Are Royal Tombs Cemeteries? Is Hanyangdoseong a Land Parcel? Officials Who Restored Historic Site Names After 60 Years [Byeolbyeol Administration]

Seongbuk-gu Office Team Leader Lee Sunhong, Officers Kang Sanga and Song Mingyu
'Nation's First' Voluntary Cultural Heritage Survey
Designated and Organized 100,000㎡ of Historic Sites in Seongbuk-gu
Corrected Misclassified Land and Improved Site Management and Administrative Efficiency
"Nationwide Survey Needed" No Improvement Proposal Submitted to National Heritage Agency

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul recently conducted a comprehensive survey of cultural heritage sites, correcting inappropriate land classifications and incorrect lot numbers of historic sites. Based on the survey results, improvement plans were also proposed to the National Heritage Agency. Lee Soon-hong, head of the Real Estate Administration Team at Seongbuk-gu Office (first from the right in the photo), along with officers Kang Sang-ah and Song Min-gyu, are seen smiling and conversing in front of the Hanyangdoseong and surveying equipment. Provided by Seongbuk-gu. Photo by Seongbuk-gu.

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Graveyards (墓地) and royal tombs (陵) both refer to places where people are buried, but there is a clear distinction between them. Graveyards are general places where people are buried after death, while royal tombs are burial sites of royalty with historical and cultural symbolism. The Hanyangdoseong Fortress, spanning 18.6 km, is a symbol of 600 years of Seoul’s history and a representative space of Seoul, and its land category (jimong) should be managed as a historic site.

Lee Soon-hong, head of the Real Estate Administration Team at Seongbuk-gu Office’s Real Estate Information Division, had long been curious about discrepancies in official documents where obvious facts were not applied. Since his work involves real estate land and cadastral administration, such issues caught his attention one by one. Along with team members Kang Sang-ah and Song Min-gyu, he launched a thorough cultural heritage survey this summer.

The survey covered all cultural heritage historic sites within Seongbuk-gu. It included a total of 97 parcels, covering 100,000 square meters. After completing the survey, it was astonishing to find that the land categories of many historic sites were not aligned with the designation purposes of national cultural heritage. The lands that should have been classified as historic sites were instead categorized under various other land types.

The Hanyangdoseong Fortress and Seonjam Complex (where queens of the Joseon Dynasty offered rituals to the silkworm deity), designated as historic sites in 1963, still retained their land categories such as residential land, forest land, ditch (guggeo), and reservoir (yuji) from before their historic site designation. The royal tombs of Uireung (the tomb of King Gyeongjong and Queen Seonui of the Eo clan) and Jeongneung (the tomb of Queen Shindeok, King Taejo’s second wife), designated as historic sites in 1970, were still categorized as graveyards, which generally refer to ordinary burial grounds.

The Simwoojang, where the renowned monk Han Yong-un lived until his death, had an incorrect lot number. Several cases were also found where land units managed as one were split into multiple parcels, reducing management efficiency.

Based on the survey results, Seongbuk-gu last month made necessary changes and corrections. The land categories of Uireung, Jeongneung, Seonjam Complex, and Seongbuk-dong Byeolseo (Seongnakwon, a Joseon Dynasty villa) were all changed to historic sites. The land categories of 28 parcels along a 4 km section of Baekak and Naksan of Hanyangdoseong Fortress within Seongbuk-gu, previously classified as forest land and residential land, were changed to historic sites, and 41 parcels of fortress land were merged into 13 parcels to facilitate property management.

Seongbuk-gu corrected the incorrect lot number of Simujang, where Manhae Han Yong-un lived in his later years, and installed a new nameplate. Provided by Seongbuk-gu.

What benefits and significance does this have? Royal tombs are UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites, and if they are registered as ordinary graveyards, their status as national heritage is diminished externally. When historic sites are registered under categories such as graveyard, residential land, road, ditch, reservoir, or forest land, the land categories become disconnected from reality, making systematic management of national and public properties difficult. According to the team leader, this undermines the credibility of national official records.

He also explained, “Facilities that should be managed as administrative properties by the historic site management department, if registered under incorrect land categories, result in roads and ditches being managed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, residential land by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and forest land by the Korea Forest Service, greatly reducing administrative efficiency.”

When land that could be managed as a single parcel is divided into multiple parcels, it becomes inconvenient to grasp the entire boundary of the historic site. Since multiple parcels must be registered in the system, property management becomes cumbersome, and issuing a single register and map becomes inconvenient as multiple documents must be issued.

Seongbuk-gu also converted six small-scale parcels (1:3000 scale) totaling 12,963 square meters registered as forest land to large-scale cadastral maps (1:1200 scale), and guided the transfer of three parcels (5,747 square meters) within the Hanyangdoseong historic site, previously managed as general property by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to administrative property management under the National Heritage Administration (formerly the Cultural Heritage Administration).

But is this issue unique to Seongbuk-gu nationwide? According to the team leader, other sections of Hanyangdoseong, as well as royal tombs nationwide such as Heoninreung and Taereung, and other historic sites across the country likely have not had their land categories properly updated either.

Based on its own survey, Seongbuk-gu sent an official letter to the National Heritage Administration on the 28th of last month, emphasizing the need for a nationwide review and improvement of historic site registrations and management. The letter stressed the necessity of a nationwide “Historic Site Land Category Correction Project” based on the Seongbuk-gu case. The property management institutions for the historic sites surveyed by Seongbuk-gu include the National Heritage Administration, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Korea Asset Management Corporation.

Seongbuk-gu Mayor Lee Seung-ro emphasized, “This project is a special initiative where a local government voluntarily took the lead to establish a collaborative system among cultural heritage management agencies and proposed nationwide historic site management improvement measures through on-site surveys.”

Members of the Real Estate Administration Team in the Real Estate Information Division of Seongbuk-gu are cheering in front of surveying equipment. From the left, Sang-A Kang, Junior Officer; Soon-Hong Lee, Team Leader; Min-Kyu Song, Junior Officer. Provided by Seongbuk-gu.

*Jimong (地目) - Land categories legally divided according to land use. There are 28 types such as residential land, forest land, rice paddies, and fields. The land’s use and value vary depending on its jimong.