Stolen Buddha statue handed over to Japan in South Korea

A Buddha statue stolen in 2012 from a temple on Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, was handed over to the Japanese side at a temple in Seosan, central

South Korea, on Saturday, people familiar with the matter said.

The Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue, designated as a tangible cultural asset by the Nagasaki Prefectural Government, will be transported to Japan by air, and a memorial service will be held at Kannonji Temple, where it was stolen, on Monday.

In 2023, the South Korean Supreme Court recognized the Japanese temple's ownership of the statue, rejecting the claim by the South Korean temple, Buseoksa, that it was robbed of the statue by Japanese pirates in the 14th century.

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