Over 250,000 Korean cultural artifacts located overseas: heritage agency

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- More than 250,000 Korean historic artifacts are located overseas, including those looted during wars or other moments of crisis in the nation's history, with the largest share held in Japan, heritage authorities said Wednesday.

The Korea Heritage Service (KHS) and Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (OKCHF) said a total of 121,143 cases of Korean artifacts, totaling 256,190 items, have been identified overseas as of the start of this year.

The tally is based on a survey of 801 institutions, including museums and art galleries, across 29 countries, including Japan, the United States and Germany.

Japan was found to hold the largest share of Korean cultural relics with 110,611 pieces, accounting for 43.2 percent of all overseas cultural properties.

The U.S. came next with about 68,000 Korean artifacts, followed by Germany with over 16,000 and Britain with around 15,000 items.

Many artifacts are believed to have been stolen or looted during periods of foreign intervention in the late 19th century and Japan's colonial occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945, while others were taken overseas through legitimate transactions.

The KHS and the OKCHF have been working to repatriate cultural artifacts believed to have been taken from Korea illegally.

As of January, a total of 2,855 items have been returned to the country through the OKCHF.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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