Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 26, 2004
DPRK, S.Korea demand return of Japan-looted cultural treasures
Historians from the north and south of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday demanded Japan return cultural treasures looted from Korea before the end of World War II.
Historians from the north and south of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday demanded Japan return cultural treasures looted from Korea before the end of World War II.
At a north-south joint exhibition "demanding the return of cultural treasures looted by the Japanese imperialists" held at the Korean Art Gallery in Pyongyang, historians from the north and south firmly denounced Japan's vandalism and its looting of Korean cultural treasures.
"It is a legal and moral duty for Japan to return cultural treasures," they said.
They said they have jointly decided to send a letter to the director general of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) asking for help.
The South Korea delegation -- led by Kang Man-gil, president of Sangji university -- arrived here Tuesday for the symposium and exhibition.