Seoul wants Tokyo to hand over ancient books on royalty
The Japan Times Online
may officially demand that Japan hand over about 660 books taken during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, officials of the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea said Monday.The books include various “Uigwe” collections of royal protocols for ceremonies and rituals from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), as well as treatises on medicine and military affairs.
The officials said it would be the first time for South Korea to officially demand the handover of such books, although it has unofficially asked for them in the past.
The “Uigwe” works constitute a unique form of documentary heritage. They have been enshrined in the Memory of the World Register of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Through prose and illustration, the works document the procedures, protocols, formalities and requirements needed to conduct important ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, banquets and receiving foreign missions, while also detailing the construction of royal buildings and tombs as well as other various cultural activities of the royal family.
Besides “Uigwe” kept as national treasures in South Korea, the Imperial Household Agency holds 145 “Uigwe” of 70 kinds that were taken from the Odaesan archive in 1922, according to documents submitted by South Korea to UNESCO in 2006.
Based on an inquiry conducted in cooperation with Japan, South Korea has found that about 4,700 books on about 360 topics are stored in the Imperial Household Agency.
South Korea has higher hope for progress since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took office last year with a vow to stress diplomacy with Asia by “looking squarely into the past history.”