, stronger rights for Buddhist nuns, expanded welfare for monks, basic practice allowances, more authority for regional headquarters and gradual reductions in central contributions. He also faces demands for fair appointments and unity after disputes over his eligibility and monastic record. The Jogye Order oversees general administration and external affairs for more than 3,500 temples and 12,000 monks. It also controls appointments, an annual budget of about 100 billion won and the supervision and approval of temple property transactions. Declining believers, youth departures and falling numbers of people entering the clergy remain longer-term challenges.

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We will cherish every relationship and opinion formed during the election. I will listen with greater humility so that no one is left out.