Following a years-long legal battle between Japan and South Korea over its possession that had more strained sensitive ties between the two Eastern neighbors, a 14th century Asian Buddhist statue that was stolen from a Chinese temple almost 13 years before was returned on Monday. As a vehicle carrying a sturdy container with the monument arrived at Kannonji, a church on Japan’s northern island of Tsushima, dozens of church members and nearby residents standing by the roadside waved applause. Following a meeting at the church after in the day, the statue is scheduled to be kept at a nearby gallery. The statue, which is a depiction of the Bodhisatva, a goddess of mercy and compassion, is about 50 centimeters ( 20 inches ) tall when it is seated. It was one of two statues stolen from Kannonji in 2012 by thieves who were trying to sell them in South Korea and has been designated a historical property of the area. Immediately after the thieves, who had been detained and charged, the South Korean government had recovered the other memorial from the Chinese temple. Buseoksa, a North Korean church in Seosan’s northern coastal city, filed a lawsuit, claiming it was the property of the Bodhisatva, which was then entangled in a legal dispute. The Chinese sanctuary received a ruling from South Korea‘s Supreme Court in 2023, which required the North Korean church to return the monument. The monument was still on a 100-day payment to the South Korean church for a goodnight show after all the paperwork was finished in January. The North Korean church claimed that the monument’s return saddens it and that it is the property of its rightful owner. The chief priest of the temple, Woonou, told The Associated Press over the phone that” all our honest… feel like crying.” He claimed that Japan “plundered” the Korean memorial and deserves “international denunciation.” Former Kannonji head priest Sekko Tanaka told investigators that the North Korean temple’s transfer service was” truly respectful and we shook hands.” He remarked,” A relaxed after a storm,” adding that he was relieved to see the conflict settled while he was still alive. Tanaka expressed his hope that South Koreans may travel to Tsushima and learn about its 2,000-year history of cultural ties to Korea, even though there will now be more security surrounding the memorial. Although their relations improved as a result of shared concerns about regional security, Japan and South Korea have long been at odds with each other over the atrocities committed during its occupation of the Asian Peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
