The government will begin steps to designate ancient Korean cultural assets retrieved from Japan in 2011 as national treasures.
 
The Cultural Heritage Administration says it has surveyed some nine thousand pieces of cultural properties that were recovered from Japan either through purchase, donation or by other countries returning them to South Korea. 
 
The administration said it will begin a further survey to designate 32 of the pieces as National Treasures or Treasures, including three royal seals and a letter written by Joseon era calligrapher Kim Jeong-hui.
 
A collection of Joseon Dynasty royal protocols called the "Uigwe," containing thousands of books, will also seek to be designated as a treasure.
 
The administration also said that assets returned to Korea in the form of a loan in government-to-government negotiations, as in the case of the "Oegyujanggak" royal books returned from France, have been excluded from cultural designation.