In 1866, during the French campaign against Korea, the troops attacked Ganghwa-do Island and seized a vast amount of silverware, royal artifacts, and 297 volumes of royal Uigwe from the Outer Kyujanggak library and burned down the building.
In 1922, during the Japanese occupation of Korea many volumes of books including 167 of Uigwe, along with some 1,000 other relics, stored at the main Gyujanggak library at Changdeokgung Palace were also taken to Japan.