[News Terms] Ownership of 'Seosan Buseoksa Gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Statue' at Japanese Temple

The 'Seosan Buseoksa Gilt-bronze Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva' is a Buddhist statue from the Goryeo period, created around 1330 to enshrine at Buseoksa Temple in Seoju at the time. It stands 50.5 cm tall and weighs 38.6 kg.

It was made in 1330, the year King Chung Hye of Goryeo ascended the throne, and is believed to have been taken by Japanese pirates (Wako) who invaded Goryeo in 1370 to Tsushima Island, Japan. In 1973, it was designated as a Tangible Cultural Property in Japan, reflecting its high cultural value.

Gilt-bronze Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva from the storage of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage in Daejeon.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

In October 2012, Kim (then 70 years old) and eight other domestic cultural property thieves broke into the local Gaijin Shrine (海神) and Kannonji (??寺), stealing two Buddhist statues including the Gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and the Bronze Standing Buddha, smuggling them into Korea. However, they were caught by the police, leading to a dispute over ownership.

The Bronze Standing Buddha from Gaijin Shrine, initially thought to be from the Unified Silla period, was returned in 2016 as there was no evidence of looting and the owning temple could not be identified. However, Buseoksa Temple in Seosan, the original owner of the Gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, filed a lawsuit in 2016 claiming the statue was made around 1330 to be enshrined at a temple in Seoju (the Goryeo-era name for Seosan) and that since it was looted by Wako pirates, it should be returned to its rightful owner. The statue was then stored at the Daejeon National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage.

The first trial recognized that the statue was looted by Wako pirates through abnormal means and ruled in favor of Buseoksa Temple in January 2017. However, the second trial court ruled that it was not proven that Buseoksa Temple in Seosan is the same religious organization as Buseoksa Temple in Seoju during the Goryeo period, and even if the statue was illegally exported, the statute of limitations had already expired, transferring ownership to Kannonji.

The Supreme Court upheld the second trial's decision. On the 26th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) stated that although there is sufficient reason to consider Buseoksa Temple in Seosan as the same religious organization as Buseoksa Temple in Seoju during the Goryeo period, ownership belongs to Kannonji under the doctrine of 'acquisitive prescription.'

When considering acquisitive prescription, the Supreme Court applied Japanese civil law rather than Korean civil law, reasoning that under the old conflict of laws (now private international law), the law of the place where the property is located at the time the prescription period expires should apply. This is based on the Japanese old civil law provision: "A person who peacefully and publicly possesses another's property with the intention of ownership for 20 years acquires ownership."

The Supreme Court found that Kannonji continuously possessed the statue from January 26, 1953, when it acquired corporate status, until around October 6, 2012, when the statue was stolen by thieves, thus completing the acquisitive prescription on January 26, 1973, under Japanese civil law, thereby acquiring ownership of the statue. The Court ruled that the possibility that the statue was looted by Wako pirates during the Goryeo period and illegally exported, or the fact that it is a Korean cultural property, does not override this acquisitive prescription doctrine.

Regarding this Supreme Court ruling, former head monk Wonho of Buseoksa Temple criticized, "This ruling legalizes barbarism and is a disgraceful decision that recognizes the ownership of the looters over illegally exported cultural properties," adding, "Does it recognize ownership of cultural properties without explaining how they came to possess them just because they held them for over 20 years? This is a barbaric logic that says if you steal your neighbor's belongings and keep them for a long time, they become yours."