Sato Takao, chief priest of the Japanese temple Kotoku-in, who had kept components of ‘Gwanwoldang’, presumed to be a royal ancestral shrine of the Joseon period, and donated them to Korea, will receive a Presidential Commendation.

The National Heritage Administration announced on the 9th that ten individuals, including Chief Priest Sato, and two teams have been designated contributors to the protection of national heritage this year and will receive honors such as the Order of Cultural Merit and Presidential Commendations.

Chief Priest Sato became a Presidential Commendation recipient in recognition of his contribution to friendship and exchange between Korea and Japan by donating the Gwanwoldang components that had been at Kotoku-in. Gwanwoldang is presumed to be a shrine building related to the Joseon royal family from the 18th and 19th centuries. It was moved to Japan during the Japanese colonial period and was not repatriated for about 100 years, until this June, when the National Heritage Administration and others signed an agreement with Kotoku-in and brought a total of 4,982 components, including stone materials, iron hardware, roof tiles, and timber, into Korea.

In addition to Chief Priest Sato, recipients of Presidential Commendations include Bang Hwaseon, holder of the Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Intangible Heritage for fan-making who has passed down traditional fan-making techniques; Cho Junghwa, director of the Baekje Ancient Capital Research Institute who worked on conservation and restoration in the traditional architecture field of the Baekje Historic Areas in Buyeo; the Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum of the Korea Ceramic Foundation, which contributed to rational adjustments of the Historic Site designation area through academic research on Joseon white porcelain kiln sites; and the Yanggu-gun Goral and Musk Deer Center, which contributed to the conservation of gorals and musk deer.

Recipients of the Silver Order of Cultural Merit are Kim Seongyul, holder of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Suyeong Yaryu, Park Munyeol, holder of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Duseokjang, and Lee Sanghae, an emeritus professor at Sungkyunkwan University and an expert in inscription and management of World Heritage. The Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit will go to Park Gangcheol, director of the Jeonnam Cultural Heritage Research Institute, and Park Hojun, holder of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Gungsijang. Lee Sanggil of Hangang Tree Hospital, who has treated about 1.12 million natural heritage trees over 37 years, will receive the Cultural Medal, and Kim Hantae, head of the Heritage Media Team at the National Heritage Promotion Institute who runs the YouTube channel ‘National Heritage Channel’ with about 2 million subscribers, will receive a commendation from the Prime Minister.