Only 18.2% of 22,000 Stolen or Lost Heritage Items Recovered Since 1999

More than 22,000 Korean cultural heritage items have been reported stolen or lost over the past 27 years, but fewer than one in five have been recovered. Damage has been concentrated among unlisted heritage items and those in private hands, prompting calls for a national security response.

A total of 22,062 heritage items were reported stolen or lost between 1999 and September this year, according to data submitted by the Korea Heritage Service to Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, on the 5th. Of those, 4,012 items, or 18.2% of the total, have been recovered. The remaining 18,050 items, or 81.8%, have yet to be located.

Recovery rates were also low when measured by case. Of 601 cases in total, 589 were thefts and 12 were losses. Only 88 cases, or 14.7%, were closed after all the affected items were recovered. By contrast, 463 cases, or 77.0%, remain entirely unresolved, with not a single item recovered.

One prominent example is the Sangju copy of the Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon, the explanatory edition of the Korean alphabet. Eighteen years have passed since it was stolen in 2008, and its whereabouts remain unknown. The Sangju copy is from the same printing as the Gansong copy, a National Treasure listed as a UNESCO Memory of the World document, and is regarded as a heritage item of high academic and cultural-historical value.

Sowonhwagaecheop, another National Treasure and a work of calligraphy by Prince Anpyeong, the third son of King Sejong of Joseon, has also been missing for years. It was stolen from the home of its owner in 2001 and has not been located in the 25 years since. The work was left behind by Prince Anpyeong, the third son of King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty, before he lost his life at the age of 35 after becoming caught up in a power struggle with Prince Suyang.

Thefts and losses were especially concentrated among unlisted heritage items, which receive relatively weak legal protection and management. Of the 601 cases, 461, or 76.7%, involved unlisted heritage items. State-designated heritage items accounted for 29 cases, or 4.8%, and city- or province-designated items for 111 cases, or 18.5%.

The gap was also wide by type of custodian. Cases involving state-owned heritage items numbered 12, or 2.0%, while those held by public bodies such as local governments and schools numbered 69, or 11.5%. By contrast, Buddhist temples, Confucian academies and Confucian schools accounted for 224 cases, or 37.2%, and clan organizations and individuals for 290 cases, or 48.3%, meaning private owners and religious organizations together accounted for 85.5% of all cases.

Jin pointed to the low recovery rate and urged a stronger national response. "A recovery rate as low as 18.2% shows how passively the national tracking and recovery system has been run," Jin said. "The government should sharply expand budget support for crime-prevention and security facilities covering heritage items kept at temples, Confucian academies, clan organizations and private homes, where security is relatively weak."