TOKYO (AP) — A 14th century Korean Buddhist statue stolen from a Japanese temple practically 13 years in the past was returned on Monday, following a yearslong authorized battle between Japan and South Korea over its possession that had additional strained delicate ties between the 2 Asian neighbors.
Dozens of temple members and native residents standing by the roadside applauded to welcome the statue as a truck carrying a picket container with it arrived at Kannonji, a temple on Japan’s western island of Tsushima.
The statue is anticipated to be stored at a neighborhood museum following a ceremony on the temple later within the day.
The gilt bronze statue Bodhisatva — worshipped for mercy and compassion — is depicted in a sitting place and measures about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in top. It has been designated a cultural asset of the area and was one among two statues stolen in 2012 from Kannonji by thieves who had been trying to promote them in South Korea.
The South Korean authorities had returned the opposite statue to the Japanese temple quickly after the authorities recovered it from the thieves, who had been arrested and charged.
However the Bodhisatva bought trapped in authorized dispute after Buseoksa, a South Korean temple within the western coastal metropolis of Seosan, filed a lawsuit, claiming it because the rightful proprietor.
South Korea’s Supreme Courtroom in 2023 dominated in favor of the Japanese temple, ordering the South Korean temple to return the statue. After all of the paperwork was accomplished in January, the statue remained on a 100-day mortgage to the South Korean temple for a farewell exhibit.
The temple in South Korea mentioned it was saddened by the statue’s return and insisted it was the rightful proprietor.
“All our devoted … really feel like crying,” Woonou, the temple’s chief monk, instructed The Related Press over the telephone. He insisted that Japan “plundered” the statue from Korea and deserves “worldwide condemnation.”
Sekko Tanaka, a former head monk at Kannonji, instructed reporters that the handover ceremony on the South Korean temple on Saturday was “actually amicable and we shook palms.”
“A relaxed after a storm,” he mentioned, including that he felt relieved to see the dispute resolved whereas he’s nonetheless alive.
Tanaka mentioned he hoped South Koreans would go to Tsushima and uncover its centuries-old cultural ties with Korea, although there’ll now be larger safety across the statue.
Japan and South Korea have lengthy had disputes over Japanese atrocities throughout its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, although their ties improved as a consequence of shared concern over regional safety.
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Related Press author Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.