Buddha statue in Korea for 100 days

[Anchor]

There has been a dispute over the ownership of our national treasure-level Buddhist statue from the Goryeo Dynasty after it was smuggled into Korea by burglars from a Japanese temple.

The Supreme Court's final ruling has decided that the statue will be returned to Japan.

Before its return, the statue will be moved to its hometown, Buseoksa Temple in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do Province, where it will be open to the public for 100 days after coming back to Korea for the first time in nearly 600 years.

Park Byeong-jun reports.

[Report]

The hands carefully move the statue with its eyes covered to the altar.

As the cloth is lifted, the serene expression of the gilt-bronze Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is revealed.

The statue, made in Korea in 1330 and enshrined at Buseoksa Temple in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do Province, has returned to its original place after over 600 years.

[Jo Jin-ok/Seoul, Hwaggok-dong: "It's a bit sad that it has come back to its hometown in our country but will have to go back to Japan again."]

The statue, which disappeared during the late Goryeo period, returned to Korea in 2012 after being enshrined at Kannon Temple on Tsushima Island in Japan.

The ownership dispute began after burglars were caught trying to smuggle it into the country.

In the first trial, Buseoksa Temple won, but in 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Kannon Temple in Japan, finalizing the statue's return to Japan.

Buseoksa Temple requested that the statue be enshrined for at least one day, and Japan accepted this under the condition of a definite return, allowing for the temporary homecoming of the statue.

[Tanaka Setko/Former head monk of Kannon Temple, Japan: "I think meeting the descendants of those who made the statue again is very fortunate."]

The statue will stay at Buseoksa Temple for only 100 days.

It is scheduled to be returned to Japan after being open to the public until Buddha's Birthday on May 5.

Buseoksa Temple plans to continue efforts to recover the statue.

[Won Woo/Head monk of Buseoksa Temple, Chungcheongnam-do: "We will strive to produce results that can satisfy both Korea and Japan, allowing both to win together."]

Dozens of Japanese reporters attended the temporary homecoming of the Goryeo Buddhist statue, showing great interest in it.

KBS News, Park Byeong-jun.