Standards for Traditional Materials in National Heritage Repairs Become Stricter

National Heritage Agency Implements 'Traditional Ingredient Certification System'

The standards for traditional materials used in the repair of national heritage sites are becoming more stringent. The Cultural Heritage Administration will implement the 'Traditional Materials Certification System' starting from the 1st. The affiliated Traditional Architecture Repair Technology Promotion Foundation will review producers' documents and traditional materials, and conduct quality tests. The certification decision will be made after deliberation by the review committee. Certified traditional materials will be issued a certificate.

This project has been promoted to restore Sungnyemun, which was damaged by fire in 2008. There were concerns that the quality standards needed to be established after the dancheong (traditional multicolored paintwork) started to peel off within a few months. The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Korea National University of Cultural Heritage have been conducting related research since 2014. The Cultural Heritage Administration also added a traditional materials certification clause to the 'Act on the Repair of National Heritage, etc.' After gathering opinions, detailed regulations on certification standards and procedures were established.

The first targets of the traditional materials certification system are pigments, animal glue, roof tiles, and traditional bricks. A Cultural Heritage Administration official explained, "Through research and opinion gathering, detailed evaluation criteria for each material have been prepared," and added, "Verification has also been completed through the technical regulation impact assessment review by the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards." They further stated, "We plan to additionally prepare detailed evaluation criteria for hanji (traditional Korean paper), metal fittings, and others."