US returns looted royal seals to South Korea

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is returning from an official visit to Washington with two ancient royal seals looted during the Korean War, reports said Saturday.

The repatriation of the Joseon Dynasty antiques, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, comes after years of campaigning by the South Korean government, which said they were stolen during the turbulent 1950-53 war.

Moon received the seals at a ceremony in Washington on Friday and was to arrive in South Korea with them on Sunday, the Yonhap news agency said.

The Joseon Dynasty, which cultivated a ruling philosophy drawn from Confucianism, governed from 1392 to 1910, when Japan colonized the country.

One of the seals was made in 1547 to honor Queen Munjeong (1501-1565), the third wife of Joseon Dynasty’s 11th king, Jungjong.

The other is a jade block created in 1651 to commemorate the crown prince becoming King Hyojong.

They were seized by US authorities in 2013 after Seoul clarified these were stolen items.

It marked the third time that Washington has returned South Korean treasures. In 2013 the United States sent back Korea’s first money-printing block, made in late 19th century; the following year, it handed back nine royal seals.

Tens of thousands of old Korean cultural items were spirited abroad during Japan’s colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945 and during the Korean War.