The government has returned to North Korea an 18th-century war monument looted by Japan a century ago.

In the North's border city of Gaesong Wednesday, some 150 South and North Korean officials took part in the handover ceremony for "Bukgwandaecheopbi," including the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration in Seoul.

Wednesday was also Samil Independence Movement Day, marking the 1919 campaign for independence from Japanese colonial rule.

Built in 1707, the tall monument honored a Korean general who repelled Japanese invaders in the 16th century.