An area of about 194,000 square meters around Jongmyo in Seoul, a UNESCO World Heritage site, will be designated a World Heritage district. Attention is on whether redevelopment projects near Jongmyo will also be put on hold.
According to the Korea Heritage Service on the 13th, the World Heritage subcommittee under the Cultural Heritage Committee approved the agenda item for "deliberation on newly designating the Jongmyo World Heritage district" at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Jongno-gu, Seoul, that day.
The committee decided to designate a total of 91 lots, specifically 194,089.6 square meters centered on Jongmyo, as a World Heritage district. Under the current Special Act on the Preservation, Management and Utilization of World Heritage (World Heritage Act), the head of the Korea Heritage Service may designate and manage a World Heritage district when necessary.
Within a World Heritage district, development activities that could undermine the site's "outstanding universal value" are restricted. The Korea Heritage Service said, "When designated as a World Heritage district, the spatial scope for the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) is set," adding, "The head of the Korea Heritage Service may request a heritage impact assessment for projects that could affect Jongmyo, a World Heritage site."
Earlier, in April, UNESCO asked the Seoul city government to submit a heritage impact assessment for the overall plan, saying the readjustment project could have a negative effect on Jongmyo, but the request was not accepted.
The Korea Heritage Service said, "After sending an official letter to the Seoul city government in April this year, we conveyed matters related to the impact assessment a total of three times, including in May and September, but have not received a reply."
An official at the Korea Heritage Service said the agency would complete the administrative procedures in December and "strongly request that the Seoul city government conduct a World Heritage impact assessment based on the World Heritage Act."
However, subordinate regulations related to the World Heritage impact assessment have not yet been prepared. The current World Heritage Act stipulates, "Specific scope of target projects, evaluation items, methods and procedures of the World Heritage impact assessment, detailed criteria, and other necessary matters shall be prescribed by Presidential Decree," but the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rule have not been finalized.
Jongmyo, inscribed on the World Heritage List in Dec. 1995, is the national shrine where the spirit tablets of the kings and queens of Joseon and the Korean Empire, and of the emperors and empresses, are enshrined and ancestral rites are performed. Along with Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple, and the Janggyeong Panjeon of Haein Temple, it is one of Korea's first World Heritage sites.