A calligraphic work reading "Ilbansigugeun (一飯是國恩)," displayed at the National Museum of Korea's special exhibition "Our Table" as a piece by independence patriot Park Won-geun (1912-1950), has been confirmed to be the handwriting of Park Choong-yang (1874-1959), a pro-Japanese collaborator. Yoo Hong-june, director of the National Museum of Korea, apologized again and pledged to put thorough verification measures in place.
The museum said on the 7th that, based on a cross-verification by seven experts in calligraphy, history (modern and contemporary), classical documents and conservation science, it had concluded that the calligraphy was left by Park Choong-yang under the alternate name Park Won-geun, which he used while studying in Japan.
The work was included in the "Our Table" special exhibition, which opened on the 1st of July, as part of a broader survey and display of various expressions, phrases and literary references relating to Korean food culture. The phrase "Ilbansigugeun — even a single bowl of rice is a blessing from the nation" was spoken by the monk Yeonggyu, the first leader of a monk militia during the Japanese invasions of 1592, when he was recruiting monk soldiers. Many people afterward left the words in calligraphy, and the piece attributed to Park Won-geun was one of them.
But on the 10th of last month, an outside tip raised the possibility that the "Park Won-geun" whose seal appears on the work was not the independence patriot of that name but an alternate name used by Park Choong-yang. The museum subsequently removed the piece from the exhibition and issued an apology on the 12th of last month.
"Since independent verifications in each field converged on a single conclusion, we take these findings seriously and will do our utmost in follow-up measures," Yoo said. "Accurately confirming facts about historical figures is the most basic duty the museum owes to the public, and we fell short of it." He added, "I once again extend my apologies to the bereaved family and to the public, who viewed the work wholeheartedly believing it was a relic left by their father. We will further strengthen verification procedures for exhibited items so that the same thing does not happen again."
The museum said it will explain the course and results of the investigation to the family of independence patriot Park Won-geun and apologize again. To prevent similar cases from recurring, it plans to strengthen advance verification of exhibits and exhibition content and to expand its pool of internal and external experts in modern and contemporary history.
