Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty

• Management systems/ management plan (Development of a sustainable tourism management plan)
• Commercial development; Housing (High-rise developments in the vicinity of the component parts)

N/A

On 1 February 2024, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, a summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1319/documents/. The report provides an update on the state of conservation of this serial World Heritage property comprising 40 tombs across 18 clusters and on the implementation of the Committee’s decisions, as follows:

• The State Party has implemented recommendations made at the time of inscription in 2010, including development guidelines for the tomb clusters and a Sustainable Tourism Management Plan;
• An ongoing lawsuit involves already completed high-rise construction near the Jangneung (W6) cluster, with the Supreme Court's final ruling to determine if developers violated the Cultural Heritage Protection Act being pending at the time of reporting;
• Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) are underway for similar conservation issues at Seooreung (W1) and Taereung (M3) clusters to guide future development projects. The State Party has updated spatial information for land use and plans to expand drone monitoring for better oversight of the tombs;
• Amendments to the Special Act on Conservation, Management, and Utilization of World Heritage and the establishment of a Standing Advisory Committee aim to strengthen heritage protection;
• In March 2023, a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Advisory mission visited the property at the invitation of the State Party and provided guidance concerning the conservation of the tomb clusters in the face of growing development pressure;
• Restoration projects include addressing the retention of Olympic sports facilities at the Taereung (M3) cluster through impact assessments and planning for the demolition and future use of some of the facilities. The first phase of restoration and relocation plans for the Korea National University of Arts near Uireung (M5) cluster is complete, with further demolitions planned;
• The State Party emphasizes its commitment to improving awareness, conservation, and dissemination of the significance of the royal tombs, working closely with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies.

At the request of the State Party, the Reactive Monitoring mission requested by the Committee in Decision 45 COM 7B.48 (Riyadh, 2023) is scheduled for late 2024, due to planning difficulties in the first half of the year, especially in the timeframe required to finalise the report for review by the World Heritage Committee at the present session.

Since 2010, development guidelines have been in place to ensure that developments near the component parts of the property respects crucial sightlines, including key views from the tomb mounds. These views, chosen based on geomantic principles (pungsu), are vital to the property's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), which emphasises the need for clear views of the surrounding landscape from the tomb mounds, located up the flank of a mountain ridge. This property, which hosts ancestral rites 54 times annually across its 18 clusters, has retained its ritualistic and living heritage significance, underlining the importance of its spiritual, symbolic, and geomantic attributes to people today.

The Jangneung (W6) component part remains a significant concern, as developers first bypassed required inputs from the Cultural Heritage Administration (since May 2024: Korea Heritage Service, thereafter KHS), then withdrew from negotiations on building height reductions before completing the project as initially designed in 2022, compromising the component part’s capacity to carry the property’s OUV, as illustrated in the March 2023 Advisory mission report (see https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1319/documents/). It is noted that KHS lost all court cases against the developers in 2019-2022, along with the subsequent appeals in 2023, which all favoured the developers. Although further legal action is underway, the developments’ impact on the component part will remain. This situation highlights the need for improved management processes that protect the property’s OUV from projects located beyond designated buffer zones that may still affect the property.

Involving local communities and civil society in monitoring the property's 40 component parts has been prioritized in the Tourism Management Plan, last updated in 2021. This involvement is crucial for early detection of potentially harmful development projects that may be outside of the immediate legal remit of KHS. The establishment of Standing Advisory Committees, which include residents and local officials gathering for regular component part-level meetings and an annual coordination meeting at the property level, has great potential to enhance protection and early detection mechanisms.

Paragraph 118bis of the Operational Guidelines requires States Parties to ensure that impact assessments “be carried out as a pre-requisite for development projects and activities that are planned for implementation within or around a World Heritage property" to identify “development alternatives, as well as both potential positive and negative impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property and to recommend mitigation measures against degradation or other negative impacts on the cultural or natural heritage within the property or its wider setting”. In this framework, the adoption of the “Special Act on Conservation, Management and Utilisation of World Heritage” in October 2023, establishing a national framework for impact assessments, represents a significant step forward. This is complemented by the translation into Korean and dissemination of the Guidance and Toolkit on Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context. It is noted that HIAs are underway for public housing developments near the Changneung (Seooreung cluster, W1) and Taereung (M3) component parts and will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies. The importance of integrating the Advisory mission’s recommendations should be highlighted, particularly regarding height limits for commercial developments.

Overall progress in implementing the Advisory mission’s recommendations, including updated spatial data for buffer zones and the use of drones to monitor sightlines and developments, demonstrates a proactive approach to safeguarding the property’s OUV, and could constitute an interesting good practice example. The establishment of a KHS Task Force to identify measures to prevent unauthorized developments should also be welcomed. The scheduled demolitions at Taereung (M3) and Uireung (M5) component parts are noted, including the lack of negative impacts on the property and even the potential for positive impacts overall.

Finally, it is noted that the State Party intends to invite the Reactive Monitoring mission to the property requested in Decision 45 COM 7B.48 in the later part of the year.