Jongmyo Area to Be Designated as World Heritage District... Administrative Procedures to Be Completed by December

"National Heritage Administration to Request World Heritage Impact Assessment from Seoul"

Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

The area surrounding Jongmyo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be designated as a World Heritage District. The designated area covers 194,089.6 square meters, encompassing a total of 91 parcels of land.

On November 13, the World Heritage Subcommittee of the Cultural Heritage Committee under the National Heritage Administration held a meeting at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to review and approve the new designation of the Jongmyo World Heritage District.

The designation of a World Heritage District is a process that establishes the legal scope of preservation and management policies for World Heritage sites. Any development projects planned within the district may be subject to a World Heritage Impact Assessment requested by the National Heritage Administration. The administration plans to complete the official designation notice by next month and will formally request the Seoul Metropolitan Government to conduct a World Heritage Impact Assessment in accordance with the World Heritage Act.

Article 10 of the current "Special Act on the Preservation, Management, and Utilization of World Heritage" stipulates that the head of the National Heritage Administration may designate a World Heritage District when necessary. After the designation notice, local governments must establish preservation, management, and utilization plans. Within the World Heritage District, development activities that could undermine the site's "outstanding universal value" are restricted, and activities such as construction, road building, and land modification require approval or consultation with the head of the National Heritage Administration.

This designation comes amid disagreements between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the National Heritage Administration over the design of a planned high-rise building up to 145 meters tall in Sewoon District 4, near Jongmyo. Once designated as a World Heritage District, Sewoon District 4 will also fall within the scope of potential World Heritage Impact Assessment requests. However, since the assessment itself is not mandatory, there is no legal authority to enforce changes to the design. The National Heritage Administration plans to again request that Seoul accept the impact assessment, based on the World Heritage Act.

The National Heritage Administration stated that it submitted a letter to UNESCO on this day, requesting a World Heritage Impact Assessment regarding the Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Plan, but has not yet received a response from Seoul. The administration added, "We plan to complete all administrative procedures related to the designation of the Jongmyo World Heritage District by December and will strongly urge the Seoul Metropolitan Government to conduct a World Heritage Impact Assessment."

Last year, the National Heritage Administration announced plans to designate 11 domestic World Heritage sites-including Jongmyo, Changdeokgung Palace, Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, the Gyeongju Historic Areas, and Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes-as World Heritage Districts. Jongmyo will be the first to complete the designation process among them.