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We respectfully submit this petition to call for the return of Jikji, the world’s oldest surviving book printed with movable metal type, to its country of origin, the Republic of Korea.
Jikji was printed in 1377 during the Goryeo Dynasty and represents a landmark achievement in the history of human communication and printing technology. It predates the Gutenberg Bible by nearly 80 years and stands as a testament to Korea’s early innovation and contribution to global civilization.
Today, the only remaining volume of Jikji is held in France. While its preservation has been acknowledged, its continued absence from Korea prevents the work from being fully understood, contextualized, and appreciated within the cultural, historical, and spiritual environment in which it was created.
Although Jikji is internationally recognized as Korean cultural heritage — including its registration in UNESCO’s Memory of the World — its physical location remains disconnected from its historical origin. This situation reflects a broader issue of cultural imbalance, in which artifacts from non-Western societies are often preserved outside their original contexts due to historical power asymmetries.
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