Kyodo: "Korean Buddhist Community to Pursue Written Guarantee for the Return of Goryeo Buddha Statue Stolen from Japan"

A Goryeo Dynasty gilt-bronze seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva statue brought into the country by a thief after being in Japan. Photo by Yonhap News

The Korean Buddhist community is reportedly coordinating a plan to provide a written guarantee for the return of a Goryeo Dynasty gilt-bronze seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva statue, which was smuggled from Japan to Korea, according to a report by Japan's Kyodo News.

On the 19th, Kyodo reported that Joo Ho-young, the vice speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Korea-Japan Parliamentary League, expressed enthusiasm for the statue's return around May 5th next year, which is Buddha's Birthday.

The written guarantee is said to be prepared by three individuals: the head monk of Buseoksa Temple, the head monk of Sudeoksa Temple in Yesan, Chungnam (the main temple of Buseoksa), and an executive of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.

Joo, a devout Buddhist, told Kyodo, "A Buddhist harmonious resolution is desirable," and added, "I hope people will trust the promise of return."

According to Kyodo, Joo plans to visit Japan in late this month to discuss the Korea-Japan Parliamentary League and bilateral relations, during which the issue of the Goryeo Buddha statue is expected to be raised.

Previously, in 2012, a Korean theft group stole the Goryeo Buddha statue from Kannonji Temple on Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, where it had been kept, and smuggled it into Korea.

Since then, Buseoksa Temple has claimed ownership of the statue, stating it is a cultural heritage looted by Japanese pirates in the past.

However, the Korean Supreme Court ruled in October last year that ownership of the statue belongs to Japan. The court explained that under the legal principle of "acquisitive prescription," which grants ownership if an item has been possessed without issue for a certain period, the statue's ownership was properly transferred to Kannonji Temple.

Buseoksa Temple expressed a desire to hold Buddhist rites (beop-yo) for 100 days before sending the Goryeo Buddha statue back to Kannonji Temple, to which Kannonji responded that they would accept this on the condition of a "definite return."