NAGASAKI: A 14th-century Buddhist statue, stolen in October 2012 and taken to South Korea, was returned to a Japanese temple on Monday, ending a dispute that had contributed to bilateral friction, a source close to the matter said.
According to the Kyodo news agency, the statue of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, owned by Kannon Temple on Tsushima, a Nagasaki Prefecture island, was handed over in South Korea to people representing the Japanese temple on Saturday.
The artefact is designated as a cultural asset by the prefecture.
The statue, which was airlifted to Fukuoka Prefecture on the southwestern main island of Kyushu and then transported to Tsushima by ferry, is expected to be stored at a museum after a ceremony at the temple, the source said.
After the statue was stolen, the South Korean authorities arrested the thieves and confiscated it. In 2016, however, Buseoksa Temple in the country filed a lawsuit claiming that the statue had been plundered by Japanese pirates hundreds of years ago.
In 2023, South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled favouring Kannon Temple’s ownership.
The return procedures were completed in January.
