About Korea

Preserving cultural heritage

By Choe Chong-dae Korea faces a debate concerning its history. China began a historical controversy by claiming that the ancient Goguryeo Kingdom of Korea should be treated merely as a vassal state of the ancient Chinese dynasty. China refutes the fact that Goguryeo was a kingdom established by Koreans of non-Chinese origin, near what is now North Korea. More worrisome, the Chinese government has recently listed ``Arirang,” a piece of folk music for ethnic Koreans in the Province of Yanbian and Jilin, as one of China’s national intangible cultural assets. “Arirang” has long been a reflection of both Korea's ancient and modern history and the personal lives of Koreans. It has been popular through generations, across gender, age, social background and ideology. It reflects the joy and sorrow, happiness and sadness, love and hate, which has been part and parcel of the Korean identity for centuries. It is doubtlessly an icon of Korean intangible cultural heritage and an essential element of national identity as it carries the tradition and spirit of Korea itself. During her long history, Korea has been the target and arena of struggles among world powers. During the foreign aggression of Korea such as the Hideyoshi War (Japanese invasion of Korea 1592-1598), Sinmi-yangyo (U.S. expedition to Korea in 1871), Byeongin-yangyo (French expedition to Korea in 1866) and the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), a significant number of Korean cultural artifacts were either destroyed or taken out of the country. According to statistics, more than 100,000 Korean cultural properties are scattered over many countries such as Japan, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. It is true that foreign invaders plundered some precious cultural assets, such as ``uigwe,” royal protocols and heirlooms. Others fell into the hands of collectors through trade. It is a disheartening fact that nearly 300 copies of ancient Korean royal documents were looted during the French Navy's invasion of Ganghwa Island. The French troops took them during a revenge mission for the persecution of French Catholic missionaries in 1866. The royal texts had been stored at the National Library of France for 145 years before an agreement was signed to return them to Korea on a five-year renewable lease basis. The documents are a collection of royal protocols that contain both text and hand-drawn illustrations of significant royal court rites and ceremonies of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). They were originally housed at Oegyujanggak, an annex of the Royal Library on Ganghwa Island, for safe keeping against invaders. Although Koreans welcome the return of the royal documents on a loan basis, they should continuously engage France in more spirited negotiations until all the royal documents are brought home to their original and natural environment permanently. It is time for Koreans to redouble efforts toward preserving its traditional cultural heritage and history. Korea has struggled to overcome economic poverty in the past. Korea must now devote herself to protecting her cultural wealth. In other words, Koreans should take extensive precaution to preserve these valuable cultural assets, both tangible and intangible that contain the ancestors' sacred spirits and wisdom. This can be achieved through constant in-depth research, and in exhaustive search for visible evidence. I appeal to the government to launch a task force of experts specialized in the retrieval of precious cultural artifacts, to aid in bringing back the pieces of Korea's rich heritage and culture overseas and thereby continually enriching the valuable historical memory for national stability and posterity. The writer is a guest columnist of The Korea Times and the president of Dea-kwang International Co., as well as a director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com.