The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, an affiliate organization of CHA, reported that as of 2010, the Korean cultural properties scattered outside the country numbered 140,560 (549 institutions or individuals in 20 countries), up by 23,000 from 116,896 last year. The increase of the total objects is attributed to a series of research carried out in the US, Germany, Canada, Japan and Russia last year. To reveal how many Korean cultural properties are housed in overseas countries, the NRICH drew up the list of Korean cultural heritages kept by foreign institutions and individuals, and continued relevant research. In collaboration with the museums and libraries in the US (98 institutions) and Germany (16 institutions) last year, the NRICH discovered new Korean cultural artifacts that have not known so far and made them to be on the list. In addition, researchers visited different institutions in countries such as Japan and China where Korean cultural properties are housed and carried out in-depth investigations. According to the report, Japan has the largest number of Korean cultural artifacts at about 65,000, and that was followed by the US and Germany, which have about 38,000 and 10,000 objects respectively.