Japanese Tsushima Temple "Korean Thieves Stole Goryeo Buddha Statue, Demands Return from Korean Court"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] Regarding the Goryeo Buddhist statue reportedly stolen by a Korean thief from Kannonji Temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, it has been decided to participate in the Korean trial and demand its return. The statue is currently claimed by both Korea's Buseoksa Temple and Japan's Kannonji Temple as their property.

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 20th, Kannonji held a press conference in Tsushima city on the 18th, stating that they received a document urging them to participate in the trial from the Korean government. They announced their intention to participate in the trial to assert ownership and demand the statue's return. The statue Kannonji is demanding to be returned is a 50.5 cm tall, 38.6 kg Goryeo-era gilt-bronze seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva statue. In 2012, a Korean theft group stole it from Kannonji and attempted to smuggle it into Korea, but it was confiscated by customs authorities.

Subsequently, a record found inside the statue's inner chamber indicated that around 1330, monks and laypeople from Buseoksa Temple in Seosan, Chungnam, enshrined the statue, sparking a dispute over ownership between Buseoksa and Kannonji. Buseoksa claims the statue is a cultural asset plundered by the Wako pirates who frequently appeared on the west coast in the 14th century and filed a lawsuit in 2016 demanding its transfer from the Korean government.

In response, the Daejeon District Court in 2017 largely recognized Buseoksa's position, ruling that "considering historical and religious values, the possessor of the statue (the Korean government) has an obligation to transfer it to the plaintiff, Buseoksa." However, the prosecution's appeal and request for a provisional injunction to suspend the transfer were accepted, and the case is currently pending in the appellate court.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, Kannonji claims that the document sent by the Korean government contains content urging Kannonji's participation in the trial, stating, "If Buseoksa wins, the Korean government will no longer be able to return the statue to Kannonji." At the press conference, Kannonji stated, "Since the trial is prolonged, we thought it necessary to clearly assert ownership, so we decided to participate in the trial."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.