Submission Required 15 Days Prior to Filming
Mandatory Placement of Safety Personnel for Supervision: “In the future, if you want to film a movie or drama using a national cultural heritage site as a backdrop, you must have safety personnel present on site. You also need to submit a pledge during the filming permission process not to damage the cultural heritage.”
The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on the 20th that it has prepared and distributed a ‘Standard Guideline for Filming Permits at Nationally Designated Cultural Heritage Sites’ to local governments. This guideline was established following incidents of damage during the filming of a drama at UNESCO World Heritage sites like Byeongsan Seowon in Andong and the national treasure, Mandaeru. KBS was criticized for hammering nails into Mandaeru to install props while filming the drama “Stealing the First Night of the Villain” in December last year. The Cultural Heritage Administration explained, “We have prepared this guideline to share precautions regarding filming permissions within cultural heritage sites to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
Accordingly, film or drama production teams must submit an application, plan, and pledge to municipal leaders such as special mayors or governors, at least 15 days before the filming date. The filming plan must include details on the filming subjects and locations, objectives, specific schedules, preventive measures against cultural heritage damage, and a list of equipment to be used.
For commercial filming or groups of ten or more, it is mandatory to assign safety personnel responsible for managing and overseeing the prevention of cultural heritage damage. The list of these personnel must be submitted before filming. A Cultural Heritage Administration representative stated, “The qualifications for safety personnel are specified as experts in architecture, landscaping, history, archaeology, or cultural heritage guides affiliated with the local government.”
The pledge submitted during the filming permit process includes agreements to take civil and criminal responsibility for any cultural heritage damage, facility damage, safety accidents, and other matters. Specific obligations at the filming site are also outlined. For instance, in response to previous controversies regarding nailing, it is specified that ‘nailing into pillars and wooden members of wooden structures, as well as installing metal fixtures (nails, etc.) on foundations and stone walls within cultural heritage sites, is prohibited.’
The guideline serves more as a general procedure for reference when granting filming permissions, making it akin to a guideline. A representative from the Cultural Heritage Administration stated, “We plan to use it as instructional material during pre-filming education and when outlining permission requirements.”