By Lee Hyo-sik
Bringing stolen Korean royal documents back here from France, 145 years after they were taken by French troops, may seem easy and trouble-free.
But those responsible for transporting the first batch of the “Oegyujanggak” from the National Library of France to the National Museum of Korea, Thursday, had to plan it for months and pay a great deal of attention in order not to cause any damage to the documents during transit.
Asiana Airlines’ flight OZ502 departed from France at 3:10 a.m. Thursday and arrived at Incheon International Airport at 1:50 p.m. the same day.
The airplane was carrying 75 volumes of the Oegyujanggak, which recorded and illustrated all rituals, formalities and daily routines of the royal court during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The remaining 222 books are slated to return on three separate occasions through the end of May.
Before being loaded onto the airplane, the 75 books were first wrapped in acid-free paper multiple times. The books were then put into five wooden crates, specially manufactured for transporting historical artifacts and valuable merchandise, to protect them from temperature and humidity changes, as well as vibration and shocks, Asiana Airlines said.
The five crates were again put into two “cool-tainers,” a low-temperature storage unit, and loaded onto the plane.
“We are honored to bring the precious historical treasures home. We formed a taskforce several months ago, and secured a range of packaging materials and equipment to move the Oegyujanggak back here safely,” an Asiana Airlines spokesman said.
He said the airline made the best use of its previous experiences and know-how in transporting valuable historical artifacts for exhibitions across the globe.
Upon arrival at Incheon airport, the five wooden containers were loaded onto a “vibration-free” truck. The vehicle took the documents to the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, central Seoul, where they were immediately stored in a special storage room.
The second batch of the shipment will arrive on April 28 in a Korean Air cargo plane, the nation’s largest flagship carrier said.
“We think Korean Air is perfectly suited for the job because we already operate a cargo airplane between Incheon and Paris, designed for the transportation of cultural artifacts and valuable artwork,” its spokesman said.
Asiana Airlines will be in charge of the third shipment, while the last remaining volumes will be handled by Korean Air.
He said Korean Air, as well as Asiana Airlines, offered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to transport the Oegyujanggak free of charge. “But we have not yet heard from the ministry on the matter. But for now, we will do everything we can to ensure the safe transport of the second batch of Oegyujanggak books,” the spokesman said.
Currently, Korean Air operates flights between Incheon and Paris daily, with Asiana Airlines operating three weekly flights.