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Gendai Business
South Korea’s “Stealing Japan’s Buddhist Statues” Riots Finally……!
It has already been 10 years since I moved from Japan to Korea, and in Korea, I encounter insane things that would never happen in Japan, and in that sense, it is probably a country that I never get tired of. One such ridiculous incident is the theft of Buddhist statues in Tsushima.
At first, it was thought that the Buddha statue would be returned to Japan immediately after a certain investigation as a simple theft racket, but to our surprise, the case got complicated to the Supreme Court (Grand Court of Justice). The ruling finally recognized Japan’s ownership of the statues and they will be returned, but I believe that this was the case that allowed Japan to understand the “depth of roots” of the Korean leftists. I believe that this incident was the one that allowed Japan to understand the “depth” of the leftist movement in South Korea, as it showed us the extent to which leftist ideology permeates the country and what kind of values it holds. The Buddha statue theft took place in 2012 under the Lee Myung-bak administration. Korean thieves stole a standing bronze statue of Nyorai Buddha from Kaijin Shrine in Tsushima and a seated statue of Koryo Gilt-bronze Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva from Kannon-ji Temple, and smuggled them into South Korea. After the incident was discovered, of the two Buddhist statues, the standing bronze statue of Nyorai was returned to Korea because no one claimed ownership of it in Korea. On the other hand, in February 2013, Puseoksa Temple in South Korea claimed that the seated Goryeo gilt bronze statue of Avalokitesvara had supposedly been looted by Japanese pirates and had come to Japan, and the South Korean government sought a provisional disposition to prevent the return of the statue to Japan. In the end, a trial over the ownership of the statue has continued for more than 10 years.
Anti-Japanese justice” and “patriotism”..!
What I have been watching closely during the trial is the reality that there were people who defended even this kind of theft with the phrases “anti-Japanese justice” and “patriotism. Incidentally, the four members of the Buddhist thieves were said to be South Koreans with a total of 56 convictions and an average age of 62 years. The Chosun Ilbo reported the following details about them. ＜They stole not only cultural property but also machinery, cigarettes, and anything else that could be used to make money. The reason for their expedition to Tsushima is said to be because they were informed that local management was lax compared to the value of the cultural assets. It means that they were only aiming to profit from illegal crimes and had nothing to do with the recovery of cultural properties. Korean courts have kept such stolen goods in Korea for more than 10 years as they ‘may have been looted.’ > The Chosun Ilbo article shows that he is just a “dorobo. Nonetheless, it is appalling that the claim that the stolen goods “must have been looted by Japanese pirates and passed to Japan” is turned into “anti-Japanese justice” and “patriotism” in the hands of the leftists.
Returning the statues to Japan is “what traitors do”…
When the Buddha statue incident first occurred, many media outlets also complained about the “insanity of not returning stolen property. However, once the phrase “looted and passed to Japan” was mentioned, people began to emphasize it and incite anti-Japanese sentiment in the public consciousness, and this is what I mean by “out of control”. I strongly remember that some media outlets and leftist groups were calling the thieves “patriots” and strongly appealing that the theft of the Buddha statues was also motivated by patriotism, while calling the return of the statues to Japan “a traitor’s act. This incident occurred during the Lee Myung-bak administration, and I even feel that the leftists may have already finished controlling the thoughts of the Korean people at that time. In fact, even after the Park Geun-hye administration came to power, some Koreans I knew were whisked away by the claims of civic groups and shamelessly referred to the candlelight rallies as “proof of democracy. Later, when the candlelight rallies were over, they were also eagerly dancing around the “anti-Japan and boycott” movement, which was a cover for the Moon Jae-in administration’s missteps, but behind the scenes, the leftists have been coveting their interests for years.
