By Lee Jon-young

The following article was contributed by Lee Chil-yong, former expert member of the Cultural Heritage Administration to the Diplomacy Journal. –Ed.

Buddhist woodcarver Huh Gil-ryang was born in 1953 in Seungju-gun, Jeollanam-do, and learned the basics of woodcarving from teacher Seo Soo-yeon in 1968 at the age of 15, and learned Buddhist painting from teacher Lee In-ho in 1975 at the age of 22. He was absorbed in Buddhist art at an early age and has been working with Buddhist woodcarving for his entire life.

He won the grand prize at the 1977 Buddhist Art Exhibition and was appointed as an adjunct professor at Incheon Catholic University in 1998 and a researcher at Hanyang University's Institute of Traditional Art in 1999. 

In 2001, he was selected as the first holder of an important intangible cultural property to be publicly announced since the creation of the Cultural Heritage Administration, and was designated as the holder of an important intangible cultural property wooden carving workshop. 

However, when the issue of Mr. Mo, who applied in a fraudulent manner with a Cultural Heritage Administration worker, was published in the Munwha Ilbo (then reporter Choi Young-chang, now chairman of the Korea Cultural Property Protection Foundation), it was misunderstood as Huh Gil-ryang tipped off, and the Cultural Heritage Administration worker Cha (?) and others framed Huh Gil-ryang for defamation and revoked his status as an intangible cultural property functional holder.

But in 2008, an official in charge of the Cultural Heritage Administration, Mr. Hong, a member of the Cultural Heritage Expert Committee at the time, and Mr. Kim conspired to slander Huh Gil-ryang at the Hyatt Hotel in Seoul to create a case. Based on the "Mr. Kim’s declaration of conscience", Huh Gil-ryang tried to reveal the truth, but the criminal case exceeded the statute of limitations, and he claimed damages in a civil lawsuit and won, and the injustice caused by the framing was revealed in a hundred days.

But as of 2023, the position of the function holder of the important intangible cultural property wood carving studio has not been restored. In May 2023, even a full-length novel called "Tears of a Buddhist Mother" by novelist Song Geum-ho was published and distributed, so we wonder how this can happen in Korea, a country with the rule of law? 

However, Huh Gil-ryang, a woodcarver, did not give up and exhibited wooden statues of Buddhas in Milan, Italy, in 2003, Paris, France, in 2006, and New York, USA, in 2008, and held solo exhibitions such as "Pine Tree Becomes a Heavenly Maid" in 2016 and "Bakdaldadeumimok 53 becomes young boys and young girls" in 2022, and passed the bad luck (?) that befell him to producing Buddha and Buddhist works. 

The heaven knows and the earth knows this injustice, so please, the relevant authorities should strictly re-inspect and help him regain the status of an important intangible cultural property (current, national intangible cultural property) wood carving function holder, which is the first responsibility in the country of the rule of law.

I don't know how much longer Huh Gil-ryang, who turned 70 this year, will be able to continue his work, but I think justice will be realized in this society only if the truth is clearly revealed.