By Kim Tong-hyung
What seemed inevitable is now beginning to happen: a dispute over two ancient Korean Buddha statues taken from Japan by thieves arrested in Daejeon is fueling a fast burning diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
The Japanese government is demanding that Korea swiftly return the statues that were at a shrine on the island of Tsushima. However, the Korean government is reluctant to offend Korean Buddhist groups, which claim the artifacts are currently where they rightfully belong because they were ''looted'' by the Japanese during the 1910-45 colonial rule here or perhaps earlier.
Buddhist groups received further backing from a recent provisional ruling by Daejeon District Court, which stated that one of the statues, a 14th century gilt-bronze Bodhisattva should not be returned until it is proven through legal proceedings that the Japanese temple acquired it in a lawful manner.
Korea's Buseok Temple, where it is claimed that the statues were made and originally kept, filed for an injunction against the government to stop it from returning the artifacts to Japan.
''We will call for the speedy return (of the statues) through diplomatic channels and in accordance with international law,'' Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
Korea's foreign ministry spokeswoman Han Hye-jin said that the government has yet to decide whether to return the statues to Japan.
''We are continuing our internal discussions on how to handle this issue, based on the provisions of the Cultural Properties' Protection Act and UNESCO principles on related issues,'' she said.
Five men were arrested in Daejeon in January for stealing the artifacts, which also include an 8th-century statue dating back to the Unified Shilla era, and sneaking them past customs in Busan.
Experts say the historical and artistic merits of the two statues are extraordinary. One, from the National Museum of Korea, said that the 8th-century statue is special enough to be designated as a national treasure "right away." Both artifacts are designated by Japan as Important Cultural Properties.
Provision No. 20 of Korea's Cultural Properties Protection Law states that the country should employ "necessary measures" to assist the return of foreign cultural property should the country of origin prove through a legitimate process that they were taken illegally and request their return.
''This is a very difficult situation. Considering national sentiment and the claims of Buddhist groups, the government can't obviously make a quick decision on this. That said, as curators and historians, we are also concerned about the conflict affecting our access to the many Korean artifacts kept in Japan,'' said the National Museum official, who didn't want to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
''We believe there are around 600,000 Korean artifacts of cultural and historical significance in Japan and Korean scholars have been able to access and study them with relative ease. But the Japanese might not be so open minded if the row over the statues becomes bigger.''
What seemed inevitable is now beginning to happen: a dispute over two ancient Korean Buddha statues taken from Japan by thieves arrested in Daejeon is fueling a fast burning diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
The Japanese government is demanding that Korea swiftly return the statues that were at a shrine on the island of Tsushima. However, the Korean government is reluctant to offend Korean Buddhist groups, which claim the artifacts are currently where they rightfully belong because they were ''looted'' by the Japanese during the 1910-45 colonial rule here or perhaps earlier.
Buddhist groups received further backing from a recent provisional ruling by Daejeon District Court, which stated that one of the statues, a 14th century gilt-bronze Bodhisattva should not be returned until it is proven through legal proceedings that the Japanese temple acquired it in a lawful manner.
Korea's Buseok Temple, where it is claimed that the statues were made and originally kept, filed for an injunction against the government to stop it from returning the artifacts to Japan.
''We will call for the speedy return (of the statues) through diplomatic channels and in accordance with international law,'' Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
Korea's foreign ministry spokeswoman Han Hye-jin said that the government has yet to decide whether to return the statues to Japan.
''We are continuing our internal discussions on how to handle this issue, based on the provisions of the Cultural Properties' Protection Act and UNESCO principles on related issues,'' she said.
Five men were arrested in Daejeon in January for stealing the artifacts, which also include an 8th-century statue dating back to the Unified Shilla era, and sneaking them past customs in Busan.
Experts say the historical and artistic merits of the two statues are extraordinary. One, from the National Museum of Korea, said that the 8th-century statue is special enough to be designated as a national treasure "right away." Both artifacts are designated by Japan as Important Cultural Properties.
Provision No. 20 of Korea's Cultural Properties Protection Law states that the country should employ "necessary measures" to assist the return of foreign cultural property should the country of origin prove through a legitimate process that they were taken illegally and request their return.
''This is a very difficult situation. Considering national sentiment and the claims of Buddhist groups, the government can't obviously make a quick decision on this. That said, as curators and historians, we are also concerned about the conflict affecting our access to the many Korean artifacts kept in Japan,'' said the National Museum official, who didn't want to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
''We believe there are around 600,000 Korean artifacts of cultural and historical significance in Japan and Korean scholars have been able to access and study them with relative ease. But the Japanese might not be so open minded if the row over the statues becomes bigger.''
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