The Korean Buddhist Jogye sect has launched a fact-finding investigation into allegations that a former monk from a prestigious university who left the sect after a divorce had a second child with his ex-wife. If the monk is found to have had a child after leaving the sect, he will be stripped of his ordination.

A Jogye sect official told Yonhap News Agency on Aug. 8 that the sect’s investigative arm, the Hohyeok Division, has called in Do Yeon-su, who was recently accused of having a second child after leaving the sect, on an internet message board.

Do Yeon-sim is known to have left the sect after majoring in electronics engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)토토사이트. He became known for his work as a meditation leader at Bong Eunsa Temple and for publishing books such as “A Band-Aid on My Heart” and appearing on television.

According to a Jogye sect official, Do Yeon-sang said in the investigation, “I had one child after marriage, but then I divorced and left the sect. It is not true that she had a second child after leaving the church,” he said.

The Jogye sect allows married people to leave the monastery once they divorce and organize their worldly ties. However, if a person continues to have a relationship with his or her ex-wife after leaving and a child is born, he or she will be disqualified.

The sect is asking him to prove that the allegations are not true with a genetic test, but he reportedly replied that “his ex-wife is not responding.

“Since the sect does not have the right to investigate (members of the public), we cannot force him to take a genetic test, so he must prove that the allegations are not true,” said a Jogye sect official, adding, “If he cannot prove it, we have no choice but to judge and discipline him based on the facts that have been revealed.”

Meanwhile, Do has not publicly addressed or refuted the allegations. In a post on Facebook on July 7, he announced that he was suspending his social media (SNS) activities, saying, “I feel responsible for burdening and negatively affecting the Jogye sect through this incident, and I will restrain myself for the time being and spend my time devoting myself to my practice and studies.”