"Why Build Apartments at Joseon Royal Tombs Taereung and Gangneung?"

Park Hwanhee, Chair of the Seoul Metropolitan Council Steering Committee, and six standing committee chairs visited the Taereung area on the morning of the 11th following the adoption of the 11th Council's 'Petition No. 1' and issued a statement opposing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport project... Joint petition by the standing chairs of the Council's Operations, Environment, Culture, Housing, Urban Planning, and Transportation Committees to actively communicate with petitioners, residents of Gongneung-dong, through an on-site visit

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Park Hwan-hee, Chairperson of the Operations Committee (People Power Party, Nowon 2), visited the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites Taereung and Gangneung, the lotus pond (Yeonji, 蓮池), and the site of the Taereung Jae-sil under cultural heritage excavation on the 11th to inspect the area. She, along with the heads of relevant standing committees, issued a statement opposing the unilateral project enforcement by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

As presented in the first petition of the 11th Seoul Metropolitan Council, Chairperson Park Hwan-hee and the six standing committee heads expressed strong regret to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stating that the landscape around Taereung could be damaged, potentially leading to the cancellation of the Joseon Royal Tombs’ UNESCO World Cultural Heritage designation, and that the ecosystem, home to natural monuments, would be destroyed.

The six standing committee heads attending the event were Park Hwan-hee (Operations), Namgung Yeok (Environment and Water Resources), Lee Jong-hwan (Culture, Sports and Tourism), Min Byung-joo (Balanced Housing Development), Do Moon-yeol (Urban Planning and Space), and Park Jung-hwa (Transportation).

Lee Jong-hwan, Chairperson of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, stated, “The 40 Joseon Royal Tombs were constructed with maximum consideration of the surrounding natural environment according to the principles of Pungsu (Korean geomancy), and this uniqueness played a decisive role in their registration as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.” He added, “To prevent the cancellation of the World Heritage designation due to landscape damage caused by apartment complex development, a cultural heritage impact assessment system must be introduced as soon as possible.”

He also asserted, “Active efforts should be made to excavate the Jae-sil sites used for ancestral rites at the royal tombs and incorporate them into the Joseon Royal Tombs to contribute to the preservation of the World Cultural Heritage.”

Regarding the Taereung Jae-sil site, the Cultural Heritage Administration conducted excavation surveys twice, in October last year and April this year, targeting 1,000㎡. The excavation, which included remains such as fences, well sites, and waterways, was carried out until the end of July, with the results to be announced soon.

The Jae-sil is a place where the caretaker who performs ancestral rites at the tomb rests or stores ritual items. Most of the Joseon Royal Tombs’ Jae-sil disappeared or lost their original form during the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War.

Namgung Yeok, Vice Chairperson of the Environment and Water Resources Committee, criticized, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH Corporation arbitrarily classified the project area, which is an unclassified ecological natural area, as ‘Grade 3’ ecological natural area without proper investigation or verification based on laws.” He insisted, “In the future, environmental impact assessments must be complied with, and a proper ecological natural map should be created based on accurate surveys of endangered wildlife such as the endangered Mongolian toad, leopard cat, kestrel, and flying squirrel inhabiting the Taereung Golf Course area, to prevent the Taereung area from being covered by apartment complexes.”

Min Byung-joo, Chairperson of the Balanced Housing Development Committee who reviewed the petition, stated, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is pushing the project unilaterally, ignoring residents’ opposition to greenbelt development due to cultural heritage protection, endangered species protection, and insufficient traffic measures.” He added that during the previous standing committee review, the members fully agreed with these points and unanimously approved the petition opposing the designation of the public housing district around Taereung Golf Course in Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu.

Do Moon-yeol, Chairperson of the Urban Planning and Space Committee, said, “Building large-scale apartments that damage the natural ecosystem of Taereung, which serves as Seoul’s lungs, and the World Cultural Heritage to expand housing supply artificially suppressed during the Moon Jae-in administration must be reconsidered.” He emphasized, “Housing should be supplied normally in urban areas through measures such as collective housing supply, redevelopment of old low-rise apartments, relaxation of floor area ratios near stations, and easing unreasonable reconstruction and redevelopment regulations.”

Park Jung-hwa, Chairperson of the Transportation Committee, warned, “If large-scale apartments are newly built in the greenbelt area of Taereung CC according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Seoul Taereung public housing district designation plan, urban resting places will disappear, negatively impacting the climate crisis. The Gongneung-dong area, already suffering from chronic traffic congestion, will face severe traffic jams, air pollution, and fine dust generation, seriously threatening the health of nearby residents.” He insisted that the large-scale apartment development project in Taereung, proceeding without clear traffic measures, must be withdrawn.

Chairperson Park Hwan-hee personally toured around the lotus pond near Taereung and said, “Although the lotus pond (Yeonji, 蓮池), which has served as a buffer protecting the Joseon Royal Tombs for about 500 years, may contain valuable relics, it was damaged during the Japanese colonial period as a ‘Reclamation Farm,’ as shown in the 1916 map by the Japanese Government-General’s Land Survey Department.” She stressed, “It is now time for the Cultural Heritage Administration to purchase the Yeonji site and implement special measures for cultural heritage investigation, excavation, and restoration of its original form.”

She also recalled, “About ten years ago, the Seoul Metropolitan Council formed a special committee for the return of Uigwe (royal protocols) held by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency and actively worked to reclaim our precious cultural heritage.” She added, “In line with that effort, we will definitely protect the Joseon Royal Tombs’ cultural heritage in response to citizens’ petitions hoping that the cultural assets around Taereung and Gangneung, registered as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, will not be damaged.”

According to officials related to the Joseon Royal Tombs, the lotus pond (Yeonji, 蓮池) served not only as a feng shui element of backing mountains and facing water (baesanimsu, 背山臨水) and a disaster prevention function for the royal tombs but also acted as a ‘sponge’ absorbing shocks to prevent distortion of the tombs.

Finally, Chairperson Park Hwan-hee and the six standing committee heads stated, “The Taereung Golf Course area is not only home to the Joseon Royal Tombs, a World Cultural Heritage site, but also a greenbelt area inhabited by endangered species. Considering its historical and natural environment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s plan to develop Gongneung-dong into an apartment complex is highly inappropriate.” They pledged, “We will ensure that the residents’ petition is properly conveyed to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and stand with the residents until the World Cultural Heritage designation is not revoked.”