Hapcheon-gun Promotes Efforts to Register Gaya Tumuli as World Heritage Site

Promotion of Busan Milk and Chukhyup Milk Package Regarding the Gaya Tumuli World Heritage Registration Effort

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam, signed a business agreement on the 29th at the 5th-floor auditorium of the Chilseo Industrial Complex Welfare Center in Haman-gun to promote the UNESCO inscription of the Gaya Tumuli together with 10 local governments related to the Gaya Tumuli, the Gaya Tumuli World Heritage Promotion Team, and the Busan Gyeongnam Milk Cooperative.

The Gaya Tumuli is a serial heritage site consisting of seven tumulus groups: Okjeon Tumuli in Hapcheon, Gyeongnam; Daeseong-dong in Gimhae; Malsan in Haman; Gyodong and Songhyeon-dong in Changnyeong; Songhak-dong in Goseong; Yugok-ri and Durak-ri in Namwon, Jeonbuk; and Jisandong in Goryeong, Gyeongbuk. Ten local governments are joining forces to register it as a World Heritage site.

The seven Gaya Tumuli were listed on the tentative list of World Heritage in January 2019 and have been actively promoted since then. Subsequently, in September 2020, they were selected as the final candidate for registration, and in 2021, the application was submitted and passed the completeness inspection. The decision on the inscription of the Gaya Tumuli will be made at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting held in 2022.

The business agreement ceremony was held in accordance with COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, attended by related officials including Choi Yong-nam, Deputy Governor of Hapcheon.

This promotion, in collaboration with Busan Gyeongnam Milk, is scheduled to run from August 2021 to July 2022. In the Gyeongnam area, the promotion will be displayed on the packaging of Busan Milk Deodamda 1L and 200ml products, and in the Gyeongbuk and Jeonbuk areas, on the packaging of Chukhyup Milk 1L products, to promote the inscription of the Gaya Tumuli as a World Heritage site.

An official from Hapcheon-gun stated, “We will work closely together to ensure this agreement becomes a good example of mutual growth between companies and local governments, and we will make every effort to ensure there are no setbacks in the on-site inspection and preparation for inscription.”