Call for Site Proposals for Replacement Facilities of Taereung Skate Park in Restoration of Joseon Royal Tombs, a World Cultural Heritage

The government is seeking sites for the construction of a replacement facility for the Taereung International Skating Rink to restore the World Cultural Heritage.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 13th that, together with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, it will hold a nationwide call for sites for the construction of a replacement facility for the Taereung International Skating Rink, targeting local governments across the country until February 8, 2024.

The Taereung International Skating Rink is the only facility in the country equipped with a 400m track where speed skating athletes can train. Following the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage registration of Joseon royal tombs including Taereung in 2009, the Taereung International Skating Rink, which was installed within Taereung for the restoration of the royal tombs' original form, is scheduled to be demolished.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee will build a replacement facility to ensure that athletes' training is not disrupted. The newly constructed international skating rink will serve as a key hub for the development of speed skating, functioning both as a training facility for professional athletes such as national representatives and as a facility for community sports.

For the selection of the site for the replacement facility, a site selection committee composed of experts from various fields including sports, economics, and law will be formed to review the proposed sites. The committee will select candidate sites around April to May 2024 through document screening, presentation evaluations, and on-site inspections of the applications submitted by each local government, and recommend them to the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.

Taereung Ice Rink. [Photo by Korea Sports Council]

Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee will finalize the construction site after negotiations regarding the candidate sites. After the site selection and completion of necessary procedures such as preliminary feasibility studies, the new international skating rink is expected to be completed after 2027.

Detailed information about the announcement and application forms can be found on the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee website.

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