Jinju City Holds Final Report Meeting for ‘Chokseokru’ National Cultural Heritage Promotion Project

Decision to Apply for National Cultural Heritage Designation of 'Chokseokru'

Jinju City in Gyeongnam announced on the 26th at the situation room on the 5th floor of City Hall that it will apply for the promotion of Chokseokru to a nationally designated cultural heritage (Treasure) within this year by holding the "Final Report Meeting on the Academic Service for the Promotion of Chokseokru to Nationally Designated Cultural Heritage."

The report meeting was attended by Mayor Jo Gyu-il, related officials, and about 10 experts, who confirmed inaccuracies regarding the reasons why Chokseokru was rejected for Treasure designation by the Cultural Heritage Administration's Architectural Cultural Heritage Committee in 2016, based on newly discovered documents and photographs. They revealed that the restoration process after the Korean War was carried out as a national project with approval and verification from national institutions, based on documents from government agencies.

Jinju City is conducting the final report meeting for the academic research project on the promotion of Chokseokru to a nationally designated cultural heritage.

At the time of the 2016 rejection, it was pointed out that the original form was damaged due to the flattening of the terrain during the restoration of Chokseokru. However, newly discovered documents and photographs confirmed that the terrain had already been flattened during the Japanese colonial period before its designation as a National Treasure due to the construction of a new road, verifying that no terrain damage occurred during the restoration.

Additionally, original measured drawings of Chokseokru created in 1937 before its destruction and drawings made during the 1957 restoration were newly uncovered. A comparative analysis of the two drawings confirmed they were identical, proving through documentation that the restoration was faithful to the original form.

Song Ji-hwan, director of the Gyeongnam Architectural Cultural Heritage Research Institute who attended the report meeting, stated, “If the authenticity of the newly discovered facts through documents and materials is explained to the National Heritage Agency and the academic, artistic value and legitimacy of the promotion are shared, it will bring us one step closer to the designation of Chokseokru as a nationally designated cultural heritage.”

A Jinju City official said, “We have prepared the 2025 budget in anticipation of additional necessary investigations and services such as supplementation by the Gyeongnam Provincial Cultural Heritage Committee, and we will actively strive to ensure that Chokseokru is promoted to a nationally designated cultural heritage.”