Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, a devout Christian, pledged Thursday to make efforts to forge national reconciliation as he reached out to Buddhists.

   Hwang made the commitment during his meeting with top officials of the Jogye Order at Jogyesa, the chief temple of South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, in central Seoul.

   He said South Korea has had little religious friction, though there are sectarian strifes in other parts of the world.

   His visit came three weeks after the Jogye Order pressed Hwang, then nominee for the country's No. 2 official, to promise to work toward religious reconciliation with a balanced religious view.

   Buddhists and even some Christians had demanded President Park Geun-hye withdraw her nomination in anger over what they claim is Hwang's religious bias.

   Hwang, a former prosecutor, said in the past that prison inmates can rehabilitate if they are reformed through the spirit of Christianity.

   Christians and Buddhists roughly account for 18 percent and 23 percent of South Korea's population, respectively, as of 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available, according to government data.

   Statistics Korea said it plans to conduct a new survey on South Koreans' religious demographics in November. It said the survey is conducted every 10 years. (Yonhap)