Gyeongnam Gaya Tumuli, UNESCO Listing 'Soon'

UNESCO Advisory Body Recommends World Heritage Listing

Final Decision at Saudi Arabia 45th General Assembly in September

Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 11th that the UNESCO inscription of the five Gaya Tumuli Groups is considered certain.

According to Gyeongnam Province, on the 10th, the Cultural Heritage Administration notified Gyeongnam that the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a UNESCO advisory review body, recommended the inscription of seven Gaya tumuli groups, including five in Gyeongnam, one in Gyeongbuk, and one in Jeonbuk, on the World Heritage List.

ICOMOS investigates the heritage sites submitted by each country and selects one of four recommendations?inscription, deferral, referral, or non-inscription?to be delivered to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the concerned countries.

Malisan Tumuli in Haman-gun, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

The province explained that considering the precedent that the World Heritage Committee usually accepts ICOMOS's recommendations as is, the inscription of the Gaya Tumuli Groups as World Heritage is considered certain.

The Gaya Tumuli Groups are a serial heritage composed of seven tumuli groups of the ‘Gaya’ that existed in the southern Korean Peninsula from the 1st to the 6th century.

They consist of Gyeongnam’s ▲Gimhae Daeseong-dong Tumuli Group ▲Haman Malsan Tumuli Group ▲Changnyeong Gyodong and Songhyeon-dong Tumuli Groups ▲Goseong Songhak-dong Tumuli Group ▲Hapcheon Okjeon Tumuli Group, as well as Gyeongbuk’s ▲Goryeong Jisandong Tumuli Group and Jeonbuk’s ▲Namwon Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli Groups.

Okjeon Ancient Tombs, Hapcheon, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

According to the ICOMOS review, the Gaya Tumuli Groups, designated as national historic sites, are regarded as unique evidence demonstrating the civilization of Gaya, which maintained a distinctive political system of a confederation while coexisting with surrounding centralized ancient states.

They were recognized for their ‘Outstanding Universal Value (OUV)’ as important sites showing a type of ancient East Asian civilization.

All seven tumuli groups are located at the centers of each Gaya and contain the tombs of the ruling class that were continuously constructed over a long period.

Through the location, burial styles, and grave goods of the tumuli groups, they demonstrate the political system of the Gaya Confederacy, where multiple powers based in different regions exercised independent authority while maintaining a relatively equal horizontal status.

This heritage also provides insight into the developmental stages of ancient states in the Northeast Asian cultural sphere, including Korea, Japan, and China.

Gyodong and Songhakdong Tumuli Groups, Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

The World Heritage Committee plans to hold the 45th World Heritage Committee session from September 10 to 25 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and make the final decision on the inscription of the Gaya Tumuli Groups based on the ICOMOS recommendations.

If the inscription is confirmed, the Gaya Tumuli Groups will become Korea’s 16th World Heritage site and Gyeongnam’s fourth World Heritage site, following Haeinsa Janggyeong Panjeon, Tongdosa (Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea), and Namgye Seowon (Korean Seowon).

Gyeongnam Province evaluated this as the result of over ten years of effort since June 2013, when it first applied to the Cultural Heritage Administration to include Daeseong-dong Tumuli Group and Malsan Tumuli Group on the tentative World Heritage list.

Cha Seok-ho, Director of the Culture, Tourism, and Sports Bureau, said, “The inscription of the Gaya Tumuli Groups as World Heritage proves that this heritage is of significant value for the common protection of humanity, beyond the heritage of any specific country or ethnicity.” He added, “It will be an important opportunity to create international brand value for the Gaya Tumuli Groups, activate regional tourism, and lay the foundation for development as a world-class historical and cultural city.”

He continued, “We will do our best to work closely with the government to make Gyeongnam the world’s best historical and cultural city.”

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