The conflict between the Seoul city government and the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea over the development of Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Zone 4 (Sewoon 4 District), located in front of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jongmyo Shrine, is intensifying with criminal complaints and warnings from international organizations. The Cultural Heritage Administration has filed a police complaint against Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH) for violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Law. Additionally, UNESCO has sent a third strong letter to the Cultural Heritage Administration demanding the implementation of a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA).
According to the Cultural Heritage Administration on March 16, UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre warned in a letter sent on March 14 that if Seoul proceeds with the Sewoon District redevelopment despite two previous UNESCO recommendations, it could significantly negatively impact Jongmyo’s World Heritage status. UNESCO requested that the impact assessment be completed by the end of March, stating that failure to respond could lead to Jongmyo being placed on the ‘Agenda for Preservation’ at the upcoming 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan or a site inspection might be conducted.
This signifies that UNESCO is concerned that sufficient measures for the preservation of the heritage site are not being taken. If the 21 member countries participating in the World Heritage Committee meeting determine that Jongmyo’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) is compromised or under threat, it could be listed as a ‘World Heritage in Danger’. If improvements are still not made, it might even be removed from the World Heritage List.
Director Huh Min of the Cultural Heritage Administration expressed concern that the World Heritage Committee meeting held in Korea could potentially become a discussion on the possible loss of Jongmyo’s World Heritage status. He also worried that the ‘Hanyang City Wall’, which is to be considered for World Heritage listing at the 49th session of the World Heritage Committee next year, could be negatively impacted.
The Seoul city government argues that the Sewoon 4 District does not fall within either the World Heritage area of Jongmyo or its surrounding preservation district, and therefore they are not required to conduct an impact assessment. The city plans to hold an integrated project review committee meeting on March 19 and finalize project approval by April. Director Huh proposed a trilateral discussion table with the Mayor of Seoul, the Head of Jongno District, and the Cultural Heritage Administration, stressing that reversing the approval would be more costly.
Separately, the Cultural Heritage Administration has filed a police complaint against the project executor, SH, for proceeding with drilling operations before completing the excavation survey procedures in the Sewoon 4 District. SH had conducted drilling operations in 11 locations in the district on March 11 to push forward with the project. Changing the status of the land without completing excavation survey procedures is a violation of the current Cultural Heritage Protection Law. SH argued that the ground investigation is not the commencement of main construction but simply an investigation for design purposes.