The Analysis of the Preceding Studies on the Restitution of Cultural Property in Korea

Abstract

This study focused on the analysis of the trend of the studies on the restitution of cultural property in Korea. Despite the numerous studies on the restitution of cultural property in Korea, there has been no analytical study on the research trend regarding this issue. Because the restitution of cultural property is still an unsolved problem, it seemed necessary to understand the flow of the viewpoints of Koreans on the restitution of cultural property, for the sake of understanding the current effort to suggest solutions for restitution and discovering its shortcomings. The destitutions and academic articles in Korea were reviewed for this study. This research classified the topics of the studies on the restitution of cultural property into three categories and observed the change of foci and purposes of the studies in each category. The studies on each issue have gone through significant changes, but there are still the area left that need to be investigated on. Even though the studies on the restitution of cultural property have become much more diversified, it is still recommended that the researchers deviate from the established discussions and take new viewpoints in more global and practical manner.