By Cristian Martini Grimaldi

(UCA News) — Long-standing tensions between Japan and South Korea have reached a symbolic peak over a Buddhist statue stolen from Kannonji Temple on the Japanese island of Tsushima and transported to South Korea in 2012. This is despite South Korea’s Supreme Court recently ruling in favor of its return.

Though a small group of individuals stole the statue, its fate has become a broader reflection of unresolved tensions that echo historical grievances dating back to Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Even though both governments formally signed a UNESCO convention mandating the return of the stolen cultural property, the South Korean government’s inaction has reignited the complex debate surrounding anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea.

The Buddhist statue at the center of this controversy, the “Seated Statue of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,” holds a special place in Japan as a designated cultural property of Nagasaki Prefecture.

It was stolen by a South Korean group in 2012, marking one of many artifacts removed from Japanese temples by South Korean thieves during a time when Tsushima’s temples and shrines were under repeated assault.

This theft wave led to intense anti-theft security measures across the island and fueled frustration among the Japanese population.

Korean........

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