The foreign ministry said on Thursday that it's inappropriate for the government to state its position on a local court's ruling that a 14th-century Korean Buddhist statue should be sent back to a Japanese temple from where it was stolen in 2012.

A ministry official made the remarks to reporters, saying that it's inappropriate that the executive branch expresses its stance on a decision by the judiciary.

The official said that the latest ruling was issued according to judicial proceedings. 

The 50-centimeter gilt bronze Buddha statue was stolen from Tsushima's Kannonji temple by Korean thieves in October 2012 and a Korean temple claimed ownership of it, saying that it was looted by medieval Japanese pirates. 

In 2017, the Daejeon District Court ruled that the government should return the statue to Buseoksa Temple, saying it was likely taken to Japan through theft or pillage.

The Daejeon High Court, however, overturned the ruling on Wednesday, saying Japan's Kannonji had acquired legal ownership of the statue through decades of continued possession.