A conflict among the central government, local governments and residents over damage to the historic setting around Jongmyo Shrine, caused by a high-rise redevelopment project in front of it, is now spreading to other cultural heritage sites. Seoul is a city that lives alongside its cultural heritage, and calls are growing for the Jongmyo landscape dispute to be resolved quickly and properly.
Seoul's Jung-gu district office said on the 21st that it had delivered a petition carrying the signatures of about 3,500 residents opposing the push to list the Hanyang City Wall and other fortifications of the Joseon capital as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The petition went to the Seoul city government on the 13th and to the Korea Heritage Service and UNESCO on the 20th.
The petition reflects residents' concerns that a World Heritage listing for the Hanyang City Wall could delay redevelopment projects in nearby areas and restrict their property rights. "Housing redevelopment projects that had been blocked for years are finally moving ahead after the height limits around Namsan were eased, and residents are worried that a World Heritage listing could act as yet another layer of regulation," a Jung-gu official said.
Local opposition to UNESCO World Heritage listings has been rare in South Korea. The prevailing view has been that a World Heritage listing benefits both the country and the surrounding community. The country currently has 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Jongmyo Shrine and Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon.
The Seoul city government has been caught off guard. The Hanyang City Wall falls under the city's jurisdiction, and the city has worked toward a listing since creating a dedicated Hanyang City Wall office in 2012. A final decision is due at the World Heritage Committee in July 2027. Yet residents in the affected area have come out against the listing at this critical stage.
Their reasoning is straightforward. Residents of aging neighborhoods and downtown redevelopment zones around the wall are worried about the heritage impact assessment (HIA) that would apply after a listing. Once a site is inscribed, construction and redevelopment projects within a designated surrounding area must undergo such an assessment.
The dispute over the Hanyang City Wall is widely seen as a spillover from the conflict over the setting around Jongmyo Shrine. The Seoul city government wants to allow a 145-meter high-rise building in the Sewoon District 4 zone directly in front of the shrine, while the Korea Heritage Service and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism oppose it.
The city says it will proceed with the high-rise, while the heritage agency says the project must undergo an impact assessment first. The city argues that the assessment would further delay a project that is already behind schedule. The Korea Heritage Service has said it would complete the heritage impact assessment within a year at the latest. The city contends it cannot wait even a year because of the harm to residents, and that there is no reason to undergo the assessment at all.
It was the Seoul city government that pulled the trigger on the Jongmyo dispute. On Oct. 30 last year, the city abruptly announced its decision on the Sewoon redevelopment promotion district and the District 4 redevelopment plan, raising the maximum building height in District 4 to 145 meters from 71.9 meters.
The Korea Heritage Service pushed back strongly, insisting that the city honor the 71.9-meter cap it agreed to in 2018 with the heritage agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The twofold difference in maximum height would clearly make a significant difference to the setting around Jongmyo.
As the high-rise dispute has dragged on for a year, the broader issue of regulation tied to cultural heritage has spread nationwide, and it has now erupted around the Hanyang City Wall. With Jongmyo in the news daily, residents near the wall have been affected as well. Their thinking, in effect, is that if the Hanyang City Wall in their neighborhood becomes a World Heritage site, they too will face restrictions.
The redevelopment in front of Jongmyo has already become a political issue. As it happens, those pushing for development are local governments and lawmakers from the opposition People Power Party, while those seeking to protect the cultural heritage are the ruling Democratic Party and the government. Jung-gu Mayor Kim Gil-sung, whose district filed the petition against the World Heritage listing, belongs to the People Power Party. So does Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is pushing for the high-rise in front of Jongmyo. The Democratic Party and the government, by contrast, strongly oppose the high-rise project and are backing the World Heritage bid for the Hanyang City Wall.
Jurisdiction over these sites is somewhat convoluted. Jongmyo is managed by the Korea Heritage Service, a central government agency, while the Hanyang City Wall falls to the Seoul city government. That means the city supports the high-rise in front of Jongmyo while simultaneously pursuing a World Heritage listing for the wall. If the wall is inscribed, restrictions in surrounding areas will be unavoidable. The city is caught in the middle, with a People Power Party district office pressuring a People Power Party city government.
The Hanyang City Wall also runs through Jongno-gu, yet opposition to the listing has come only from Jung-gu. The Jung-gu mayor belongs to the People Power Party, while the Jongno-gu mayor is from the Democratic Party. Residents are reacting differently even though the same restrictions would apply to the wall in both districts. In the end, the response depends on which political camp is driving the effort.
The problem is that the conflict is unlikely to remain confined to the Hanyang City Wall, Jongmyo and Seoul. The capital has many heritage sites in dispute with local residents, including the Pungnap Earthen Fortification in Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, and the same is true in the provinces. A year after the Jongmyo landscape dispute began, the Hanyang City Wall controversy has come to a head. It may not be far-fetched to see this as only the beginning of a nationwide conflict.
Korea Heritage Service Administrator Heo Min, speaking at a comprehensive parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on the 23rd, said of the Jongmyo issue: "I fear Jongmyo losing its status as a World Heritage site." The administrator added that the matter would be resolved if the Seoul city government underwent a heritage impact assessment for the Sewoon District 4 redevelopment. By the agency's account, had the assessment begun in October last year, the results would already be in by now. Attention is turning to what new proposal Mayor Oh might offer after he was acquitted on appeal on the 23rd of charges of violating the political funds law, reviving his political prospects.
[From Choi Soo-moon's Cultural Capital] This column examines cultural phenomena unfolding in Korea, a global cultural capital, and explores what it will take to become one in the truest sense.