By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/117_60078.html
Yi Kun-moo, head of Cultural Heritage Administration
The Joseon Royal Tombs were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List while “Dongui-bogam,” (The Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine) was listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register and five intangible cultural elements were included in UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The administration also expects the additional registration of Yangdong and Hahoe villages in North Gyeongsang Province on the World Heritage List. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) has conducted on-the-spot inspections of the sites following Seoul’s application last year.
“The listing standards are getting tougher and pickier. UNESCO has asked us to provide additional information. It’s a difficult process, but we are doing our best for the inscription,” CHA Administrator Yi Kun-moo, said in an interview with The Korea Times.
The government will submit “Daemokjang,” a wooden architecture master, as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and “Ilseongnok” (Records of Daily Reflections of the Joseon Kingdom) for Memory of the World registration.
He emphasized, however, that the preparation process is as important as the registration itself as it is an opportunity to collect resources and conduct research about the cultural heritages to have them internationally acknowledged.
“The status of World Heritage means more than that of Korean heritage. It has universal value for all humans. We are responsible for preserving the assets to hand them down to the next generation,” he said.
But in addition to preservation, a moderate tourism development plan should be considered for the designated cultural heritage sites.
The administration is currently pondering plans to link palaces and the Joseon Royal Tombs ― under the theme, King Sejong, it can make a connection between Gyeongbok Palace and Yeongneung in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, and the Silleuksa Temple. Under the theme, King Jeongjo, it can tie Yunggeonneung Cluster, Suwon Fortress, Changgyeong Palace and the Jongmyo Shrine.
“To make this a reality, it’s important to use story-telling methods to promote the related heritage sites,” he said.
The administrator admitted that there were concerns over possible damage to the historical sites due to the growing number of tourists.
“But it doesn’t mean we should only preserve them. Just preserving the designated heritages doesn’t conform to the intention of the World Heritage List. The ICOMOS recommended that the government develop a comprehensive tourism plan and an on-the-spot explanation program to better protect the historical and cultural environment and promote the value of the cultural heritages,” he said.
Thus, striking a balance between preservation and development is the top priority in managing the sites. The CHA has already finished equipping the royal palaces and other heritage sites with automatic fire extinguishing systems, and has strengthened the security and tour guide systems.
“More importantly, Koreans’ awareness of the heritages has been raised a lot recently. So we expect people to show a mature consciousness about the conservation of the historical sites,” he said.
When Yi participated in the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, Spain in June, he felt it was a kind of “culture war.” “More and more countries are vying for registration of their assets. But the follow-up measures are crucial because maintaining the World Heritage status is as difficult as having them registered,” he said.
Yi said that it was shocking to see UNESCO remove Dresden’s Elbe Valley in Germany from its list because of the construction of a bridge across the valley. “This case tells us a lot ― how to protect cultural heritages and continuously maintain their status after the designation is really important,” he said.
Efforts to Reclaim Cultural Heritages
A French court’s recent decision to reject a request to return Korea’s royal texts that were looted by French troops during a 19th-century invasion has rekindled the public’s desire to restore their stolen cultural assets.
On Dec. 24 the court ruled that the Korean royal books held by the National Library of France were “national property” that cannot be handed over.
The collection that records most of the royal history of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) was stored in an archive called “Oegyujanggak” on Ganghwa Island off Korea’s west coast. French troops took away the royal documents from the archive and destroyed other books when they raided the island in 1866.
The National Library in Paris had classified them under its Chinese category until they were discovered by a Korean historian named Park Byeong-seon living in France in 1978.
“As we saw in the Oegyujanggak case, there are many obstacles to repatriating cultural assets. It is true that the government cannot take bold action to bring them back home because there are no legally binding regulations over the illegal ownership of the looted assets and the breach of property rights. In addition, there are no international accords for retroactive applications for the case,” said Yi.
UNESCO adopted the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Cultural Property in 1970. Under its supervision, the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP) has urged each nation to return stolen cultural properties to their home countries.
However, the convention only applies to the cultural properties stolen after 1970. Thus, UNESCO’s requests for the return of such plundered properties are mostly ineffective.
The Korean government hosted the ICPRCP’s extraordinary session in Seoul in 2008 on the occasion of its 30th anniversary and it urged the unconditional return of Korean artifacts held by Japan and France.
The government has so far reclaimed several lost cultural assets ― for example, the seal of King Gojong of the Joseon Kingdom and General Oe Jae-yeon’s flag ― in cooperation with government agencies and civic organizations through purchases or donations.
Currently, a total of 107,857 cultural properties are scattered throughout 18 countries. They were taken during chaotic periods such as the Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War.
Japan has 61,000, the largest number of Korean cultural properties, followed by the United States with 27,000 and China with 3,000.
“We estimate more cultural properties might remain abroad than we know now because they were taken away during social upheaval. To bring them back, it is important to track down how these properties were taken out of the country. We are trying to figure this out,” he said.
chungay@koreatimes.co.kr