A building believed to be a royal shrine from the Joseon Kingdom has returned to Korea, about 100 years after it was taken to Japan during colonial times.

According to the Korea Heritage Service and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, parts of the structure, called Gwanwoldang, were returned Monday under an agreement with Kotoku-in, the Kamakura-based Buddhist temple that possessed them.

Takao Sato, the head of the Japanese temple, is reported to have made the transfer possible in the belief that the shrine should be preserved in its place of origin.

It is the first time that an entire Korean building has been repatriated from overseas.

Gwanwoldang, measuring about five-point-four meters in length at the front and about three-point-six meters on the side, is a wooden structure with an architectural style characteristic of royal shrines from the late Joseon period.

According to experts in South Korea, the shrine is believed to have been gifted by the Joseon Siksan Bank to Kisei Sugino, the first president of Yamaichi Securities, in 1924.

It is thought to have been donated to Kotoku-in in the 1930s.