STOLEN RELICS

[Anchor Lead]

Some 40 years ago an ancient vessel carrying relics from the Song and Yuan Dynasties of China was discovered in waters off Sinan, Jeollanam-do Province. Police have arrested a man in his 60s who tried to sell ancient relics robbed from this sunken ship after concealing them for over 30 years.

[Pkg]

Dozens of wooden boxes are piled high in the room. Police officers discover multiple ceramic artifacts carefully packed in bubble wraps. These are ancient relics that a 63-year-old man surnamed Hwang has concealed for 36 years. The police have confiscated 57 pieces of relics. This is the largest seizure of relics stashed by an individual. The seized antiquities are assumed to have been robbed from the so-called Sinan, a trading ship from China's Yuan Dynasty in the 14th century that was discovered in waters off Sinan, Jeollanam-do Province in 1976. The stolen relics were obtained by Mr. Hwang in 1983. After failed business ventures and ensuing financial troubles, he recently attempted to sell the artifacts in China, Japan, and other countries.

[Soundbite] LEE SEONG-SEON(DAEJEON METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY) : "Chinese ceramic pieces are traded widely in Japan. That's why he tried to sell them in Japan."

The Cultural Heritage Administration said these relics are highly valuable cultural assets, since most of them are at least 700 years old and in good condition.

[Soundbite] SHIN JI-YEON(CULTURAL PROPERTY ASSESSOR, CHA) : "These relics are important to studying the ceramics exported from China around 1320."

The confiscated artifacts will be reverted to the state and sent to national and public museums. The police has booked without detainment Mr. Hwang for violating the Act on Buried Cultural Heritage and are questioning how he came to obtain the stolen artifacts.