Seoul still hopeful over return of royal texts looted by France

SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- There remains a strong possibility South Korea will
reach agreement with Paris over the return of royal texts looted by France,
despite a recent French court ruling that laid legal claim to the papers, an
official said Friday.
A total of 297 royal texts were looted by French troops in 1866, only 30 of which
now remain. They continue to remain at France's National Library while one was
returned to South Korea in 1993 by then visiting French President Francois
Mitterant on an indefinite lease.
A French court earlier ruled that the books, although obtained illegally, now
lawfully belong to France's national library.
The official said negotiations have been and are still underway between the
countries' governments for a de facto return of the royal texts, illegally seized
by French troops during a 19th-century invasion from a royal library in Ganghwa
Island, about 60 kilometers west of Seoul.
"We have actively raised this issue with the French government under this (Lee
Myung-bak) government and we believe it will be resolved one way or another,
though it may take some time," the official told reporters, asking not to be
identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
One way to resolve the decades-old-dispute is through a South Korean proposal,
first filed with France in 2007 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, to have
the royal texts on lease for an indefinite term in exchange for other Korean
relics to be put on display in French museums.
"Once the texts are returned on an indefinite term of lease, we will be able to
study them, display them and do whatever we would like to do with them as long as
we do not damage them," the official said, noting their return on a lease will in
fact be their permanent restoration.
The only last-minute glitch preventing the Seoul government from having serious
discussions with its French counterpart on the issue is that it has yet to fully
discuss its own proposed solution under the incumbent government.
"It will not be appropriate to explain every detail of our plans for negotiation
because the negotiation is still under way. What has changed under this
administration (of South Korea) is that the French side, too, understands the
issue must not stand in the way of our two countries improving their ties," the
official said, adding that France's top leaders also shared the view.
"The French president is scheduled to visit South Korea for the G-20 summit and
we also expect the leaders of the two countries to meet on sidelines of various
other occasions, such as the G-8 summit," he said.
The rejection by France's administration court on Dec. 24 to return the royal
texts followed a complaint from a South Korean civic organization filed in 2008.
The group has already expressed its intention to appeal.
Under a UNESCO convention signed in 1970, cultural properties obtained through
illegal means since the year are subject to restoration but those, including
royal texts, looted prior to that year can lawfully be possessed and even
registered as national properties of their holders.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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