THE ARCHIVE BY COUNTRY
Published reports from our archive, newest first.
A country may refer to the theft, recovery, return or legal proceedings. A case can be linked to more than one country.
7 reports
Stolen Avalokitesvara statue returns from South Korea to Tsushima — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
A fourteenth-century Buddhist statue reached its Japanese temple after years of litigation in South Korea. It had been taken in 2012; the Korean Supreme Court ordered its return in 2023.
The court upheld Cho Young-nam’s acquittal on fraud charges involving the sale of 21 paintings produced with assistants. The appellate acquittal had reversed an initial suspended prison sentence. Image shows one of the paintings in the case, via Yonhap.
Artist portrait: Lee U-fan at a 2016 press briefing; Yonhap Image source ↗
Yonhap reported that the Seoul High Court upheld seven years for a gallery operator and three for a painter in a case involving counterfeit works attributed to Lee U-fan.
The court upheld Kim Yong-su’s two-year sentence, suspended for three years, in a case involving sales of works bearing forged Lee Jung-seob signatures and plans to exhibit purported works by Lee and Park Soo-keun. Image shows a forgery from the case, via Yonhap.
Artist portrait: Lee U-fan at a 2016 press briefing; Yonhap Image source ↗
A Seoul court convicted a gallery operator and dealer over works attributed to Lee U-fan. The artist maintained the works were authentic, but the court found evidence of counterfeiting.
A Korean court found the disputed Park Su-geun painting was not a forgery. It also rejected Seoul Auction’s defamation claim against the publisher and editor of a magazine that questioned its authenticity. Photo: Washing Place above another painting in the series, JoongAng Ilbo.
Seoul Auction sued the artist’s son over four drawings sold in 2005 under Lee Jung-seob’s name. The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that a court had found that he sold the works knowing they were fake. Image: Seoul Auction’s headquarters, published by the auction house.
