Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- Among many crimes committed by the Japanese imperialists against the Korean people in the past is the hideous crime of destroying and plundering precious cultural assets.

The Japanese imperialists infested the tombs of kings under the pretext of "investigating" the historical relics of Korea to loot large quantities of gold crowns and articles. They plundered many cultural assets from the royal palace and other buildings under the pretext of "research" in architecture.

From November 1905 to April 1907 alone, they raided some king tombs dating back to the Koryo period.

None of the tombs of the Koryo kings remained intact. This proves the Japanese imperialists' hideous atrocities.

The Japanese imperialists dug up more than 1 400 ancient tombs in the area of the Taedong River and Ryongyon Sub-county (then) in ten years, demolishing the Walled City of Pyongyang and many other forts under the pretext of railways project and the construction of cities, factories and military facilities.

They raided bookstores and Confucian temples and even private houses likely to have cultural relics across the country in order to obliterate the classics.

The Japanese imperialists plundered tens of thousands of cultural assets in Korea, including metal products of great technical art value such as bells and Buddhist statues at temples.

They took the robbed cultural relics to Japan and impudently made them public as their "national treasure".

Such hideous crimes are unpardonable as they were, in essence, aimed at obliterating the traditions and patriotism of the Korean people. -0-