Monument Stolen by Japan Will Be Returned to North Korea

Buddhist groups from South and North Korea agreed to ask Japan to return the Bukgwandaechupbi (the monument celebrating General Jeong Mun-bu’s victory against a Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592), which has been abandoned in the Yasukuni Shrine, at its second working-level meeting held in Beijing yesterday. The monument will be restored at an original place in North Korea.

Buddhist Priest Cho-san, a representative of South Korea in the Korean National Movement Committee for Bukgwandaechupbi, and Sim Sang-jin, vice-chairman of the Joseon Buddhist Alliance and his North Korean counterpart, issued a joint statement in regard to the return of the monument.

According to the statement, the monument will be restored in its original place (Gilju-gun, Hamgyeongbuk-do, North Korea), and events that celebrate its return will be held in Gaeseong or Mt. Kumgang area, which will boost Korean solidarity and declare Koreans’ strong will for peace, national unification, and national independence.

The statement is scheduled to be delivered to the Japanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs via the Korean Embassy in Japan early next month.

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com