South Korea returns a pair of Qing dynasty stone lion statues to Chinese authorities in a ceremony held in Seoul. The handover is conducted by the Kansong Art Museum, which transfers the male and female lions to China’s cultural heritage administration. Both lions are about 1.9 metres tall and weigh about 1.25 tonnes. Chinese officials say the statues are scheduled to leave for China the day after the ceremony.
The return follows a bilateral commitment made after a January summit, when South Korea and China signed a document pledging the return of the lion statues. Reporting describes the statues as purchased in the 1930s by the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation and later kept as part of the museum’s collection, where they served as a symbolic welcome fixture. At Thursday’s event, the Kansong Art Museum and the National Museum of Korea sign a document formalising ownership and physical transfer to Chinese cultural authorities.
Attendees include senior museum and national museum officials from South Korea and representatives from China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Chinese embassy in Seoul.
