By Kwon Mee-yoo
With their arrival at Incheon International Airport, Tuesday, the 1,200 ancient Korean books including “Uigwe” or royal texts will be housed at Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA).
Among them, 167 books are "Uigwe”or texts that detail the protocol and formalities for state events such as weddings, funerals, banquets and visits of foreign missions of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).
Designated as UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2007, the treasures are the essence of Joseon’s royal culture and history of records.
Tuesday’s batch comes in the wake of five Uigwe that were returned earlier in October including “Daerye Uigwe,” two copies of “Wangsejagaryedogam” and two copies of “Hongjae Jeonseo.”
The bulkiest returned is "Jeungbo Munheon Bigo," (Reference on the Compilation of Documents on Korea), which is composed of two books and was published in 1908. "Daejeon Hoetong" (Comprehensive Collection of National Codes) published in 1865 is also on the list.
Nine hundred and thirty eight books were taken out of Korea by Hirobumi Ito, the first Japanese resident general here. Ito took the books from 1906 to 1909 ostensibly to research Korea-Japan relations. He took a total of 1,028 books from Gyujanggak, the palace library. Some were returned previously in 1965 based on the Korea-Japan Agreement. Among the books returned, those considered as the only copies include the 10 books of the "Gukjotonggi," the "Musinsajeok," the 10 books of "Gapogunjeongsilgi," the 80 of the "Gangyeonseolhwa" and the six of the "Cheonggumanjip."
"We will research these books to confirm whether they are exclusive or not," an official of the CHA said.
The books were transferred to the National Palace Museum of Korea in central Seoul straight from the airport.
The CHA plans to hold a ritual for the return of the royal texts at Jongmyo, a Joseon-era royal shrine, on Dec. 13. The books will be exhibited at the museum from Dec. 27 to Feb. 5, 2012.