Buddhist statue stolen from Japanese temple nearly 13 years ago is returned from Korea
Published: 12 May. 2025, 18:22
![A 14th-century Buddhist statue of the Avalokitesvara bodhisattva, stolen from Japan's Kannonji temple in 2012, sits at Buseok Temple in Seosan in Korea on May 5. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/12/635a6850-b8bc-40f9-a7da-fcdd54ad1f53.jpg)
A 14th-century Buddhist statue of the Avalokitesvara bodhisattva, stolen from Japan's Kannonji temple in 2012, sits at Buseok Temple in Seosan in Korea on May 5. [AP/YONHAP]
A 14th-century Korean Buddhist statue stolen from a Japanese temple nearly 13 years ago was returned on Monday following a yearslong legal battle between Japan and Korea over its ownership that had further strained sensitive ties between the two Asian neighbors.
Dozens of temple members and local residents standing by the roadside applauded to welcome the statue as a truck carrying a wooden container with it arrived at Kannonji, a temple on Japan’s western island of Tsushima.
The statue is expected to be kept at a local museum following a ceremony at the temple later in the day.
The gilt bronze statue bodhisattva — 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 Korea.
Seoul returned the other statue to the Japanese temple soon after the authorities recovered it from the thieves, who were arrested and charged.
But the bodhisattva got trapped in a legal dispute after Buseoksa, a Korean temple in the western coastal city of Seosan, filed a lawsuit, claiming rightful ownership.
Korea’s Supreme Court in 2023 ruled in favor of the Japanese temple, ordering the Korean temple to return the statue. After all the paperwork was completed in January, the statue remained on a 100-day loan to the Korean temple for a farewell exhibit.
Sekko Tanaka, a former head monk at Kannonji, told reporters that the handover ceremony at the 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 Koreans would visit Tsushima and discover its centuries-old cultural ties with Korea, though there will now be higher security around the statue.
The neighboring nations have long had disputes over Japanese atrocities during the 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, though their ties improved due to shared concern over regional security.
AP
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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