Request for Return of Stone Pagoda from Icheon City, South Korea

South Korean civic groips demanded the return of a five-story stone pagoda in the collection of the Okura Museum of Art in Minato Ward, Tokyo, marking the centenary of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. On July 21, Mayor Cho Byeong-don of Icheon City, where the pagoda once stood, visited the museum to hand over a petition for its return and signatures from over 100,000 people. The pagoda is believed to date from the early Goryeo period. It was moved to Japan after the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910 and was designated as a National Important Cultural Property in 1933. In response to the request, the museum stated that it could not comply with the request at this stage. (Japanese)