Qing Dynasty Stone Lion Statues Returned to China from Seoul Museum

SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- A ceremony marking the return of a pair of Qing Dynasty stone lion statues from a Seoul museum to the Chinese government took place Thursday, officials said.

The event took place some six months after the two countries signed a document during a summit meeting in January, pledging the return of the statues purchased by the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation in the 1930s.

At the ceremony held at Kansong Art Museum, the museum and the National Museum of Korea (NMK) signed a document on transferring the ownership of the statues and the statues themselves to Chinese cultural authorities.

Attending Thursday's event were NMK Director You Hong-june, Kansong Art Museum Director Chun In-keon, Rao Quan, chief of China's National Cultural Heritage Administration, and Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing.

The statues, each standing 1.9 meters tall and weighing 1.25 tons, were purchased at an auction market in Japan and had been a symbolic fixture welcoming visitors at the museum in Seoul.

Korean art collector "Kansong" Jeon Hyeong-pil, who died in 1962, is believed to have said the statues should be returned to China in the future.

The museum had initially sought to donate the statues to China in 2016 but due to unfavorable circumstances, it asked the NMK to handle the donation on its behalf.

"It is meaningful that the NMK has set a milestone of cultural exchange and solidarity between South Korea and China, in upholding Kansong's vision of safeguarding the nation through culture," You, the NMK director, said.

"This donation ceremony will serve as a new driving force in enriching bilateral cultural exchange going forward," You added.

Five Chinese cultural experts who examined the lion statues have said they are "excellent works of the Qing Dynasty that are valuable in terms of history, art and science."

Dai, Beijing's top envoy to Seoul, called the ceremony a "successful" example of bilateral cooperation.

"I believe the two countries can expand various cooperation and exchanges regarding displaced cultural heritage and enhance friendly sentiments between their peoples," he told reporters.

The statues will be displayed at a Chinese national museum within this year after their return and restoration, he added.

The Kansong museum plans to newly install 19th-century Korean stone tiger statues following the departure of the stone lion statues.