Stolen Buddha statue still not returned to Tsushima Kannonji Temple one year after South Korean Supreme Court ruling upholding ownership

On the 26th of this month, it has been one year since the Supreme Court of Korea ruled that the temple was the owner of a Buddhist statue that was stolen from the Kannonji temple in Tsushima City, Nagasaki Prefecture and brought to Korea.
The temple is currently proceeding with the return procedure, but the statue has not yet been returned and there is no prospect of it being returned.
The statue was stolen by a Korean thief group in October 2012 and brought to Korea. The following year, in 2013, the thief group was arrested by the Korean police and the statue was confiscated, but the temple said that the statue was "from the Middle Ages."
In 2016, they filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government, demanding that the statue be returned to Japan.
This came as a complete surprise to the South Korean government, which had been working on the issue. In the first instance, the South Korean court ruled that the Japanese had invaded the Seosan area five times since 1330, citing the contents of the records found inside the statue.
Based on records from the Goryeo History that state that the statue was taken from Buseoksa Temple by robbery or other means, the court determined that the statue was taken from Buseoksa Temple through plunder or other means. In 2017, the court ruled that "it can be reasonably assumed that the statue is owned by Buseoksa Temple" and
The court ordered the statue to be handed over to the temple. This ruling caused a backlash from the Japanese side, and was one of the factors that led to the deterioration of Japan-Korea relations. After the first-instance ruling, the Korean government appealed the decision, claiming that the relationship between the statue and the temple had not been sufficiently proven.
The case was tried again at the Daejeon High Court in Daejeon, central South Korea. In its appeal ruling in February last year, the Daejeon High Court overturned the first-instance ruling and acknowledged the ownership of the Kannon Temple.
The high court stated, "It is possible to acknowledge that Ushio Temple produced the statue in 1330, and there is also evidence that it was plundered and illegally taken away by Japanese pirates," but added, "The Ushio Temple at that time was not what it is today.
"It cannot be proven that Kannonji is the same religious organization as Ukisekiji," he said. The "acquisition prescription" under the civil laws of Japan and Korea is established, which means that Kannonji is recognized as having ownership by peacefully and openly owning the property for a certain period of time.
The court determined that the current ownership of the statue belongs to the Kannonji Temple. The Buseok Temple appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. In October last year, the Supreme Court dismissed the Buseok Temple's appeal and determined that the ownership of the statue belongs to the Kannonji Temple.
The Supreme Court ruled that the current Buseok Temple is the same as the "Seju Buseok Temple" that produced the Buddha statue in the 14th century, but upheld the ruling of the second instance that the "prescription of acquisition" under the Civil Code had been established.
He also pointed out that the South Korean government needs to consider international norms when considering the return of the statue. It has been 11 years since the statue was stolen, and it has been one of the factors that has worsened Japan-South Korea relations, along with the issue of forced laborers.
It was thought that this issue would finally be resolved and that the process of returning the statue to Japan would begin, but the statue remains a mystery to this day.
Meanwhile, in June of this year, Kannonji Temple was given a 100-day memorial service before the temple was returned.
A letter was received from Ukishiji Temple stating that they would not oppose the return of the islands to Japan. On the 26th of last month, the former head priest of Kannonji Temple, Tanaka, expressed his displeasure, saying, "(Korea) is speaking as if they are going to hand it over, but that's no joke."
The statue has belonged to Kannonji Temple since the beginning, and it still belongs to Kannonji Temple. We will continue to raise our voices until the day the matter is resolved." On the same day, the Tsushima City Council sent a statement to the Korean ambassador to Japan and the Korean consul general in Fukuoka,
The resolution calling for the early return of the statue was passed unanimously. On the 26th of this month, one year had passed since the Supreme Court ruling. The South Korean prosecution authorities are proceeding with the return procedure to Japan, but no significant progress has been made.
In South Korea, the opposition party has criticized the diplomatic stance of the Yun Seok-yeol administration, which places importance on Japan-South Korea relations, calling it "humiliating diplomacy." The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, "This situation in South Korea is the cause of the
"It may be that this is leading to the delay," he said. According to NHK, Kannonji Temple's former chief priest, Hiroaki Tanaka, reiterated his appeal, saying, "I hope that the Japanese and South Korean governments will do everything in their power to have the remains returned as soon as possible."