The stone monument commemorating Korea's victory over Japanese invaders is pictured at Yasukuni Shrine on Oct. 12.

The statue had been kept at Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, but in June Seoul delivered an official request to Tokyo to return the monument following high-level negotiations with Pyongyang, where the two sides agreed on joint efforts seeking the statue's return among other reconciliation projects.

The monument arrives at Incheon airport in South Korea on Oct. 22.

The monument's return means "healing the aching hurts in the Korea-Japan history," said Yoo Hong-joon, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Yet the return was overshadowed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Oct. 17 visit to the shrine.

The monument was sent to the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul and will be put on display for between six months and one year before being returned to North Korea.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 29, 2005
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