"Maintenance and Disaster Safety Management Must Be Linked"
Choi Seonguk, a member of the Jeonnam Provincial Council (Democratic Party of Korea, Mokpo 1), recently raised the need to link cultural heritage maintenance projects with disaster safety management systems during a departmental briefing by the Department of Cultural Prosperity.
According to Choi on the 17th, Jeonnam Province allocated about 100 billion KRW for the maintenance and repair of cultural heritage and approximately 11.2 billion KRW for the establishment and management of disaster facilities this year. However, among the 1,226 national and provincial designated cultural heritage sites in the province (excluding intangible heritage, natural monuments, and scenic sites), only 44.5% have CCTV installed. In particular, for wooden cultural heritage sites, only 32% of nationally designated and 7.2% of provincially designated cultural assets are covered by fire insurance.
Choi pointed out, "Major cultural heritage sites such as Hwaeomsa Gakhwangjeon and Najuhyanggyo Daeseongjeon are not covered by fire insurance, and the installation rate of security CCTVs is significantly lower compared to other regions," adding, "Since it is difficult to recover from damage in the event of fire or theft, urgent measures are needed."
He further proposed linking cultural heritage maintenance projects with the establishment of disaster prevention facilities, and urged the setting of specific policy directions such as providing priority support to areas lacking preventive systems or offering incentives for the installation of preventive facilities.
In response, Kang Hyoseok, Director of the Department of Cultural Prosperity, said, "We agree on the need to strengthen preventive measures for the protection of cultural heritage, and will closely review aspects that can be adjusted internally as well as suggestions to the central government."
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