Sewoon District 4 Residents Urge National Heritage Agency to Halt "World Heritage Impact Assessment"

“Unlawful Interference with Permitting Without Legal Basis...
Residents Also Demand Disclosure of UNESCO Correspondence”

Residents of Sewoon District 4 in Jongno-gu, Seoul, have called on the National Heritage Agency to withdraw the ‘World Heritage Impact Assessment’ for their area.

Residents of Sewoon District 4 in Jongno-gu, Seoul, are making a statement regarding the National Heritage Agency's refusal to allow simulation verification filming at Jongno Dasi Sewoon Square last January. Photo by The Asia Business Daily

The Sewoon District 4 Residents’ Representative Council made this demand on the 14th through a statement titled “Position of Residents of Sewoon District 4 Regarding the Administrative Overreach of the National Heritage Agency.”

In the statement, residents argued, “Forcing a World Heritage Impact Assessment, which is not a legal obligation, constitutes unlawful interference with the permitting process by the National Heritage Agency,” adding, “At a time when permits are imminent, forcing the implementation of an assessment not stipulated by law under the pretext of UNESCO’s recommendation and thereby interfering with the permitting authority of the Seoul Mayor and the Jongno-gu District Chief fundamentally undermines the integrity of administration.”

Sewoon District 4, where an urban maintenance-type redevelopment project is underway, is currently awaiting approval for an amendment to the project implementation plan, having undergone an integrated review by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Jongno-gu after the announcement of changes to the city’s redevelopment promotion plan at the end of October last year.

Residents also emphasized that, although the National Heritage Agency publicly announced in January 2017 that the Sewoon District, including District 4, was not subject to review by the Cultural Heritage Administration and confirmed in a 2023 inquiry response that there was no further obligation to consult with the agency, it has since repeatedly sent official documents to Seoul City and Jongno-gu that contradict these earlier positions, thereby hindering the project.

Residents specifically demanded that the National Heritage Agency make public the official document it referenced, after Heo Min, the head of the agency, stated at a press conference in March that if Sewoon District 4 does not undergo a heritage impact assessment, Jongmyo could be added to the preservation agenda at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting scheduled to be held in Busan this July, citing a letter from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

The claim was also raised that the National Heritage Agency is applying a double standard to the southern and northern parts of Seoul. Residents pointed out that, while the construction of the 151-meter POSCO Center and the 154-meter DB Financial Center was permitted just 250 meters from Seonjeongneung—another World Cultural Heritage site in Gangnam—the development of Sewoon District 4, which is 600 meters from Jongmyo, is being challenged.

Residents appealed, saying, “The redevelopment project for Sewoon District 4, which began in 2004, has not even broken ground after 22 years, with the total project cost, including financing expenses, accumulating to approximately 800 billion won, and with monthly interest expenses exceeding 2 billion won. If the current situation continues, all residents are at risk of becoming insolvent landowners.”

Residents also asserted, “Director Heo is politicizing Sewoon District 4 by linking it to Jongmyo, and is attempting to use the issue for the Seoul mayoral election, especially with the election just around the corner.”

They went on to demand, “The National Heritage Agency must immediately cease its obstruction of the project, and both Seoul City and Jongno-gu should proceed with the approval for the amendment to the project implementation plan without delay.”

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