France Urged to Return Royal Documents to Korea

It is a sheer crime to pillage cultural properties whether such an act is done by officials, soldiers, businessmen or looters. It should be common principle that a government should return plundered cultural assets, if it possesses any, to countries of their origin. Cultural properties can restore their true value only when they are where they used to be. But many former imperial powers are still tenaciously refusing to send back looted objects to their origins.

A recent decision by a French court is one of the typical examples of ``cultural imperialism,'' which justifies the looting of cultural properties around the world. On Dec. 24, an administrative court in Paris dismissed a suit by a Seoul-based civic group demanding the return of Korea's royal documents, which were plundered by French troops during an 1866 attack on the hermit kingdom of Asia.

But, the court ruled that the Korean royal texts were a ``national property'' currently preserved by the National Library of France, saying that such status cannot be affected by the circumstances of their acquisition. It also stated that it ``was difficult to view that international rules banning pillaging were in place around the time of 1866.'' This means that France will not return the texts to Korea because they are the former's property. The ruling also implies that looting can be legitimized because there was no international convention outlawing the plunder of cultural properties at the time of the French soldiers' seizure of the documents.

It is truly regrettable that the court made such a preposterous and egregious ruling, which may tarnish the image of France as a culturally advanced nation. It is nonsense for the European country to claim that documents of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) are part of its property. In fact, no one denies that the texts are Korea's cultural properties although they are possessed by France. It is also unequivocal that France came to obtain the documents in an illegal manner. Then, how could the court claim that they are French national property?

The documents had been stored in the royal archive Oegyujanggak on Ganghwa Island off Korea's west coast until the French attacked the island in the 19th century. The occupying troops stole 287 of more than 1,000 volumes of the documents from the archive, while burning the remaining books. It was not until 1975 that a librarian from Korea found out that the documents had been stored in the archive. Then, in 1993, when Korea struck a deal to build its high-speed railway KTX based on France's TGV model, the French government agreed to lease the documents on a ``long-term and regular basis.'' Regrettably, however, the accord has not yet been implemented due to differences over the leasing terms.

The Korean plaintiff is considering appealing to a higher court in Paris. But can we expect a reversal of the decision? We urge the French side to sincerely accept its responsibility for the looting and take action to send the royal texts back to Korea. It's time for the French justice system to break its wrong tradition of having turned down all demands for the return of pillaged cultural assets by countries of their origin.

The Seoul government is required to play a more active role to retain the documents in close cooperation with international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). More than 76,000 pieces of Korea's cultural properties have been stolen and are now possessed by other countries. Officials should go all-out to bring back the valuable properties to the nation one by one in order to restore pride in its cultural heritage.