Asia-Pacific

ROK Temple will not Oppose Return of Stolen Buddhist Statue to Japan

Courtesy of Tsushima City Board of Education
The seated statue

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:23 JST, September 28, 2024

NAGASAKI — The South Korean temple that claimed ownership of a stolen Buddhist statue has expressed its intention not to oppose the statue’s return to Japan, according to Kannonji temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture.

Kannonji temple announced Thursday that it had received a letter from Buseoksa temple declaring its intentions regarding the return of the statue, which was stolen from Kannonji temple more than 10 years ago and brought to South Korea.

The letter noted that their acquiescence to the statue’s return would be conditional on a memorial service being held at Buseoksa temple before the return. Kannonji temple, however, has asserted that it will not accept this condition and that the return of the statue should come before the memorial service.

The former head priest of Kannonji temple, said at a press conference that the letter, which arrived at the end of June, stated that Buseoksa temple would not oppose the return of the statue as long as a 100-day memorial service could be held at the South Korean temple.

The letter did not ask for a response, and Kannonji temple has not replied.

“It would be more appropriate to talk about the memorial service after the statue has been returned,” the priest said.

The seated Buddhist statue was stolen from Kannonji temple in 2012 by a group of South Korean thieves.

The South Korean police later arrested the thieves and seized the statue.

However, the South Korean temple claimed ownership of the statue, saying that it was looted by Japanese pirates in the 14th century. The temple filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government, demanding that the statue be handed over to them.

The South Korean Supreme Court recognized Kannonji temple as the statue’s rightful owner in October 2023, but it has not yet been returned.

The Tsushima municipal assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling for the South Korean government to give back the statue as soon as possible.