Restoration Work on Gyejoksanseong Fortress Walls to Be Completed by November 2026

Restoration Work on the Northern Section of the West Gate Site at Gyejoksanseong Fortress Officially Resumes

Photo by Daejeon City

Restoration work has officially resumed on the northern section of the West Gate site at Gyejoksanseong Fortress, Daejeon's only privately owned historic site, after the project was stalled due to collapses caused by heavy rainfall in both 2022 and 2023.

The total restoration section measures 31 meters, with completion targeted for November 2026.

During the process of collecting collapsed fortress stones this year, additional issues such as bulging and weaknesses in the foundation were discovered, which led to extended construction periods due to detailed investigations and expert assessments.

In order to ensure a high-quality restoration, Daejeon City has been working with experts and the National Heritage Administration to revise the design, expanding the construction section by about 10 meters. With the National Heritage Administration's approval in October this year and an additional budget of 1.2 billion won secured, the project was able to resume.

On the 14th, Daejeon City opened the construction site to the public to mark the resumption of work.

This event was particularly meaningful as it aimed to demonstrate transparency in cultural heritage administration to citizens who had experienced inconvenience due to the closure of the West Gate area of Gyejoksanseong Fortress since 2022.

More than 30 people, including members of the Daejeon Local Culture Research Association and ordinary citizens, attended the event, where Daejeon City officials and cultural heritage restoration technicians provided explanations.

Attendees were able to observe the interior of the dismantled fortress wall, learning about fortress construction techniques from the Three Kingdoms period and current methods of cultural heritage restoration.

An Yeo-jong, head of Daejeon Cultural Heritage Ullim, said, "It was a very meaningful experience to closely observe the restoration site, which had previously been hidden behind high safety barriers. If such public programs are expanded, citizens' awareness of cultural heritage preservation will greatly improve."

Photo by Daejeon City

Jeon Il-hong, Director of Culture, Arts and Tourism at Daejeon City, stated, "Recently, damage to cultural heritage sites has increased due to climate change, and Gyejoksanseong Fortress also experienced two collapses caused by unprecedented torrential rains, resulting in long-term restricted access. As Gyejoksanseong Fortress is a representative cultural heritage of Daejeon and a popular destination for citizens, we organized this event to transparently communicate the restoration process and its necessity to the public, and to strengthen open cultural heritage administration in collaboration with citizens."

Meanwhile, Daejeon City plans to improve convenience for hikers by carrying out maintenance around the fortress in parallel with the restoration work, and to lay a solid foundation for developing various programs utilizing Gyejoksanseong Fortress.

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