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Immediately after the Japanese and Korean court rulings… “We will urge the early return of the Goryeo Buddha statue.”

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On the 26th, while the legal dispute surrounding the ownership of the seated gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva from the Goryeo Dynasty was concluded with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Japan’s favor, Monk Won-woo, the abbot of Buseok Temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism in Seosan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, touched a photo of the Buddha statue displayed in the temple grounds and left the statue’s Seosan Mountain. It sadly explains why it is owned by Buseoksa Temple. 2023.10.26/News1 ⓒ News1

As soon as the Korean Supreme Court ruled that a Buddhist statue from the Goryeo Dynasty, which had been returned to Korea by a thief from a Japanese temple, must be returned to Japan, the Japanese government began urging its return.

According to TV Sahi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideki Murai said on the 26th, “We will urge the Korean government to allow the early return of the statue to Kannon-ji Temple, the owner of the Buddha statue, and at the same time, we will respond appropriately by contacting the relevant officials.”

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On this day, the First Division of the Supreme Court of Korea (Chief Justice Oh Gyeong-mi) confirmed the lower court ruling that the plaintiff lost in the appellate trial of the movable transfer lawsuit filed by Buseoksa of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism against the government. It was believed that the Buddha statue belonged to Kannonji.

The lawsuit surrounding the Buddha statue began in 2012, when a group of Korean national cultural property thieves stole and imported the ‘gilt bronze seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’ and a standing Buddha statue from the Unified Silla Dynasty stored in Kannonji, Tsushima Island, Japan.

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It is known that the Buddha statue was made around 1330 and was looted by Japanese pirates at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty. In Japan, it was designated as a Tangible Cultural Property of Nagasaki Prefecture.

The thieves were caught and convicted during the smuggling process, and the Buddha statue was confiscated by the state. Since then, the Japanese government has been requesting the Korean government to return the Buddha statue.

Seosan Buseoksa Temple filed a civil suit against the government in 2016, claiming ownership of the Buddha statue, but the court did not recognize Buseoksa Temple’s claim, citing the legal principle of ‘statute of limitations on acquisition.’ According to the acquisition statute of limitations, ownership of Kannonji was acquired in 1973.

Deputy Minister Murai briefly commented on the Korean Supreme Court’s ruling, saying, “This is a ruling based on the claim that Kannonji is the owner.”

Tatsuma Murase, who served as head of Kannonji’s tanka, told NHK, “He is our main idol (the highest Buddha among the Buddhas enshrined in the temple), so we strongly hope that he will return.”

Naoki Hitakatsu, mayor of Tsushima (Tsushima), said, “This is a just decision that we have been waiting for,” and said, “We will coordinate with the relevant organizations and carry out the necessary procedures so that the Buddha statue can be returned to its owner as soon as possible.”

Source: Donga

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