Shinan-gun Promotes Construction of 'Shinan Underwater Cultural Heritage' Visitor Center

Shinan Treasure Ship Set Sail 700 Years Ago, Recreated as Underwater Artifact Visitor Center

Secured 200 Million Won in National Funding, Scheduled to Be Built in Bangjuk-ri, Jeungdo-myeon by 2026

Shinan-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Park Woo-ryang) is promoting the construction of an underwater relic visitor center to spread the historical value of the ‘Shinan Ship excavation,’ which marked the starting point of underwater excavation in Korea, and to increase opportunities for enjoying cultural heritage.

According to the county on the 24th, the Shinan Ship excavation, which began with ceramics caught in a fisherman’s net off the coast of Jeungdo, Shinan in 1976, revealed over 27,000 underwater relics showcasing the essence of 14th-century East Asian foreign trade and the splendid ceramic culture to the world.

During the nine years until 1984, a total of 9,869 divers were mobilized for 11 underwater excavations, and the relic salvage work was carried out through 3,000 hours of diving.

Shinan Ship exhibited at Mokpo Maritime Museum
[Photo by Shinan-gun]

During the salvage period, it was promoted as a national project involving various institutions such as the Cultural Heritage Administration (formerly the Cultural Properties Management Bureau), the National Museum of Korea, the Navy Support Unit (deep-sea divers), Jeollanam-do, Shinan-gun, and Mokpo Police Station, attracting high interest from the entire nation as well as overseas academia.

The relics salvaged during the excavation were first washed on barges and naval vessels, then classified at the excavation headquarters in Jido-eup, and subsequently sent to the National Gwangju Museum and the Cultural Heritage Conservation Processing Center in Mokpo (now the National Maritime Cultural Heritage Research Institute). Afterward, only a monument was erected near the excavation site in 1986, and the numerous excavated relics were moved to Seoul.

From the 2010s, after more than a decade, Shinan-gun requested national funding to build various commemorative facilities such as the Shinan Ship Excavation Memorial Hall, Jeungdo Underwater Relics Theme Park, and Shinan Ship Underwater Relics Experience Center on Jeungdo, known as the ‘Treasure Island,’ but these efforts were repeatedly frustrated due to accessibility issues and the existence of similar facilities in Mokpo and Gwangju.

However, in 2019, after news spread that all Shinan underwater relics would be transferred from the National Museum of Korea to the Gwangju Museum, Shinan-gun continuously requested support for museum construction from the Cultural Heritage Administration and the National Assembly, and in 2024, the Cultural Heritage Administration confirmed a total project budget of 8 billion KRW for the ‘Shinan Underwater Relics Visitor Center Construction Project.’

Ceramics excavated and salvaged from the Sinan shipwreck [Photo by Sinan-gun]

The visitor center, to be built in Bangchuk-ri, Jeungdo-myeon, where the Shinan Ship excavation site is located, plans to inform visitors of the historical and cultural value of the Shinan underwater relics and provide various experiences and information through immersive digital content production and media art utilizing the underwater relics.

Governor Park Woo-ryang said, “With the confirmation of national funding support for facilities related to the Shinan underwater relics, which has been the wish of the residents, this will provide an opportunity to widely promote the true value of the Shinan underwater relics to visitors who come to the historic excavation site and to instill pride among local residents.”

Meanwhile, the Shinan Underwater Relics Visitor Center construction project is scheduled to begin local financial investment review and detailed design services in the first half of 2024, start construction in 2025, and be completed in 2026.

The Shinan Ship was a trading vessel that departed from Ningbo Port, Zhejiang Province, Yuan Dynasty China in 1323, heading to Hakata Port, Kyushu, Japan, but sank in the waters off Shinan, Korea during the voyage. The ship was a large trading vessel with a maximum length of 34 meters and width of 11 meters, carrying about 200 people on board.

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