Supreme Court rules that the smuggled Bodhisattva statue from the Goryeo Dynasty belongs to the Japanese temple

The Supreme Court ruled that the gilt-bronze seated Bodhisattva statue (pictured) from the Goryeo period, which Korean thieves brought into the country, rightfully belonged to Japan, concluding seven years of litigation.

On October 26, the Supreme Court Division 1 (presiding judge, Justice Oh Kyeong-mi) finalized the ruling against the plaintiff in a final appeals trial on a claim for the transfer of tangible property, which Buseoksa Temple located in Seosan-si, Chungcheongnam-do filed against the state (Republic of Korea).

The case began in October 2012 when Korean thieves stole a gilt-bronze statue of a seated Bodhisattva from Kannonji Temple in Tsushima, Japan, and brought it into Korea. The thieves were later caught by police trying to sell the statue for 2.2 billion won. The statue was confiscated and is currently stored at the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage in Daejeon.

Buseoksa Temple filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government claiming that the statue should be returned to its original owner, Buseoksa Temple, as it was a cultural asset that was looted when the Japanese invaded Goryeo in the past. Civil Court 12 of the Daejeon District Court ruled in favor of Buseoksa Temple in the first trial on January 26, 2017. However, the second court overturned the decision, saying that the Bodhisattva statue belonged to Kannonji Temple in Japan. It was not proven that the Seosan Buseoksa Temple was the same religious organization as the Seoju Buseoksa Temple in the Goryeo Dynasty, and the period necessary to recognize positive prescription of ownership had already passed, according to the court.

The Supreme Court affirmed the court’s decision and said, “Although the lower court erred in misinterpreting the law regarding the entity and identity of the temple, the decision to dismiss the plaintiff’s (Buseoksa Temple) claim can be accepted as justified.”

The Supreme Court said, “There is plenty of reason to believe that Seoju Buseoksa Temple continued to exist as an independent temple and became the current Buseoksa Temple in Seosan,” and added, “As for the Seoju Buseoksa Temple, which established its existence as an independent temple in 1330, only a few changes in temple property have been recognized, and there is no data to show that it completely lost its continuity, such as its monks, and that its religious facilities were destroyed.”

However, the Supreme Court ruled that the ownership of the statue was properly transferred to Kannonji Temple based on the legal concept of “positive prescription,” which is the acquisition of ownership after a certain period of uninterrupted possession of the property, even if the property belonged to someone else.

The old Japanese Civil Code, which applies to this case, states, “A person who occupies the property of another in a peaceful and open manner with the intention of ownership for twenty years acquires ownership.” The Supreme Court held that the law of the place where the object was located at the time the positive prescription period ended should be applied according to the old private international law (currently the Act on Private International Law).

“From January 26, 1953, when Kannonji Temple (participant supporting the defendant) was incorporated, until the statue was stolen by the thieves around October 6, 2012, Kannonji Temple continued to possess the statue,” the Supreme Court said adding, “Kannonji Temple acquired ownership of the statue under the Civil Code of Japan on January 26, 1973, when positive prescription for ownership arose.”