Wando-gun Accelerates Efforts to Register Cheongsando Guduljangnon as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Developing Logic to Secure Historicity and Cultural Heritage Value and Achieve World Heritage Listing

Wando County is accelerating efforts to register Cheongsando Gudlejangnon as a UNESCO World Heritage site. (Photo by Wando County)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyungpil] Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 11th that it is accelerating efforts to register the Gudeuljangnon (stone slab rice terraces) of Cheongsando as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

To register as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the county conducted a basic academic survey of the entire Wando-gun area in 2017. In 2018, it received advice from an international academic conference, and last year, through consultations with the Cultural Heritage Administration, it has been securing data and developing registration rationale to list the Gudeuljangnon of Cheongsando and Yeoseodo, a World Agricultural Heritage site, as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Gudeuljangnon of Cheongsando, the first national important agricultural heritage, was registered as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in April 2014. It is a rice terrace built by stacking stone retaining walls and compacting soil on steep terrain using a method of placing stone slabs (gudeul) underneath.

In particular, the rice terraces have an underground drainage structure that connects the upper terraces to the lower ones, allowing efficient use of agricultural water.

The Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Gyeongsang National University (Principal Researcher Professor Shin Jae-yeol), currently conducting this research, announced that by applying scientific dating techniques and discovering new evidence supporting the initial formation period of the Gudeuljangnon, they have secured its historical and cultural heritage value.

Based on the characteristics of the Gudeuljangnon revealed through previous investigations, appropriate registration criteria and rationale are being established.

Professor Cho Kyung-man, who first introduced the Gudeuljangnon to academia through a paper in 1996, stated, “It is evaluated that the core aspects of historical data, hydraulic characteristics, and ecosystem structure have been captured, and the previously insufficient data and rationale to meet the high overseas evaluation standards are being supplemented.”

Shin Woo-cheol, the governor of Wando-gun, said, “The goal of this project, which started with the expectation of Wando possessing a UNESCO World Heritage site, is to raise the county’s recognition and increase domestic and international tourists,” adding, “We will strive to achieve good results.”