In response to the 'Jangneung Apartment Demolition' Petition: "We Strive to Preserve the Value of the World Cultural Heritage"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 17th, the government announced that it will "strive to maintain the value as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and resolve the situation reasonably" in response to a public petition demanding the demolition of an apartment building constructed near 'Gimpo Jangneung' without permission from the Cultural Heritage Administration.

Kim Hyun-mo, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, responded to the public petition regarding the demolition of the apartment near Jangneung, stating, "Currently, the Cultural Heritage Committee, an advisory body to the Cultural Heritage Administration, is conducting a review process on the alteration of the site."

Previously, a petition demanding the demolition of the apartment built near Gimpo Jangneung without permission from the Cultural Heritage Administration, as it damages the landscape of the World Cultural Heritage site Jangneung, garnered a total of 216,045 signatures.

Kim said, "At the Cultural Heritage Committee meeting held on the 28th of last month, we reviewed the improvement measures submitted by the developers, but it was judged that it would be difficult to maintain the historical and cultural value with the submitted plans. Therefore, a more technical and professional review by related experts is necessary," adding, "Accordingly, the Cultural Heritage Administration has formed a subcommittee of the Cultural Heritage Committee to thoroughly examine this matter, and appropriate administrative measures will be taken based on the committee's review results."

Separately, he added that for developers who did not obtain permission for site alteration, construction has been ordered to stop and criminal charges have been filed under Article 42 of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, and related lawsuits and investigations are currently underway.

Kim expressed regret over the situation, saying, "As the head of the institution responsible for the proper preservation and management of cultural heritage, I am saddened that such a situation has occurred," and emphasized, "We will work closely with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to ensure that incidents such as the cancellation of World Heritage designation do not happen."

He also pledged to work on preventing recurrence to avoid a 'second Jangneung apartment incident.' Kim stated, "We will conduct a comprehensive survey of activity restrictions within the historical and cultural environment preservation areas around nationally designated cultural properties to review their appropriateness and prepare reasonable adjustment plans," and explained, "We will strengthen continuous monitoring to protect the historical and cultural environment around cultural properties to preemptively block unauthorized site alteration activities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.