Ganghwa Island to welcome returned Joseon Dynasty books

The repatriation to Korea of "Oegyujanggak," or books that were looted by French imperialists and kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), or the National Library of France, will be concluded Saturday.

After the return of the first batch of the historical materials on April 14, the second on April 29, and the third on May 12, the fourth and final installment will arrive at Incheon International Airport via a Korean Air flight at 8:40 a.m. Saturday.

So all of the 297 books looted by French troops on Ganghwa Island off Incheon in the French invasion of 1866 will soon be home for the first time in 145 years.

As it did with the first to third batches, the National Museum of Korea will immediately bring the fourth to its depository in Seoul’s Yongsan district as soon as they arrive at Incheon airport.

Of the 297 books, 294 are royal protocols of the Joseon Dynasty. The protocol is a book that recorded the process and contents of royal events and ceremonies in report form with drawings and writings.

The items are invaluable historical materials that show the political and social situation and a culture of strict recordkeeping in the Joseon Dynasty.

“Hwigyeongwon Wonsodogam Uigwe (protocol),” one of the books, was returned to Korea in 1993 under a rental. As such, 296 books have been returned to Korea through the last four rounds of repatriation.

Now that the repatriation process has been concluded, the remaining concern is how to utilize the books. The National Museum of Korea will hold a ceremony to commemorate the repatriation of the books in front of the museum and the reinstated Oegyujanggak building in Ganghwa County, Incheon, on June 11. Ganghwa was home to Oegyujanggak during the Joseon Dynasty.

Cho Hyeon-jong, chief of the curatorial laboratory at the museum, said, “To uphold the significance of the Oegyujanggak books’ return, we decided to hold a welcoming event on Ganghwa Island.”

“We hoped to show certain part of the original royal protocols of the Joseon Dynasty that have been returned, but to better preserve the originals, we decided to create photographic editions and show them to Ganghwa residents.”

The National Museum of Korea will hold an exhibition following the commemorative ceremony. Starting with a display opening set for July 18, the museum will hold an exhibition on the returned Oegyujanggak protocols from July 19 to Sept. 18.

Instead of the full volume of the royal protocol series, select books with high academic and cultural values will be on display at the exhibition. Toward this end, work is underway to select books for exhibition.

After the exhibition, an exhibition tour will be convened around October at the new Ganghwa History Museum. The originals and not photographic editions will be displayed this time.

The National Museum of Korea will also start research on 30 one-and-only copies of the books deemed to have extraordinary academic value. It decided to do so judging that study should be done on the one-and-only copies, which do not exist elsewhere in Korea, before reviewing other protocols.

The museum plans to form a research team by July and discuss research methods and use of the materials.

Oh Yeong-chan, a curator at the Korean museum, said, “The size of the protocol research team has yet to be defined but will comprise experts inside and outside of the museum. Some researchers at the French national museum will be also included in the research team.”

The museum will also start digitizing the one-and-only copies of the protocol series. It plans to conclude comprehensive research on the copies by year’s end and begin digitalization.

Around December, the museum will upload contents and photos of the protocols and related materials on its website to provide online service.

kplee@donga.com