"Unable to Understand English"... Seoul City Sends Baffling Response to UNESCO Official Letter

Seoul City: "Requested interpretation from the Cultural Heritage Administration due to the specialized nature of the field"
Park Jumin: "Kindly sent English emails when inviting far-right figures"

Jongmyo Yeongnyeongjeon. Cultural Heritage Administration

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) delivered a recommendation to the Cultural Heritage Administration, urging the Seoul Metropolitan Government to conduct a Heritage Impact Assessment regarding its plan to allow high-rise buildings up to 145 meters tall across from Jongmyo, a UNESCO World Heritage site. However, it has been reported that Seoul City responded by saying it "could not understand the meaning in English."

According to the office of Park Jumin, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, the Cultural Heritage Administration received a diplomatic document containing UNESCO's recommendations on March 12. The report stated that the Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Plan could negatively affect Jongmyo and requested a World Heritage Impact Assessment. The Cultural Heritage Administration is said to have forwarded this official document to Seoul City on April 7.

However, Seoul City replied, "The review opinion regarding Jongmyo was written in English, making it impossible to accurately understand the meaning of the specialized cultural heritage matters, so it is not possible to prepare a response plan." The city then requested that the opinion letter be translated into Korean and also asked for all reference documents used in the preparation of the review opinion to be provided in Korean as well.

On May 24, the Cultural Heritage Administration summarized the main points of the document in Korean and delivered them to Seoul City. When Seoul City did not respond, the administration sent another official letter four months later, on September 23, again urging active cooperation and the establishment of measures to implement the recommendations. However, there was still no significant action from Seoul City.

Through Facebook, Assemblyman Park Jumin criticized Seoul City's "selective English illiteracy," stating, "When it came to inviting the far-right figure Mostan at taxpayers' expense, Seoul City kindly sent long emails in English. Yet, when it comes to the official review report sent by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, an advisory body to UNESCO, for the preservation of Jongmyo, the city responded that 'it is difficult to understand the meaning because it is in English, so it is hard to prepare a response.'"

As criticism mounted over Seoul City's passive response, a city official explained, "It was not a matter to be judged by arbitrary interpretation. Since cultural heritage is a specialized field, we requested an accurate interpretation from the Cultural Heritage Administration."

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