On 2 November 1976, Dong-A Ilbo—one of South Korea’s most prominent and widely read national newspapers—ran a front-page story on the Sinan shipwreck. Its headline read:“Rising from the Silent Seabed: 700-Year-Old Colours Breathe Again.”
Accompanied by a photo of a diver brandishing a celadon plate, the article framed the salvage as a cultural triumph. But looting was already rampant by this point. Rather than deterring it, such poetic coverage only fuelled public fascination—and helped turn a desperate rescue effort into a national spectacle. The press didn’t cause the gold rush, but it certainly gave it a headline.
Image Source: https://www.ijkaa.org/v.5/0/105/102