Damage to Gusan-dong Dolmen... Former Gimhae Mayor Heo Seong-gon Investigated as Witness

Former Mayor Heo Seong-gon of Gimhae, Gyeongnam, was investigated by the police on the 10th regarding the maintenance project of the Gusan-dong dolmen.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit is known to have investigated Heo, the former mayor who promoted the restoration and maintenance project of the dolmen in 2021, as a witness, focusing on the background of the omission of consultation with the Cultural Heritage Administration.

Heo Seong-gon, former mayor of Gimhae, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Gimhae City Hall]

The Gusan-dong dolmen is a dolmen site excavated during the development project of the Gusan-dong residential district in Gimhae in 2006 and is registered as Gyeongsangnam-do Monument No. 280.

At the time of excavation, Gimhae City preserved the dolmen by covering it with road soil due to its large size and difficulties in securing a budget, and started a restoration and maintenance project from December 2020.

Gyeongnam Gimhae Gusan-dong Dolmen excavation site.
[Photo by Gimhae City Hall]

During this process, complaints were raised that landform alteration was occurring, and an urgent investigation by the Cultural Heritage Administration and the National Gaya Cultural Heritage Research Institute confirmed ▲loss of cultural layers around the dolmen capstone ▲destruction of cultural layers at the site of the installation of a reservoir and pipeline facility boundary wall within the maintenance project area, leading to the suspension of the project.

The Cultural Heritage Administration filed a complaint in August last year against the mayor of Gimhae, the entity responsible for the project, for violating Article 31, Paragraph 2 of the Act on the Protection and Investigation of Buried Cultural Heritage, and the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency conducted raids and seizures on the construction company and the provincial cultural heritage department.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Audit Committee conducted an audit targeting the province and Gimhae City, resulting in disciplinary actions against six related public officials, warnings to three, and cautionary measures to two.

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