In a landmark move for East Asian cultural heritage, the British Museum has completed the repatriation of several rare 10th-century Goryeo Dynasty Buddhist manuscripts to the National Museum of Korea. The documents, written in silver ink on indigo-dyed mulberry paper, were acquired during the colonial period and are considered some of the finest surviving examples of early Korean printing and religious scholarship.
The return is the result of a long-term Cultural Cooperation Agreement between London and Seoul, which emphasizes the shared study and digital preservation of heritage. South Korean officials stated that the manuscripts will be placed in a specially commissioned climate-controlled gallery and will be a centerpiece for the upcoming millennium celebration of the Goryeo Tripitaka project.