A Japanese mayor is set to visit South Korea next month to urge the return of an ancient Korean Buddhist statue amid concerns that such a move could deepen friction between the two countries over the ownership of the artifact.

According to Kyodo News Agency, Tsushima Mayor Yasunari Takarabe plans to visit Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration in Daejeon to request that Korea return the Geumdong Gwaneum Bosal statue stolen from Kannonji Temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki prefecture, last October.

The 14th century Bodhisattva, originally from Buseoksa Temple in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, is believed to have been moved to Japan during the Goryeo Dynasty (918―1392).

An official from the CHA would not confirm the report, saying the state agency could not discuss the matter until the Korean courts made an official decision on the issue.

Korean authorities seized the statue in January when they arrested thieves who stole it from the Japanese temple. The Korean government decided against the immediate return of the artifacts on the grounds that the Geumdong Gwaneum Bosal statue may have been stolen by Japanese pirates around 1370.

Korea’s Buseoksa Temple filed a temporary injunction on the transfer of the statue, which was granted by Daejeon District Court in February. The court said the statue should not be returned to Japan until it is proven that its acquisition by Kannonji Temple was lawful.

Japanese officials pointed out the possibility that the artifact was not stolen but merely moved to Japan when an anti-Buddhism movement erupted in the late Goryeo period.

Both the Seosan and Tsushima mayors expressed their intention to claim the statue. Seosan Mayor Lee Wan-seob said the records clearly showed the Bodhisattva statue was from Buseoksa Temple, while Japan’s Yasunari said his duty was to deliver the Japanese people’s wish that the statue be returned to his city.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)