▲ The 'Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon Sangju Edition' (left) and a replica of the 'Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon Gansong Edition'
The Sangju Edition of the Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon, which was stolen in 2008, is the same edition as the Gansong Edition of the Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon, a national treasure registered as a Memory of the World, and its whereabouts remain unknown 18 years later.
The national treasure 'Sowonhwagaecheop' also has not appeared 25 years after it was stolen from the owner's home in 2001.
It has been found that the whereabouts of more than 8 out of 10 stolen or lost cultural properties are unknown.
According to data received from the Korea Heritage Service by Representative Jin Sun-mi of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly, out of 22,062 cultural properties reported stolen or lost from 1999 to September 2026, only 4,012 (18.2%) have been recovered.
The remaining 18,050 properties (81.8%) that have not been recovered are in a situation where even their smuggling routes cannot be traced.
In terms of the number of reports, out of a total of 601 cases, 589 were thefts, and the remaining 12 were losses.
The percentage of cases closed with the cultural properties fully recovered after the theft damage occurred was only 14.7% (88 cases), and 77.0% (463 cases) of all cases were found to be in a state of complete non-recovery where not a single damaged cultural property was recovered.
Most of the stolen or lost cultural properties were undesignated cultural heritage.
Undesignated cultural heritage, which has relatively vulnerable legal safety nets and security management systems, has been a major target for crimes.
State-designated cultural heritage accounted for 29 items (4.8%) and city- or province-designated cultural heritage accounted for 111 items (18.5%), while undesignated cultural heritage reached 461 cases (76.7%).
By ownership and management entity, compared to public institutions such as state ownership (12 cases, 2.0%) or local governments and schools (69 cases, 11.5%), the damage to private and religious organizations such as temples, seowon (confucian academies), and hyanggyo (local Confucian schools) (224 cases, 37.2%) and clans and individuals (290 cases, 48.3%) accounted for the majority (85.5%).
It is pointed out that urgent crime prevention measures for privately owned cultural properties are needed.
Representative Jin said, "The dismal recovery rate of 18.2% is clear evidence of how passive the state-level tracking and recovery system has been so far," adding, "We must significantly strengthen state-level budgetary support for crime prevention and security facilities in managing privately owned cultural properties with vulnerable security, such as temples, seowon, clan families, and individuals."
(Photo provided by Korea Heritage Service, Yonhap News)
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