The problem of cultural heritage restitution in United States and South Korea relations

Illicit export of Korean cultural heritage by American citizens highlights the importance of studying the dialog between South Korean and the United States regarding the return of cultural relics. The relevance of this research lies in the fact that the study of US-South Korean negotiations on the issue of stolen cultural properties return contributes to a deeper understanding of RoK government’s policy for preservation of national heritage stored abroad. The article considers South Korea’s policy on the return of cultural property illegally exported to the USA. The paper identifies the historical conditions for formation of South Korea’s policy in the field of cultural heritage restitution: accumulation of data on stolen cultural relics and strengthening alliance with USA. The study focuses on the measures taken by the Republic of Korea in its dialog with the United States regarding national heritage restitution. The purpose of the study is to identify the main difficulties in the process of restitution of Korean cultural properties in the dialogue between South Korea and the United States. The author reveals the historical conditions for South Korean policy formation on the restitution of stolen relics: accumulation of material on cultural assets and strengthening partnership with the United States. The study establishes the chronology of negotiations between the parties on the return of cultural heritage: discussion of the restitution of art objects taken away during the Korean War (1951–1956); neutrality of parties on the issue of transferring stolen cultural properties (1957 – mid-2000s); the focus of South Korean government on solving the issue of cultural relics restitution at the diplomatic level (mid-2000s – mid-2010s); cooperation with Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and the «Riot Games Korea» (mid-2010s – present). The study identifies the main channels for South Korean cultural property return: diplomatic level, private donations from US citizens and residents and arts objects acquisitions at auctions. The novelty of the study lies in determining the background and current state of the Korean cultural heritage restitution problem in relations between South Korea and the United States. The methodological basis of this study is an analysis of reports and press releases from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of South Korea and the United States, the Cultural Heritage Administration and the US Homeland Security Investigations. Publications from the Yonhap, Korea JoongAng Daily, Kyunghyang Shinmun and other news agencies provided material on individual cases of relic restitution in the 21st century. The details of South Korean heritage illicit export were taken from reports published by the Academy of Korean Studies, Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation and Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and Maryland State Archives.