문화재의 기원국반환의 최근 동향*― 이탈리아 사례를 중심으로

Recent events relating to cultural heritage, such as the looting of the Iraqi National Museum after the fall of Baghdad in April 2003 and the controversy over the return of Nazi-confiscated artworks, have heightened the public awareness concerning the return of cultural objects to their countries of origin. In particular, the Italian practice merits a special attention in that it constitutes a turning point in the movement for the return of cultural objects to their original context. The Italian Government recently concluded a series of agreements with leading American museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Arts and the Paul Getty Museum on the return of cultural objects that had been illegally exported from Italy. In return, the Italian Government promised to loan "objects of equivalent beauty and artistic or historical significance" on a long-term basis. What is particularly relevant to Korea is the fact that the Italian Government tries to stake out a moral high ground in the campaign by returning cultural objects taken by itself during its colonial rule in Ethiopia and Libya. In 2005, it repatriated the Obelisk of Axum to Ethiopia. In 2007, the Regional Administrative Tribunal of Lazio upheld the Italian Government's decision to return the statue called "Venere di Cyrene" to its place of origin, ie, Libya. The Korean Government is facing similar problems, as represented by the issue of the Oekyujanggak Books pending between Korea and France. It also has at least potential claims to a large number of cultural artefacts displaced during or in connection with the Japanese colonial rule. In designing a more constructive and forward-looking policy on this issue, the Korean Government needs to pay a closer attention to the Italian practice and draw lessons from it.