The Cultural Heritage Administration and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) concluded an MOU on cooperation in the restitution of cultural property in Washington DC on July 22. The ICE is the US agency to which the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) belongs, and HSI has collaborated with CHA in several cases to investigate and return the illegally exported Korean cultural property discovered in the US. The signing of the MOU started with cooperation for the return of 9 national and royal seals of the Joseon Dynasty last year, that were returned home this April when the countries' two heads met in Seoul. The MOU is comprised of the preamble and 7 sections, particularly detailing how to share information on illegal trafficking of cultural property, recognizing the importance of information sharing by the two countries for effective investigation. So far, the return of cultural property moved before wartime was handled in way of asking for accountability to the defeated country by the victorious party with peace treaty. After World War II, the international community adopted the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, Protocol I, for the resolution of the issue with international laws. But as the Convention is not applied retroactively, the property transferred before the Korean War was not dealt under the instrument. However, CHA identified that in the US where so many illegally transferred Korean cultural properties particularly exported by US soldiers during the Korea War are located, the illegal property can be confiscated under the country's national law. In that regards, an original plate of Hojo Convertible Note was returned home last September in collaboration with the HSI after the plate was up for auction in 2010--the first case succeeding in cooperative investigation by two states. As the basis for systemic cooperation in investigation concerning the issue, the signed MOU is highly expected to further contribute the two authorities' collaboration in investigating the illegally transferred Korean cultural property particularly during the Korean War. Currently, a new case regarding Joseon's two more royal seals of Queen Munjeong and King Hyeonjong is under way. The seals were already confiscated by HSI and remain under investigation in collaboration with CHA and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of Korea since May last year.