Gyeonggi-do Selects 11 Items Including Refugee Taegeukgi as 'Registered Cultural Heritage'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has selected the Korean War Refugee Taegeukgi as the first "Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage."

Recently, Gyeonggi Province held a meeting of the Registered Cultural Heritage Subcommittee of the Gyeonggi Cultural Heritage Committee and finalized 11 items as newly introduced "Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage" to preserve and utilize modern cultural heritage, including ▲ the Korean War Refugee Taegeukgi held at the Dongducheon Freedom Protection Peace Museum ▲ Pajoo Galkok-ri Catholic Church ▲ Osan UN Forces First Battle Monument and old plaques and Korean Service Corps (KSC) guide signs ▲ a batch of measured drawings and repair plans of cultural heritage from the Japanese colonial period ▲ Ansan Kia 3-wheel truck T600 ▲ Bucheon Hanmi Foundation Sosa 4-H Training Farm silo ▲ Suwon Banghwasuryujeong mother-of-pearl box ▲ Pajoo Last Chance ▲ Pajoo Malaysia Bridge ▲ Ansan Dongju Salt Farm salt transport railcar ▲ Ansan wooden cotton frame, totaling 11 items, the province announced on the 27th.

Unlike traditional cultural heritage managed by the national and city/provincial designated cultural heritage systems, the province judged that there was no proper way to protect modern cultural heritage (cultural heritage over 50 years old) if it failed to be registered as national cultural heritage, and proposed a system improvement in 2016 to allow local governments to operate registered cultural heritage.

In response, the government accepted the province's proposal in 2019, and since September last year, the province has been promoting the selection of local government registered cultural heritage through surveys of cities and counties and collecting opinions from residents.

The 11 registered cultural heritage items were selected based on residents' opinions, expert recommendations, and considering historical value and symbolism.

The first registered cultural heritage, the "Korean War Refugee Taegeukgi," was kept by refugees escaping from the North Korean region in September 1951, handed over to the U.S. military, and donated to Dongducheon City in 1987. It helps to understand the urgent historical tragedy during the Korean War.

Lee Hee-wan, head of the Cultural Heritage Division of the province, said, "All 11 items registered as the first achievement of the province's registered cultural heritage system, established to protect modern cultural heritage in the province, are meaningful cultural heritage that distinctively show Gyeonggi Province's identity and regional characteristics." He promised, "We will continue to discover and protect modern cultural heritage and widely promote the value of modern cultural resources that are disappearing under high development pressure."