The Kansong Art Museum in Seoul has launched a special exhibition titled "Cultural Defense of the Nation: The Spirit of Our People Preserved Through Faith," showcasing 46 significant artifacts reclaimed by collector Chun Hyung-pil during the Japanese colonial period. The centerpiece of the show is a rare 18th-century white porcelain bottle decorated with underglaze blue, iron-red, and copper-red, which Chun famously acquired at the Gyeongseong Art Club auction in 1936. He outbid a prominent Japanese dealer with a record-breaking bid of 14,580 won—a sum equivalent to the price of 15 houses at the time—to prevent the treasure from leaving Korea.
This exhibition is significant because it highlights the role of private patronage in preserving national identity and heritage during a period of systemic cultural looting. By utilizing historical archives and auction catalogs from the 1920s to the 1940s, the museum traces Chun’s strategic efforts to outmaneuver colonial interests at auction. The display of these works, including pieces by Chusa Kim Jeong-hee and Jang Seung-eop, serves as a testament to the "cultural defense" movement that kept Korea's most vital artistic achievements on domestic soil.