Plundered Buddhist Statue Stolen From Japan Returned to Korean Temple

Here is an odd story about a Buddhist statue believed to have been plundered from Korea by Japan, that thieves stole from a Japanese temple in 2012 and returned it to Korea:

A local court on Thursday ordered an ancient Buddhist statue, stolen from a Japanese temple in 2012, to be handed over to a temple in Seosan on South Korea’s west coast that has claimed ownership.

The Daejeon District Court ruled in favor of Buseok Temple, which filed a lawsuit against the Seoul government in April to take back the statue of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which was stolen by Korean thieves from Kannon Temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, in October 2012.

“Based on (Buseok Temple’s) statements during court hearings and onsite inspections, it is assumed that its ownership of the statue is sufficiently acknowledged,” the court said in its ruling. “Considering its historical, religious values, (the government) has the responsibility to return it to the plaintiff.”

The Japanese temple has demanded the return of the statue. But a South Korean court granted an injunction in February 2013 to suspend its return to Japan following a request by Buseok Temple. Temple officials claim the statue was illegally plundered by Japan.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this will become a new trend with Korean nationalists, trying to steal cultural items from Japan and bring them back to Korea?