South Korea returns looted Qing dynasty lions to China in cultural diplomacy win
Experts believe the marble sculptures guarded an imperial residence before they were taken by Japanese invaders in the early 20th century
The male and female lions, each standing 1.9 metres (6ft) tall and weighing 1.25 tonnes, were officially handed over by the Kansong Art Museum at a ceremony in Seoul on Thursday and were set to depart for China on Friday, according to the Chinese embassy.
Senior cultural officials and diplomats from both nations attended the handover of the lions, which have stood at the museum’s entrance for more than eight decades.
The ceremony marked the implementation of an agreement signed in the presence of President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung during the latter’s visit to Beijing in January.
According to local media reports, the museum considered returning the sculptures more than a decade ago. The plan was shelved amid strained bilateral relations after the 2016 deployment of a US THAAD missile defence system in South Korea, viewed by Beijing as a security threat.
Momentum for the return of the sculptures – identified by Chinese and South Korean experts as Qing dynasty artefacts carved from marble quarried in northern China – gathered pace with the noticeably improved bilateral ties since Lee took office in 2025.