China's national museum to pull out 'controversial' table of Korean history

The National Museum of China has decided to withdraw the table of Korean history from its ongoing exhibition after complaints from Korea that the table does not include the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo and Balhae, the National Museum of Korea said Thursday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed that the museum will remove the controversial table from the “Auspicious Metals From the Orient: Ancient Bronzes of China, Korea and Japan” exhibition, a move that came two days after Korean media reports stirred up the dispute.

"We received a mail saying that (the table) will be pulled down by today.... The Chinese expressed hope that the two museums will continue their amicable cooperation and communication, with the goal of working for benefit of Korea and China," the NMK said in a press release.

Poster for the ongoing “Auspicious Metals From the Orient: Ancient Bronzes of China, Korea and Japan” exhibition (National Museum of China)

The move comes after the NMK expressed the intent to withdraw the 15 relics it has sent to the NMC for the exhibition earlier today, unless the Chinese museum makes a relevant correction to reflect the correct history of Korea. South Korea has expressed regrets through its diplomatic channels, while requesting that the matter be dealt promptly with efforts to ensure no such incident would occur in the future.

The Chinese museum stressed that there was no particular intent behind the omission of the ancient kingdoms in the table, the Foreign Ministry said.

The exhibition which opened July 26 and runs through Oct. 9, was jointly organized by the national museums of the Korea, China and Japan.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)