Assemblyman Lee Byung-hoon: "Fines Should Be Imposed for Failure to Conduct Mandatory Surveys of Buried Cultural Heritage"

Proposed Amendment to the Act on the Protection and Investigation of Buried Cultural Heritage

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] A bill imposing fines for failure to comply with the obligation to conduct surface surveys of buried cultural assets during construction work has been proposed.

On the 21st, Congressman Lee Byung-hoon (The Democratic Party, Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu Eul) announced that he had proposed a revision to the "Act on the Protection and Investigation of Buried Cultural Assets."

A surface survey of buried cultural assets is an investigation to confirm whether cultural assets are buried and distributed in a specific area, and it is the first step in the investigation, excavation, and preservation of cultural assets.

Under the current law, for construction work on sites larger than 30,000㎡, the executor is required to conduct a surface survey of buried cultural assets before starting construction and submit the results to the head of the local government in charge of the project area and the Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration.

Although the surface survey and submission of the result report are stipulated as obligations of the construction executor, there are no penalty provisions for violations. In reality, if the executor does not conduct the surface survey or fails to submit the result report, the Cultural Heritage Administration has had no measures other than urging compliance. There has been a significant gap in cultural heritage protection.

To prevent such a legislative gap, the revision bill newly includes a provision to impose a fine of up to 5 million won on the project executor who fails to submit the surface survey result report of buried cultural assets.

Congressman Lee said, "If there are no penalties for violating obligations, who would comply by spending time and money?" He added, "It is necessary to prevent the loss of cultural assets and establish a systematic approach for preservation through the settlement of the obligation to conduct surface surveys essential for cultural asset excavation."

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