Generally, scholars believe that the image was cast in Silla based on the fact that there were several anecdotal stories stating that the Japanese man who rediscovered the image had found them in the ruins of a temple in what was once Silla. Professor Woo-bang Kang has argued that the statue was made in Goguryeo, who he believes was the only state technologically capable of casting the image, and was at one point brought to the south.
Typically, researchers believe that the image was created in Silla based on anecdotal evidence of a Japanese person discovering it in temple ruins in what is now Silla. Conversely, Professor Woo-bang Kang argues that the statue originated from Goguryeo, which he thinks had the technological capabilities to produce such an image.