ANCIENT RELIC RESTORED INTO JAPANESE STYLE

[Anchor Lead]

A priceless stone pagoda of the Goryeo Dynasty was taken to Japan via the Japanese Government General of Korea during the Japanese colonial rule. Five years ago the relic was dismantled due to construction, but it has been restored recently in a Japanese style. KBS has found that the pagoda has lost much of its original form and was even patched up with cement.

[Pkg]

Construction is underway behind the fence. The Five-story Pagoda of Icheon, Korea's national treasure built during the Goryeo Dynasty, is being dismantled.

[Soundbite] (OKURA TOKYO CULTURAL FUND(APRIL 2015)) : "We are relocating the pagodas in the garden to renovate the Okura Museum."

The pagoda has been installed at a recently renovated hotel garden for the first time after being kept in a warehouse for five years. But it wasn't restored properly. Its upper part appears different from what it used to be. This kind of design cannot be found at other pagodas from the same period, such as the Five-story Pagoda from Anheungsa Temple Site and the Stupa of Buddhist Monk Boje from Yeongjeonsa Temple Site.

[Soundbite] HYE MUN(CULTURAL ASSETS REDEMPTION AGENCY) : "A typical pagoda of that period has an upper part shaped like a lotus flower. But this one was modified in the Japanese style. It's far from the original form."

The Okura Tokyo Cultural Fund says the pagoda was modified by a Japanese artist after it had been brought to Japan and the upper part that had been kept in a basement was attached to the relic. But that's not the only problem. The pagoda is patched with cement in multiple spots. Cement causes bleaching and weathering on the surface of stone pagodas. Icheon residents had tried to bring back the city's treasure for more than ten years. But the Okura Tokyo Cultural Fund is demanding that the pagoda be traded for another cultural relic.

[Soundbite] LEE SANG-KOO(COMMITTEE FOR RETURNING STONE PAGODAS) : "We even offered to restore the pagoda on our own. But the Japanese side rejected it."

The committee for promoting the return of pagodas is soon to unveil a replica of the Icheon pagoda created on public funds that were raised by the city's residents.