A 14th-century Korean Buddhist statue, stolen from a Japanese temple nearly 13 years ago, has finally returned home.
The repatriation, which took place on Monday, marks the end of a protracted legal battle between Japan and South Korea over the statue's ownership, a dispute that further complicated the already delicate relationship between the two countries.
The statue's arrival was met with celebration. Dozens of Kannonji temple members and local residents lined the roadside, applauding as a truck bearing the statue, encased in a protective wooden container, arrived at the temple on Tsushima Island.
Following a ceremony at Kannonji temple, the statue is expected to be housed at a local museum.
The gilt bronze statue Bodhisatva — a female goddess of mercy — is depicted in a sitting position and measures about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in height. It has been designated a cultural asset of the region and was one of two statues stolen in 2012 from Kannonji by thieves who were looking to sell them in South Korea.
The South Korean government had returned the other statue to the Japanese temple soon after the authorities recovered it from the thieves, who were arrested and charged.
But the Bodhisatva got trapped in legal dispute after Buseoksa, a South Korean temple in the western coastal city of Seosan, filed a lawsuit, claiming it as the rightful owner.
South Korea’s Supreme Court in 2023 ruled in favor of the Japanese temple, ordering the South Korean temple to return the statue. After all the paperwork was completed in January, the statue remained on a 100-day loan to the South Korean temple for a farewell exhibit.
Sekko Tanaka, a former head monk at Kannonji, told reporters that the handover ceremony at the South Korean temple on Saturday was “truly amicable and we shook hands.”
“A calm after a storm,” he said, adding that he felt relieved to see the dispute resolved while he is still alive.
Tanaka said he hoped South Koreans would visit Tsushima and discover its centuries-old cultural ties with Korea, though there will now be higher security around the statue.
Japan and South Korea have long had disputes over Japanese atrocities during its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, though their ties improved due to shared concern over regional security.
