Gyeonggi-do Yangju Hoeamsaji Site. / Photo = Courtesy of Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation
On the 19th, the National Heritage Agency announced that the Hoeamsaji Site in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do, was selected for UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List.
The Yangju Hoeamsaji Site is an archaeological site that shows the typical configuration and layout of a Buddhist Seon sect temple (a place of practice) that was popular in East Asia in the 14th century. It also includes a group of memorials such as the stupas and monuments of eminent monks like Jigong and Naong Hyegun, who revived Hoeamsaji in the 14th century.
Selection for the Tentative List is a step in the domestic process of submitting a World Heritage application to UNESCO. It involves passing through preliminary evaluation and candidate stages before being selected as an application target.
The National Heritage Agency explained that the Yangju Hoeamsaji Site was selected for the Tentitive List as it’s recognized for its Outstanding Universal Value and supplemental protection and management plans from the provisional list.
A representative of the National Heritage Agency stated, “We will actively cooperate with Yangju City to strive for the UNESCO World Heritage designation of the Yangju Hoeamsaji Site,” adding, “We will continue to promote the outstanding universal value of our heritage both domestically and internationally.”