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The destruction of the historic Naksan Temple in Yangyang, Gangwon Province in a wildfire on Tuesday, including cultural treasures like the Hall of the Great Veneration, has put the spotlight on insurance for the country's cultural properties against such disasters.
Naksan Temple itself bought a W500 million (US$500,000) insurance policy in March 2003 from Daehan Fire and Marine Insurance, property and insurance sources said Wednesday. It covers a dozen or so buildings and a main hall.
Insurance for temples and cultural properties, dubbed comprehensive temple insurance, has been available from Dongbu Insurance since 1998.
A total of 12 major temples across the country have taken out Dongbu policies worth more than W1 billion ($1 million) each. Among them are Bulguk Temple, and Sokkuram Grotto -- both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- in Gyeongju, Junghye Temple in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Yeonhwa Temple in Daejeon and Cheonbul Temple in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.
Insurance compensates for destruction of temple buildings, Buddha statues and images, injured monks and even owner's liability.
Bulguk Temple took out a W14.9 billion insurance policy in April last year, and Sokkuram Grotto bought a W5.1 million policy in the same month. The former paid W31.5 million and the latter W8.9 million.
Had Naksan Temple bought the insurance, it would have covered a considerable portion of its damages.
Besides the comprehensive temple insurance scheme, some temples of the Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist sect, are now taking out fire insurance, but the practice is still limited.
Insurance pundits attribute the reluctance of temples to take out insurance to the forbidding premiums as well as to passivity of insurance firms, who find it difficult to assess the value of cultural treasures.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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