Korea revokes national treasure status of ancient book on criminal law due to illegalities in its acquisition
The Korea Heritage Service on Tuesday said it is revoking all administrative decisions related to the national treasure designation of the book Daemyeongryul (The Great Ming Code), due to the illegal acquisition of the ancient text by the museum director who applied for its designation.
The decision to cancel the book’s status as a national treasure comes years after a 2022 court ruling confirmed that the text had been stolen and sentenced the museum director to three years in prison. A KHS subcommittee, after a review of the case, decided to revoke the text's status in a meeting in February.
It marks the first time that the designation of a national treasure has been officially canceled in South Korea.
According to the heritage agency, Daemyeongryul had been owned by the Ryu family of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, and was among the 235 ancient texts stolen from the Ryus in 1998. The theft case was registered with the agency in 2011, and 11 of the stolen items have been recovered to date.
An investigation found that a person running a private museum bought Daemyeongryul from a dealer handling stolen goods in 2012 for 15 million won ($10,400), and applied to the authorities to have it designated as a treasure. The person falsely claimed it was a family heirloom.
The museum director was tried for violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, and the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of three years in prison.
The heritage service vowed to reinforce the deliberation process of the cultural heritage subcommittee, and to conduct strict reviews of how would-be national treasures were acquired.
The cancellation is merely an administrative process and does not affect the historical value of the text itself. It could potentially be re-designated as a treasure after the ownership issue has been resolved.
Daemyeongryul is thought to have been written in the early days of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) on the order of its founder, King Taejo. It is a rare book that details the criminal punishment system of the Chinese Ming Dynasty, which was used as a basis for the fledgling Joseon Kingdom.
It is deemed a valuable asset in research on Joseon-era law and bibliography.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
