Daejeon City Council Holds Forum on Utilization Plans for Railway Supply Warehouse

City Council Member Park Jongseon "Expecting Substantial Cultural Heritage Utilization Projects"

Daejeon City Council held a policy forum on the 14th to explore ways to preserve and utilize modern cultural heritage. Photo by Daejeon City Council

The Daejeon Metropolitan Council announced on the 14th that it held a policy forum in the Communication Room on the third floor of the council building to explore ways to preserve and utilize modern and contemporary cultural heritage.

During the forum, participants discussed institutional and policy measures to preserve Daejeon's registered modern and contemporary architectural heritage and to utilize it as a resource for local culture, arts, and tourism.

Jung Chanmo, Professor Emeritus at Dankook University, who delivered the keynote presentation, cited the example of the Railroad Supply Warehouse, National Registered Cultural Heritage No. 168, which functioned as "Daejeon Station Mudeokgwan," a Taekwondo training center at the time of its construction. He emphasized, "It is necessary to discuss policies that consider the diverse historical facts and functions of individual registered cultural heritage sites so that they can contribute to the development of Daejeon's culture, arts, and tourism."

Participants in the discussion noted that the Railroad Supply Warehouse is widely known among martial artists around the world as Mudeokgwan and continues to attract annual visits. They proposed developing the Railroad Supply Warehouse into a large-scale martial arts training center.

Kang Byungseon, head of the Daejeon Cultural Heritage Division, stated, "When considering the utilization of cultural heritage, discussions must also ensure the preservation of the heritage and the safety of visitors."

Park Jongseon, the council member who chaired the forum, said, "When the Railroad Supply Warehouse was relocated to the Sinan 2 Historical Park last year, it was the first case where the entire building was lifted and moved as a module without dismantling it." He added, "Following the positive evaluation of this advanced method of complete preservation, we hope to see substantial progress in cultural heritage utilization projects."