• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.54-71
• /
• 2018

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first inscription of 12 UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1978. Based on an overview of the implementation of the 'Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage', this article examines the current issues of the inscription of cultural heritage over the past 40 years. In particular, this paper focuses on the case study of 'Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Munakata Region' nominated by Japan, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 41st World Heritage Committee in 2017. Also, it demonstrates the recent trend and investigates the issues of imbalances in the evaluation and the decisions among relevant actors in the nomination process of World Heritage. Furthermore, this article attempts to derive feasible implications and lessons, and to generate heritage discourse by examining Japan's management in 'heritage diplomacy' of the World Heritage Convention, which is rapidly changing in the course of its nearly half a century of implementation. In conclusion, the research is expected to provide Korea with strategic guidance marking the 30th anniversary of its entry into the Convention, and to steer the future direction for the inscription and conservation of cultural heritage.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.264-279
• /
• 2023

The 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention was in 2022. In order to reflect on the present and future of the meaning of World Heritage, this paper examines the development and changes of the UNESCO World Heritage system. After promulgating the convention in 1972, the UNESCO World Heritage system prioritized the protection of heritage sites in the world that were at risk due to armed conflicts and natural disasters to bequeath heritage to the next generation. In addition, the UNESCO World Heritage's emphasis on Outstanding Universal Value represents the particular culture of human beings formed during a certain period of time, and acts as a significant source of soft power in public diplomacy. The UNESCO World Heritage might be perceived as a shared heritage that has not only become a channel to understand various national values, but also an effective medium to convey one of UNESCO's main principles, that is, peacebuilding. However, the UNESCO World Heritage is now at the center of conflicts of heritage interpretation between many stakeholders related to invisible wars, such as cultural wars, memory wars, and history wars as the social, political, and cultural contexts concerning World Heritage have dramatically shifted with the passing of time. Paying attention to such changing contexts, this paper seeks to understand the main developments in UNESCO World Heritage's discourse concerning changes to the World Heritage Operation Guidelines and heritage experts' meetings by dividing its 50-year history into five phases. Next, this paper analyzes the main shifts in keywords related to UNESCO World Heritage through UNESDOC, which is a platform on which all UNESCO publications are available. Finally, this paper discusses three main changes of UNESCO World Heritage: 1) changes in focus in World Heritage inscriptions, 2) changes in perception of World Heritage protection, and 3) changes of view on the role of the stakeholders in World Heritage. It suggests new emerging issues regarding heritage interpretation and ethics, climate change, and human rights.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.56-85
• /
• 2010

UNESCO World Heritage Programme was introduced following the adoption of Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972 in order to protect cultural and natural heritage with superb value for all mankind. Despite its short history of less than 40 years, it has been evaluated as one of the most successful of the cultural area projects of UNESCO with 890 world heritage registered worldwide. For systematic protection management of World Heritage, UNESCO, through systemization of registration, emphasis on the importance of preservation management plan, institutionalization of monitoring, and operation of World Heritage Fund, has utilized World Heritage Programme not just as a means of listing excellent cultural properties, but as a preservation planning tool, and accordingly, such policies have had a significant influence on the cultural heritage protection legislations of numerous nations. Korea has ratified World Heritage Convention in 1988, and with the registration of the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty in 2009, it has 9 World Heritage Sites. Twenty years have passed since Korea joined the World Heritage Programme. While World Heritage registration contributed to publicity of the uniqueness and excellence of Korean cultural properties and improvement of Korea's national culture status, it is now time to devise various legislative/systematic improvement means to reconsider the World Heritage registration strategy and establish a systematic preservation management system. While up until now, the Cultural Properties Protection Law has been amended to arrange for basic rules regarding registration and protection of World Heritage Sites, and some local governments have founded bodies exclusive for World Heritage Site management, a more fundamental and macroscopic plan for World Heritage policy improvement must be sought. Projects and programs in each area for reinforcement of World Heritage policy capacity such as: 1) Enactment of a special law for World Heritage Site preservation management; 2) enactment of ordinances for protection of World Heritage Sites per each local government; 3) reinforcement of policies and management functionality of Cultural Heritage Administration and local governments; 4) dramatic increase in the finances of World Heritage Site protection; 5) requirement to establish plan for World Heritage Site preservation protection; 6) increased support for utilization of World Heritage Sites; 7) substantiation and diversification of World Heritage registration; 8) sharing of information and experiences of World Heritage Sites management among local governments; 9) installation of World Heritage Sites integral archive; 10) revitalization of citizen cooperation and resident participation; 11) training specialized resources for World Heritage Sites protection; 12) revitalization of sustainable World Heritage Sites tourism, must be selected and promoted systematically. Regarding how World Heritage Programme should be domestically accepted and developed, the methods for systemization, scientific approach, and specialization of World Heritage policies were suggested per type. In the future, in-depth and specialized researches and studies should follow.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.575-588
• /
• 2013

The concept of cultural landscape, which is defined in the World Heritage Convention, provides a new framework with which to manage the heritage sites. European Landscape Convention proposes that landscape is the basic component of natural and cultural heritage, which in turn contributes to the improvement of human well-being and consolidation of the European identity. While recognizing the international trend, Japan has strived to improve the level of managing and protecting the landscape and cultural landscape through the enactment of Landscape Law and the revision of Cultural Property Protection Law. Now that landscape and cultural landscape has occupied the core of heritage management in the advanced countries, it is required more than ever that the concept of landscape and cultural landscape should be clarified through the legislation and convention in Korea. If the legislation for protecting and managing the landscape and cultural landscape is prerequisite for Korea to be an advanced country, a careful and in-depth examination, along with the consideration of the Korean circumstances, should be further carried out on the international experiences about the legislation from the comparative perspective.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.17-28
• /
• 2011

This study was conducted to analyze the status of the traditional medicines registered by the Chinese state as intangible cultural heritages, and of Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion registered by UNESCO as world intangible cultural heritages in 2010, in connection with the need to have Traditional Korean Medicine skills similarly registered as world intangible cultural heritage items. Since UNESCO's adoption of the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritages in 2003, the Chinese government has pushed ahead with efforts to explore and protect intangible cultural heritage items and have them registered as world intangible cultural heritages. Thus, Benchaogangmu (本草綱目) and Huangdineijing (黃帝內經) were listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register while Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion were registered as world intangible cultural heritage properties. For Traditional Korean Medicine skills to be listed as world intangible cultural heritage properties, steps should be taken first to include the skills in the list of domestic intangible cultural heritage items and to make further explorations in the sector. Such efforts are also important in terms of the need to establish the legitimacy of Traditional Korean Medicines.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.274-291
• /
• 2020

This year is the 50th anniversary of the adoption by UNESCO in 1970 of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (the '1970 Convention'). Since its ratification of the 1970 Convention in 1983, the Republic of Korea has domestically implemented the Convention through its Cultural Heritage Protection Act, which was first enacted in 1962. This is a different form of implementation than is normally used for other UNESCO Conventions on cultural heritage, in that the Republic of Korea has recently adopted special acts to enforce the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In addition, the 1970 Convention has been developed further through the introduction of new Operational Guidelines in 2015 for the concrete enforcement of the Convention, which has provided momentum for the Republic of Korea to analyze its current national legislation related to the 1970 Convention as well as consider its amendment in the future. Overall, the Cultural Heritage Protection Act of the Republic of Korea effectively reflects the duties of States Parties under the 1970 Convention. These include measures to introduce export certificates, prohibit the import of stolen cultural property, return other state parties' cultural property, and impose penalties or administrative sanctions in the event of any infringements. Indeed, the Republic of Korea's implementation of the 1970 Convention was introduced as an example of good practice at the Meeting of State Parties in 2019. However, changes in the illegal market for cultural property and development of relevant international law and measures imply that there still exists room for improvement concerning the legal implementation of the 1970 Convention at the national level. In particular, the Operational Guidelines recommend States Parties to adopt legal measures in two respects: detailed criteria for due diligence in assessing bona-fide purchasers, referring to the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, and measures to address the emerging issue of illegal trade in cultural property on internet platforms. Amendment of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act and other relevant laws should be considered in order to duly reflect these issues. Taking that opportunity, concrete provisions to facilitate international cooperation in respect of the implementation of the 1970 Convention could be introduced as well. Such measures could be expected to strengthen the Republic of Korea's international legal cooperation to respond to the changing environment regarding illicit trafficking of cultural property and its restitution.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.151-174
• /
• 2022

According to the "Special Act on the Restoration and Maintenance of the Core Relics of the Shilla Kingdom" enacted in 2019, the Shilla Kingdom refers to the capital of Shilla and Unified Shilla period, and refers to Gyeongju, where the king lived, and the nearby area. Shilla Wanggyeong is a heritage registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 under the name of Gyeongju Historic Site and belongs to Wolseong District, Hwangnyongsa District, and Daeneungwon District among the five districts registered as Gyeongju Historic Site. Unlike the Namsan and Sanseong districts, the Shilla Kingdom is a heritage consisting mostly of archaeological sites without physical substance. Gyeongju City sought to promote local tourism while providing more direct experiences to visitors by restoring the heritage that constitutes the Shilla Kingdom. Starting with the restoration of Woljeonggyo Bridge in 2005, the Shilla Wanggyeong restoration project began in earnest. Gyeongju City tried to restore the building site on the west side of Donggung Palace and Wolji after Woljeonggyo Bridge, but it was canceled due to opposition from the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The World Heritage Committee opposed the restoration and recommended a heritage impact assessment for similar projects in the future. During the miscarriage impact assessment procedure, there is an OUV attribute analysis process of the heritage to be evaluated. This study intends to preemptively derive OUV attributes for the Silla Kingdom through literature and overseas case analysis. In the case of literature research, domestic and foreign research data related to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and World Heritage Management were examined, and in overseas cases, the architectural works of Krakow Historical District, Stonehenge and Abbury Geoseok Ruins in England, and Le Corbusier were analyzed. Through this, the outstanding universal value attributes of the Silla Kingdom were derived. This study is expected to be used as a reference in the process of restoration projects of other heritage constituting the Shilla Kingdom or construction plans in nearby areas in the future and serve as an indicator to improve the management system of the Shilla Kingdom more efficiently from the perspective of world heritage.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.49-69
• /
• 2017

The crisis of western welfare states and the spread of neoliberalism opened up the debate on community question and paid attention to community to cope with diverse social crises. There has been increasing recognition for the need to see World Heritage in terms of place and local community which had formed it rather than an object for conservation separated from the place where it is located. In addition, the conservation and use of cultural heritage can lead to the region's sustainable development and in turn is possible with the region's overall development. However, the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention does not specify the definition and geographic extent of community. This paper considers place-based communities, Sahachons and religious communities, Sindohoes of seven Buddhist monasteries in preparation for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and analyzes social networks of these two types of communities to see their consistency with their general characteristics. Social networks analyses indicates that some monasteries show significant differences between Sahachons and Sindohoes, but others do not. This result implies that communities should be seen as processes of constantly reconstituting their features and boundaries under their specific surroundings which are also in constant changes, thus requiring empirical studies.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.120-128
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study is to establish basic data for the continuous protection management policy of domestic natural world heritage and mixed world heritage, and to examine the present situation and characteristics of the protection management according to the World Heritage Convention on the World Heritage listed Huangshan. The results of this study are as follows. First, Huangshan began to be protected by the establishment of the Huangshan Construction Committee in 1933, and after the designation of national park in 1982, laws and regulations were established in the central ministries, And various projects related to utilization have been implemented. Secondly, the establishment of the boundary for protection was actively intervened by the central government, such as the reorganization of the boundary of Huangshan through the administrative district plan. In order to protect the ecological and landscape value as well as the cultural factor, And designated a heritage designated area. Third, the protection management of Huangshan was divided into four major stages. The first phase was divided into the period when administrative measures were taken to manage the protection of Huangshan. The second phase was designated as a national park in Huangshan. The third period was the time of the protection-oriented project according to the recommendation of the international organizations after the World Heritage listed. The fourth period was the expansion of the tourism industry for the continuous use of protection of Huangshan city, My preservation business was being implemented. Fourth, Huangshan is managed by the central government and the city government. Huangshan, which is a mixed heritage, is managed jointly by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage Administration and the Ministry of Natural Heritage Administration. The protection and management of Huangshan promoted the efficiency and expertise of the heritage-related work through the establishment of the administrative unit-specific management system, and the local governments were entrusted with the authority to implement the protection management policies that meet local characteristics. Fifth, the preservation area of Huangshan has been destroyed by the development policy centered on the mountain. In addition, according to the operation of accommodation facilities, there are problems such as sewage, garbage disposal, and environmental pollution caused by tourists, and the damage caused by pests and diseases in planted plantations around the area and changes in ecosystem due to the composition of cable cars. Sixth, for the continuous protection of Huangshan, strict regulations on new construction, extension and management of accommodation are required, and it is necessary to install facilities to limit and control the number of visitors.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.126-139
• /
• 2012

Authenticity has emerged as an important condition which should be examined in setting out conservation and management principles of cultural heritage during the last half century. Compared that the concept has been internationally discussed developing it into the applicable framework such kind of effort has been relatively low within Asian context. This paper is the first half part the research on authenticity which aims at setting out conceptual framework of authenticity in Korean context and presenting a set of suggestion to make the Korean heritage-based concept of authenticity be workable in assessing heritage value in practice. It focused on the analytical review on two aspects: 1. the origin of the word and the development of the concept along with the implementation of World Heritage Convention, nt of related international charters; 2. Problems of the intrinsic nature of the concept and problems to be considered in defining the concept.