The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage on Wednesday signed an MOU with two major British museums for its future research on Korea’s cultural heritage currently housed in the U.K.

The two museums ― the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum ― are known to hold the highest numbers of Korean relics in Britain.

It is reported that the British Museum currently holds about 1,600 Korean artifacts, while the Victoria and Albert Museum owns about 800.

Staff from the Korean national institute plan to visit London for their research on the Korean relics housed in the two museums. Once the research is completed, a report will be published both in English and Korean. The report will also be posted on the institute’s website, and made into a CD as well.

The national institute said they hope to contact more foreign institutions that currently own Korean relics and expand their research.

(dyc@heraldcorp.com)