Saturday 30 October 2021

Japanese Past Crime of Destruction and Plunder of Korean Cultural Assets (18)From Friend,com.kp

From Friend,com.kp

http://friend.com.kp/index.php/articles/view/5569


The greatest plunderers of the Koryo ceramics were the resident-generals, governor-generals or other colonialist ringleaders.

Ito Hirobumi, main culprit in the invasion of Korea, was the ringleader of the gangsters who hoarded the Korean ceramics to Japan.

Referring to this, the author of the Tojayojok wrote “... the initial fever of the antique collection started from the time when Ito Hirobumi began to hoard them randomly” revealing Ito Hirobumi had been the greatest plunderer.

Ito took a great deal of the pillaged ceramics to Japan and 103 items out of them presented to the Japanese king.

He gave out the Koryo ceramics to high executives of the government as souvenirs. The author wrote about it as follows: One day Ito is said to have arrived at the Tokyo station with a full load of Koryo celadon. He shouted to those who had been to the platform to welcome him “I brought Koryo celadon to present you. Go to the carriage and take them with you!” Soon they vied to the carriage and made a fuss to take broken celadon and dishes.

The real intention of Ito’s frenzy of pillaging the Koryo ceramics came not from any knowledge on the artistic or archaeological values, but from the constitutional gangster-like nature for destroying the excellent culture of Korea to kill the pride of the Korean nation and the sordid purpose of demonstrating the authority as the highest power holder of the colony and chieftain of Japan’s aggression of Korea.

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