Framework Cracked and Ceiling Collapsed... Dismantling and Repair Set for Bulguksa Temple’s Daeungjeon Hall

Classified as Grade E Along with the Stele for State Preceptor Nangwon in Gangneung
Severe Sagging and Cracks...Restoration Work Planned
Seven-story Brick Pagoda at the Beopheungsa Temple Site in Andong Also Set for Conservation Treatment

Daeungjeon, Bulguksa, Gyeongju. Photo by Cultural Heritage Administration.

The Daeungjeon Hall, the main Buddha hall of Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju, is set to undergo dismantling and repair. This is because damage has become severe, with cracks appearing throughout the building’s framework and ceiling structures collapsing.

According to the Cultural Heritage Administration on the 23rd, the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage recently reported these findings in its “2025 Priority Cultural Heritage Monitoring Results” at a meeting of the Architectural Cultural Heritage Subcommittee of the Cultural Heritage Committee.

Bulguksa Temple’s Daeungjeon Hall, the Stele for State Preceptor Nangwon at Bohyeonsa Temple in Gangneung, and the Seven-story Brick Pagoda at the Beopheungsa Temple Site in Andong were all classified as Grade E, indicating that repairs are urgently needed. Daeungjeon Hall, which was rebuilt in 1765, began to show damage and sagging of major structural members in inspections starting in 2023. In February last year, part of the secondary ceiling members used to level the ceiling even fell to the floor.

The Institute regarded this as a critical defect directly connected to damage to the main beams and secondary beams, and recommended dismantling and repair. The authorities plan to completely disassemble the structure of Daeungjeon Hall this year and carry out restoration work.

The other Grade E cultural heritage sites will also undergo emergency measures. The Stele for State Preceptor Nangwon at Bohyeonsa Temple in Gangneung, whose main stone body has tilted and developed a crack running through its center, will be dismantled and repaired this year.

The Seven-story Brick Pagoda at the Beopheungsa Temple Site in Andong, which has been rated Grade E for five consecutive years, has stopped leaning toward the northwest, but damage to its roof stones and deterioration of cement at the stylobate are severe, prompting immediate conservation treatment.

The Institute will notify each local government of the monitoring results next month and publish a final report in June. This year, in addition to existing priority sites such as Sungnyemun in Seoul, Cheomseongdae in Gyeongju, and Geunjeongjeon Hall at Gyeongbokgung Palace, it will add the Stele for State Preceptor Nangwon at Bohyeonsa Temple in Gangneung, the Daeungjeon Hall at Gapsa Temple in Gongju, and the Chuwondang Ancestral Hall of the Haenam Yun Clan in Gangjin for intensive monitoring.