Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty

• development of a sustainable tourism management plan

N/A

On 6 June 2019, the World Heritage Centre transmitted third-party information to the State Party regarding the Changneung Public Housing Development project, in the vicinity of the Seooreung component sites (W1) of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. The State Party responded on 30 December 2019, providing some information about the status of the Changneung project and promising to share details after the project plans had become more concrete.

On 4 September 2020, the World Heritage Centre requested clarification from the State Party on the development proposals in the immediate vicinity of the Taereung and Gangneung components (M3). In a letter dated 28 September 2020, the State Party responded that, as concrete plans had not yet been drawn, it was “too early to evaluate the potential impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value”.

Following further third-party submissions, the World Heritage Centre transmitted an ICOMOS Technical Review in January 2021 regarding plans to build high-rise apartment buildings near the Changneung, Taereung and Gangneung components of the property, which ICOMOS concluded would have a negative impact on the authenticity, integrity and setting of the property. In this Technical Review, ICOMOS advised the State Party to carry out a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for each individual project.

On 3 November 2021, the World Heritage Centre transmitted further third-party information to the State Party regarding the construction of apartment buildings in the vicinity of the Jangneung component site (W6), carried out without prior permission from the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea (CHA). On 23 November 2021, a delegation from CHA visited UNESCO to provide detailed information regarding the on-going apartment complex construction in the buffer zones of the Jangneung and other components of the property. CHA indicated that it was trying to resolve the issue through domestic legal procedures and undertook to submit its response to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies.

On 25 March 2022, the World Heritage Centre requested the State Party to provide a report on the state of conservation of the property for consideration by the World Heritage Committee. On 28 April 2022, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, and on 13 April 2023, the State Party submitted an update, both of which are available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1319/documents/ and provide the following information:

• The State Party implemented all the recommendations adopted by the Committee at its 33rd session (Decision 33 COM 8B.15) by the end of 2010;
• the high-rise developments on the Seooreung and Taereung components, respectively. Following their completion, they will be shared with the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
• The State Party also presents information regarding the construction and further plans buildings, part of the state-led “Geomdan New Town” development project, in the vicinity of the Jangneung component;
• In May 2021,
• In July and August 2022, CHA lost all three cases in the first ruling and appealed the ruling immediately. At the time of writing this report, the appeals cases opposing the CHA and three construction companies are in progress.
• The State Party notes its concern that this housing construction in the buffer zone and setting of the Jangneung component is impacting the pungsu (geomantic principles), which played a critical role in the historical selection of a site for a royal tomb, thereby adversely impacting on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property. The State Party further mentions that the property and its buffer zones are generally systematically protected, as recognized in ICOMOS's 2009 evaluation. The current exception occurred due to differences in the interpretation of development guidelines and authorization procedures between various governmental organizations. In response, the State Party submitted a plan to strengthen information sharing between relevant government entities and public organizations to ensure a more integral understanding of heritage regulations;
• The State Party created a task force to come up with measures to prevent similar unauthorized development activities from happening again in buffer zones;
• The revision of the Special Act on Conservation, Management, and Utilization of World Heritage with a view to incorporating HIA into the domestic heritage protection system is in progress.

The State Party invited a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Advisory mission to the property from 13 to 17 March 2023, the report of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1319/documents/. The mission which focused specifically on the three clusters most affected by development: Seooreung, Taereung/Gangneung, and Jangneung. The mission considered information provided by the State Party and found that, despite the State Party’s excellent management of the inscribed component sites within their boundaries, its capacity to adequately protect the three components evaluated from significant impacts that often arise several kilometres away from these clusters is clearly limited by the scope of its legal and management purview.

The mission reports that, the very intrusive new developments, particularly at the Jangneung Cluster, affect the pungsu principles for which the property was inscribed, and they also affect the living heritage aspects at the sites, which have been in near-continuous use since their creation, with rituals and ceremonies being regularly held to this day. The mission expresses its concern that similar situations with recent, ongoing or planned developments located on the outer limits of the property’s buffer zones or in the wider setting of the component sites are likely to be found at some (or even many) of the other 15 components, and might therefore have significant cumulative impacts on the property and its attributes of OUV.

Consequently, the mission provides the State Party with possible mitigation measures and recommendations. It also notes that, in the current condition, the highly visible developments in the vicinity of the Jangneung cluster and its impacts on the attributes of OUV are irreversible, considering that residents have already moved into apartments. The mission also stresses that ongoing HIAs should be completed as a matter of priority, in accordance with current guidelines, and recommended a thorough examination of the cumulative impacts of developments in the buffer zones and setting of all 18 components on the OUV of the property.

The State Party’s efforts to implement the Committee’s recommendations at the time of inscription in 2009, such as the sustainable tourism management plan and guidelines for allowable development, are welcome and should be continued.

The information provided by the State Party regarding two ongoing HIAs for development plans in the vicinity of the Changneung Royal Tomb in the Seooreung component and around the Taereung component, carried out in response to the ICOMOS Technical Reviews of January 2021, is noted.

It is regrettable that construction of apartment complexes has been largely completed in the vicinity of the Jangneung cluster, as part of the “Geomdan New Town” State-led urban development project, without benefiting from HIA procedures, prior consultation with the national authorities or notification under the provision of Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

It is also of great concern that, in December 2021, the construction companies won an administrative lawsuit against the CHA's administrative order to halt construction. It is further noted that the CHA is currently involved in a legal dispute with three developers over this issue, on behalf of the State Party, and lost all three cases in the first rulings in July and August 2022, which it then appealed.

In view of the above, it should be commended that the State Party invited a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Advisory mission to this property in March 2023 to examine the ongoing situation at three component sites and seek advice to define any necessary mitigation measures, especially in view of the ongoing second round of lawsuits between the national authorities and the development companies.

The State Party expressed concern that housing construction may impact adversely on the OUV of Jangneung component and its ability to demonstrate the attributes of OUV for which it was inscribed, especially since the pungsu (geomantic principles), an important attribute of the OUV, are affected. This position was echoed in the strong concerns expressed by the Advisory mission. The Jangneung component’s landscape was already partly affected by a 2002 high-rise apartment complex, known as Samsung Apartments, built prior to inscription. However, the negative impacts of the much larger new developments on the attributes of OUV, and particularly the key sightlines to the south which determined the selection of the tomb site and its ongoing function as a ritual site, are far more significant. The Advisory mission could not identify any options to mitigate these impacts in the case of the Jangneung cluster, especially since these housing developments are already occupied.

The property and its buffer zones are generally systematically protected, as was recognised at the time of inscription. However, given the nature of the property’s OUV and its reliance on its wider landscape setting and key sightlines, it is unfortunate that the current statutory protections and guidelines for development around the component clusters do not extend beyond their buffer zones.

Considering that the three clusters of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty visited by the Advisory mission currently face similar problems with public housing and commercial developments, the Committee may wish to recommend that the State Party establish urban plans that fully take into account the need to protect the integrity of this World Heritage property and its OUV, especially the protection of the components’ wider settings and sight lines, in line with Paragraph 112 of the Operational Guidelines.

The Committee may also wish to encourage the State Party to adopt legislation introducing mandatory impact assessments in line with the Guidance for Impact Assessment in a World Heritage Context for all major development projects within or around World Heritage properties and their wider settings, as a matter of urgency.

The effective management of this property and its wider setting may also contribute to sustainable development by harnessing reciprocal benefits for heritage and society. It is therefore welcome that the State Party has shared its plans to strengthen information sharing between relevant government entities, to ensure an improved integral understanding of heritage regulations by local governments and members of the public.

The State Party’s efforts, such as creating a task force to come up with measures to prevent similar unauthorized development activities from occurring again in buffer zones, the revision of the Special Act on Conservation, Management, and Utilization of World Heritage with a view to incorporating impact assessments into the domestic heritage protection system, should be commended. However, it should be noted that the task force’s purview and the scope of legislative revisions should extend to the wider settings of World Heritage properties and not be limited to their buffer zones only.

The State Party should be further encouraged to fully implement the Advisory mission’s recommendations to safeguard the OUV of the property, and notably to (a) carry out a full review of development impacts at each component of the property; (b) take into full account the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context for the new impact assessment legislation and its implementation; (c) establish Standing Advisory Committees that include community members and representatives of municipal authorities to reinforce two-way dialogue.

The Advisory mission recommends that a thorough assessment of the overall state of conservation of the property should be carried out and brought to the attention of the World Heritage Committee. The Committee may therefore wish to request the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the state of conservation of the property, report to the cumulative impacts of housing and commercial developments on its OUV, identify existing and potential impacts on key sightlines from the property, as well as other factors affecting the property’s OUV at all 18 components of the property.