JCP Ogata discusses with South Koreans issue of returning Korean cultural asset

   Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo on July 17 met in the Diet Building with South Korean private organization representatives who were in Japan to facilitate the return of an important Korean cultural asset that Japan had plundered from Korea during Japan’s colonial rule in 1922.

   Chosen Oushitsu Gigi (Joseon Dynasty Uigwe), the documentary heritage that the South Korean organization is seeking to take back to Korea, is a collection of Royal Protocols of the Korean Dynasty and is now in the possession of the Japan’s Imperial Household Agency’s library.

   In South Korea, movements are underway to bring it back to Korea, and the South Korean National Assembly late last year adopted a resolution demanding that the Japanese government return Chosen Oushitsu Gigi.

   Ogata took up this issue at a House of Councilors committee meeting in May. In response, a Foreign Ministry official said, “This ministry will deal with such issues on a case by case basis.” Foreign Minister Aso Taro also said, “I will pay serious attention to your proposal.” Ogata’s inquiry made headlines in South Korea.

   Expressing their gratitude for Ogata’s effort to promote friendship between the two countries, the South Korean representatives explained the significance of the return of the cultural asset.

   Accompanied by Ogata, they visited the Foreign Ministry to request that Japan return Chosen Oushitsu Gigi to South Korea as a gesture of mutual friendship.

   A ministry official told them that although Japan has no legal obligation to return cultural assets, it has dealt with such an issue individually in the past and that there actually were precedents of returning such items.

- Akahata, July 18, 2007