Foreign students at Dongguk find another Korea beyond K-pop through Buddhism

Rows of students stood shoulder to shoulder, then bowed in unison. Among the roughly 10,000 students and faculty taking part in Buddhist prayers at Dongguk University’s recent Young Camp event were scores of international students — some Buddhist, many not. For nearly an hour, they chanted centuries-old texts and repeated bows, joining a ritual far removed from the K-pop concerts and other pop-culture experiences often associated with studying in South Korea. For Pooja Rajput, a 24-year-old Indi